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Old Ties and Companions
Itachi never much loved these kinds of events. He’s not completely anti-social, as some of his co-workers like to tease, he just doesn’t prefer the gossiping and the pomp ‘n happenstance that goes into it all. There’s a reason he took a job where he lives out in the woods breeding trees—why he took a lower paying position in the field as opposed to the cushier one he was offered back in Asheville. Of course, his position sometimes puts him in the crossfires of the occasional National Parks Service and The American Chestnut Foundation drama, but otherwise it is peaceful. He’s able to study and breed American Chestnuts fairly independently.
Events like corporate potlucks are just rife with the NPS and TACF drama that he explicitly tries to avoid. The National Parks Service, so large and vast and yet so small, has a fantastic relationship with the organization that actually employs Itachi. But having a good relationship doesn’t mean there isn’t room for a little gossip here and there. If Itachi’s learned anything in his time in this position, it’s that people from all over love to gossip, and it’s not a trait exclusive to his small mountain town of Konoha. How they go about it is what’s different.
Like right now, Itachi is stuck chatting—well, more like nodding and smiling along—with the housing supervisor from the NPS for the Smoky Mountains National Park. He’s Itachi’s landlord, to put it bluntly. And bluntly he does put it. Ibiki is from the midwest and doesn’t hold back, always saying things in a matter-of-fact way that has taken some getting used to. Ibiki isn’t not nice, but he’s never particularly friendly either. It goes against every aspect of Itachi’s raising, and he’s still not entirely sure if Ibiki likes him. He also says ‘Appalachia’ wrong, which everyone’s too polite to point out.
“We won’t get to renovate a majority of the cabins this year, they rejected the funding proposal. It’s fine though, the cabins are in good shape. It’s free housing, it’s part of the job,” Ibiki says in what can only be described as a droning monotone. Itachi isn’t sure what to say, so he just nods along and takes another sip of the apple cider Raidou from the TACF brought to the potluck. Itachi’s cabin is a little beat, but it’s not too bad. He’s just lucky the NPS provided g him with a place to live and a truck.
“Oh, and you’re finally getting a roommate. It was bound to happen, you know that,” Ibiki adds, looking at Itachi with his always stony expression. Itachi forces himself to make eye contact, to not visibly trace the large scars across his face that allegedly came from a grizzly back in his ranger days. No one actually knows for certain. No one dares to ask.
“I didn’ know that,” Itachi says, trying to not choke on his apple cider. “When’re they movin’ in?”
“You’ll be getting official correspondence about it after the Thanksgiving holiday. He’s moving in the first week of December.”
Nodding, Itachi wants to learn more, to politely prod, because he knows that Ibiki’s not just going to tell him anything extra without prompting—it’s just not in his personality. Not usually one to be terribly curious about others and their affairs, Itachi can’t help but take personal interest considering he’s about to live with this person for who knows how long.
“Know anything about ‘im?” Itachi says, forgoing subtlety.
“Ranger. Transferring in from Colorado, been out at Black Canyon of Gunnison, then Sand Dunes, most recent post at Rock Mountain. Apparently he is wanting to transfer closer to home.” Ibiki looks bored of the conversation he started, but that could just be Ibiki.
At that last detail, Itachi tilts his head, brows furrowing together. “So he’s from these parts?”
Ibiki just shrugs. “Hell if I know. I’ve never met the kid. I just process the paperwork.”
“Of course,” Itachi says.
“Think he’s around your age though, late twenties or so. Maybe two or three years older?”
At that moment, Guy, one of the District Rangers, not-so-subtly slips into the conversation. “Apparently, while he has enjoyed his time out west, he’s been putting in requests to head back east for a couple of years now. More specifically our park. Looks like he’s finally got his wish! Hope the rain won’t get him down though, you know how it always depresses those not from the area. We need energetic, youthful rangers. Although being roommates with someone as passionate and spirited as you should cheer him right up, Itachi!”
Now that—that really gets Itachi thinking. There realistically aren’t that many rangers, and especially not that many rangers from the general area around his general age. He knows of one person, practically a ghost from his past, who he believes went into Natural Resources, but he up and left and Itachi hasn’t heard hide nor hair from him in years.
All and all, this is probably just some random guy maybe from the general southeast who for whatever reason wants the Smoky Mountains post. Not that anyone can blame him, it's a pretty desirable place to be.
“I’ll do my best to be a good roommate and help him get back acclimated to the area,” Itachi says politely.
“Your hometown isn’t too far from your post, is it? You could always show him around, make it homier!” Guy enthusiastically suggests.
“They aren’t fucking dating, Guy, they’re just living together,” Ibiki says, somehow looking and sounding a little more annoyed than before, yet somehow exactly the same. Itachi’s good at reading people, but Ibiki is something else.
Guy doesn’t look terribly deterred. “I just mean it will be a good bonding experience! Itachi, you haven’t had a roommate in…?”
“About a year or so,”
“Might be just as much an adjustment for you!” Guy laughs, slapping Itachi on the back so hard he stumbles forward, most of his hot apple cider sloshing out of the turkey-printed disposable cup. “So, what did you bring this year for the Thanksgiving Potluck? Want to make sure I give everythin’ a try!”
“Jalapeno cornbread,” Itachi says, trying to ignore how the spilled cider burns his hand.
“Well, I might have to see a man about a dog later if I eat anythin’ too spicy, but I’m sure it’s fantastic,” Guy’s hand moves to slap heavily on Itachi’s shoulder, making him slightly buckle under the impact. Guy goes out of his way to do extra physical labor on the job, but it’s clearly paying off. “Ah! Lee! My protege…” And Guy’s off, into the crowd going to overenthusiastically be Thanksgiving-merry with his favorite park ranger.
“I won’t be eating your jalapeno cornbread. Anything spicier than queso from Las Palmas in Pigeon Forge makes me shit my guts out for a week. Have a nice holiday, Itachi. And be on the lookout for that email.” With those eloquent parting words, Ibiki has disappeared into the crowd of the Smoky Mountains National Park NPS and The American Chestnut Foundation Thanksgiving Potluck, leaving Itachi standing by the punch bowl alone with his thoughts. Which is fine, he’s got a lot of them.
While the party murmurs around him, Itachi’s mind is on the future roommate moving into the other bedroom of the old cabin he occupies deep in the forests of Appalachia. For the briefest of moments, that old… friend… flashes in his mind, only to be washed away with Raidou’s apple cider.
Around him, the potluck continues in cluttered chaos, an ever-so-slightly more professional version of what he is about to return home to in Konoha. And when he goes back to his own place, the countdown will begin until the new roommate moves in. Itachi’s had roommates before and they’ve gotten along great, so there’s really nothing to worry about. So he pushes the strange nagging feeling surrounding the vague details of his future roommate to the back of his mind, and focuses on attempting to enjoy the potluck. Who knows, he might be successful in actually having a good time this year.
The roof over the front porch has long been the place for Sasuke and Itachi to reconvene, chat, and just be. Sometimes, all they need is to exist next to one another and not be alone for a bit. And Sasuke… he needs all the help he can get these days.
So Itachi sits next to him, freezing his ass off on the November-chilled tin roof, looking out into the deep woods surrounding their childhood home.
Finally, Sasuke sighs. “Do you think he’s in town for Thanksgiving?”
Itachi bites at his fingernails, a habit he’s never been truly able to kick. He’s smart, he knows a decent bit about some things—like plant pathology, blights, genetics, propagation—but relationships? That’s a bit outside of his wheelhouse. Still, can’t never could, and he’s determined to help his little brother in any way he can.
“Hard to say,” Itachi answers noncommittally. It’s true, he doesn’t know. “I ‘spose it doesn’t totally matter. You have your own thing going on.”
Sasuke just looks more miserable somehow. The dark circles under his eyes look especially dark, his hair long and greasy and unruly. Not even the threat of droves of extended family could motivate Sasuke to clean up. The not-terribly subtle comments from the family elders are starting to wear on Itachi enough for the both of them, since Sasuke seems too numb to even care.
“No I don’t.” Sasuke rests his chin on his knees, tucking up into himself.
Scooching across the roof, Itachi wraps Sasuke in a big hug. This breakup, he knows it cut Sasuke deep. His forever is now no longer his forever, his entire world flipped upside down. It’s a feeling that Itachi can actually sympathize with. His younger self’s ‘forever’ up and left too.
“I know this is probably the last thing you want to hear, but it will get better.” Itachi’s breath fogs in the cold night air.
“Will it?”
Itachi’s beanie-covered head falls to Sasuke’s. The cracks in Itachi’s own heart have mostly healed, but they are still there. They will always be there. It’s not a very comforting sentiment to give someone who is still fresh into mourning love lost. Well, nine months into mourning, but Itachi’s certainly not one to judge him for it.
“Yes, it will. You’ll never be the same, and there’ll be moments that still sting, but sometimes life stings. Sometimes you have to get stung by a hornet in order to know not to shake the nest.”
Sasuke perks up, looking over at Itachi with a confused expression. Despite how hard he tries, Sasuke’s never been one to truly hold back how he’s really feeling.
“Yeah, that analogy’s a little half-baked, I’ll work on it,” Itachi says, earning the slightest of chuckles, the smallest of smiles, from his gloomy brother. Sasuke’s rare smile lights up the darkest of mountain nights. “I just mean, there’s always a chance for growth, for healing.”
“Do you think relationships like that can ever be repaired? That there is a chance for redemption?” Sasuke mumbles, back to being pretty miserable.
“Severed ties…” Itachi starts, trying to word this carefully. Better than his previous analogy. “It’s like when you cut a rope. The tie is severed. Your tie has been severed. You and Naruto are now separate pieces of rope, no longer one piece. But, if you want, you can always be tied back together. It won’t be the same, you’ll have to use a knot, and it will take effort to tie a strong one, but that’s not to say a strong knot can’t be tied.”
Sasuke’s hand pats Itachi’s arm. “Might be best to lay off the eggnog for the rest of the night.”
Itachi laughs into the cold air. “Maybe…”
After a moment of pause, Sasuke starts to ask, “Do you think you and—” He must have noticed how Itachi stiffened next to him. “The Uchiha are just fated for emotional, over-dramatic heartache, aren’t we?”
There’s really no good answer to that, no silly analogy Itachi can scramble up. Instead, he simply remarks, “It’s in our blood.”
Itachi,
Your new roommate will be moving in with you on December 5th. Please be prepared for this move-in date. No food allergies on file. New park ranger for your region. Background in conservation, ecology, and forestry hence why he is being stuck out in the woods with you. Get along.
Ibiki Morino
Smoky Mountains National Park
National Parks Service, Department of Interior
Itachi reads over the simultaneously blunt and useless email from housing concerning his new roommate. Okay, so he won’t have to throw out his peanut butter, that’s good, but is that really all they could tell him? His eyes glance over at the locked second bedroom. Each bedroom has its own key for privacy. No one has lived in the other bedroom in a little over a year. The NPS is probably itching to fill the spot.
The small cabin was built back in the early 1900s, salvaged and renovated in the 1970s into a larger, two-bedroom ranger cabin. What was once the entire shack is now the living room and kitchen. It’s oddly charming, with the creaky, American Chestnut flooring Itachi is so fond of and the stone, wood-burning fireplace in the corner. It’s such a stark contrast to the obviously patchworked 1970’s government-issued additions.
Soon, he’ll be sharing this quirky cabin with another person again. For all he knows, it may be pretty nice, having another person around. It can get pretty lonely deep in the hills at times. While Itachi doesn’t spook too easily, there are sometimes noises heard in the pitch-black nights that he wishes he didn’t hear. Having another person around will help alleviate some of the occasional spooks and isolation.
Plus who knows, they may even become friends.
December fifth has arrived. It’s bitterly cold and this side of the mountain has decided to monsoon (while the other side has decided to have a small drought). Still, Itachi has to go out into the field today to observe a few different cites, take notes, ensure some of the recent grafts are taking—all that good stuff. Meaning, he’s not actually around while his new roommate moves in.
Despite the weather being cold and miserable and Itachi’s FrogTogs doing their darndest to keep him dry and relatively warm, his fingers are still chilled to the bone from being out in the rain with just a thin pair of gloves to delicately handle the growing saplings. It doesn’t help that some of the plots require long hikes into the woods in the drizzling, freezing rain. Usually being surrounded by the calm of the wilderness calms Itachi, but today it just has him feeling terribly frazzled. And cold.
He loves his job—he truly does—but days like today have him looking forward to getting back home, starting up a nice, crackling fire, heating up a TV dinner in the microwave, and parking his butt on the incredibly comfortable, ancient couch to catch up on the Holiday Baking Championship. His mama’s been pestering him to catch up so they can discuss it, threatening spoilers if he doesn’t watch the newest episode as ASAP as possible.
There’s only a small hitch in that plan, the new roommate. Surely being new and tired from the move he won’t mind letting Itachi have seniority in the house and watch whatever he wants, right?
Maybe it’s not just the abhorrent weather that has him frazzled.
As Itachi drives down the winding, gravel drive to the cabin, he mentally preps himself for whatever kind of person he’s about to meet and subsequently live with. Hopefully someone nice, who keeps to themselves, and doesn’t mind seasonal baking championship shows. Someone relatively tidy would be nice too, as Itachi does like to keep the space clean. At the very least, a roommate who keeps their mess to their own room.
The mental list of what constitutes a good roommate continues as Itachi parks his truck under the carport, grabs his backpack, and makes his way along the gravel path up to the front door. There is another, significantly more advertised NPS truck parked in the other spot in the carport, but that doesn’t tell Itachi much about his new roommate that he didn’t already know.
Before turning the door knob, entering the familiar cabin, Itachi takes a deep breath, centering himself for whatever kind of roommate is on the other side. It’ll be fine, he is insanely adaptable.
The second he opens the door with a loud creak, he is hit with the strong scent of spices. Someone is cooking. Something with a lot of spices, which eliminates a good chunk of the co-workers he already knows. It smells good, but decidedly not like anything Itachi’s terribly familiar with. Indian food, maybe? Anyway, it only serves to remind Itachi how cold and hungry he is.
“Hello?” he calls, pulling off his FrogTogs and boots, organizing everything in the cubbies and hooks by the door.
“Oh, hey!” a voice calls from the kitchen. A voice with an eerily familiar quality to it. A shiver shoots down Itachi’s spine, his entire body freezing further while he hangs up his FrogTogs.
No, no it can’t be.
Footsteps round the corner behind Itachi, who can’t seem to get his body to turn around and face the new co-occupant of the cabin.
“Itachi?” The footsteps have stopped. Itachi’s heart sinks.
The Uchiha are just fated for emotional, over-dramatic heartache, aren’t we?
Yes. Unfortunately, it seems as though that is true.
With a shaky breath, Itachi turns around, he comes face-to-face with someone he hasn’t seen since he was twenty-one years old.
“Shisui.”
As it turns out, Shisui has made a simplified butter chicken. He offers some to Itachi in less than five words, which Itachi politely declines in less than five words, opting for his TV dinner. Now, they sit on opposite sides of the magically comfortable old couch, Shisui’s eyes burning into the side of Itachi’s face, and Itachi’s eyes burning into the Holiday Baking Championship. The tension can be cut with a knife, it’s awful. Itachi’s hardly able to pay attention to the pie challenge taking place on the screen. He’s going to have to watch this episode again before calling his mama.
It’s not until the episode is over does Shisui finally speak up, clearly deciding to be the one to break the silence.
“Y’know, they didn’t tell me much about who my new roommate was going to be, just that he is some kin’a young genius in the field of plant genetics and pathology. When I heard that, my heart skipped a beat, not gonna lie. Because for a moment, I actually thought it might be you.”
“And here we are,” Itachi says in deadpan, refusing to succumb to Shisui’s charms like he used to. No longer is he an idealistic idiot with hearts in his eyes. That’s what Shisui probably remembers, but that isn’t who he is anymore. “Might wanna get your heart checked out too, while’re at it.”
Shisui actually has the audacity to laugh at that. “You’re as funny as ever, ‘Tachi.” Itachi just glares and scoffs at that. “And still warm as the sunshine.”
Crossing his arms, Itachi refuses to play along, eyes glued to what is now a gingerbread house-making competition show blaring on the cheap TV. “I’m watchin’ somethin’,” is all he mutters, but even as the words leave his mouth he knows it’s too much. He doesn’t have to look at Shisui to know he’s smiling—he can feel it. That dumb smile never failed to light up the room, light up Itachi’s whole life. He hates that it still seems to have that effect, enough to warm Itachi’s cold body down to his bone marrow. It sucks.
“I can see that.” There’s a slight tease in Shisui’s voice and Itachi wants to hate it so badly.
Schooling his emotions, Itachi turns to face Shisui, willing his face to not give signs that despite there is still a part of him that will always long for the Shisui. “Look, we’re living together now, that’s it. Nothing more, nothing less. We—no, you—made decisions, and now those decisions have resulted in this. We share a house, but that is all that’s left between us. We’re roommates, don’t look too hard into it.”
“Roommates,” Shisui repeats, letting the word roll slowly off his tongue. “Look, I wanted to talk—”
Itachi holds up his palm between them, cutting Shisui off. “There’s nothing to talk about. You do your thing, I do mine, we coexist, that’s it. We are roommates at best, coworkers at worst. Got it?”
The usual glimmer in Shisui’s eye actually seems to dim a little, but Itachi’s proud. He’s setting boundaries, something that was always exceedingly hard to do with Shisui.
“Roommates at best, coworkers at worst. Got it.”
With a final nod, Itachi turns back to the TV, trying and failing to not focus on Shisui, who keeps sending not-so-subtle glances his way. Mentally, he keeps repeating the sentiment, already knowing that having Shisui in such close proximity is going to place a strain on his heart.
The first two weeks pass by with little incident. Shisui is surprisingly well behaved. They have fallen into a routine. They get up, Shisui makes bacon in the cast iron while Itachi starts up the ancient electric kettle for his tea and Shisui’s coffee. Cereal gets poured, a few polite words are exchanged, winter gear is layered on, and then they are out the door and off to their respective tasks for the day.
Despite how much he downplays it, Shisui is apparently incredible at his job. They have been having troubles getting the wildlife to grow back on some abandoned trails, so it is now Shisui’s job to come up with a plan to get those areas rehabilitated effectively. Some of the things Shisui is starting to do are already showing some results, which has the District Ranger and higher-ups pleased as punch.
All of this information has been disseminated to Itachi through the grapevine. Despite living with the source of the most recent bouts of gossip, Itachi and Shisui don’t actually talk to one another about these kinds of things enough for him to hear them straight from the source. Plus, there’s some other tidbits of gossip that Itachi is able to learn that he’s pretty sure Shisui doesn’t even know about.
See, most of the rangers are pretty chill—the work attracts a type. But still, people sometimes get bored and people also sometimes like talking about others as a pastime. Itachi learned this early in his life as a member of the vast and ever gossiping Uchiha family. It’s probably why he became such a good listener.
And by using that listening skill, Itachi has learned that apparently Shisui has already charmed the socks off most everyone. Several rangers are making bets on if he is single, and whether or not he is interested. Some noted how Shisui’s charming personality has made him popular in the rare occasion he works the ranger stations. Apparently he’s been asked out on no less than twenty dates from interested park goers. Even one of the other rangers recently asked him out.
Now, Itachi would be lying if he said these rumors aren’t interesting. He can’t not listen but they also make his gut curdle in a really unpleasant way. Because, yeah… even though he set boundaries—and intends to keep them—he can’t help but feel a little jealous of all the attention Shisui’s getting. Unfortunately, it’s not a jealousy born from performance, getting praise from a supervisor, or anything like that. No, it’s a petty romantic jealousy because a mere six years ago, Shisui was his.
Now, sharing a house with him, Itachi can’t help but feel himself drawn to Shisui once again. His personality is just so magnetic, it seems like Itachi can’t help being sucked in no matter how hard he desperately tries. And oh boy, is he trying.
For what it’s worth, Shisui is doing his best to respect the boundaries Itachi set that first night. He’s being a perfect roommate. Keeping his space, cleaning up, helping cook meals. Itachi’s even gotten more comfortable with sharing the couch in the evenings, where he’ll watch hours of holiday themed cooking and baking shows while Shisui will half watch the shows, half scroll through his phone, and half send Itachi cryptic glances from across the couch.
Occasionally, Itachi will drift off to sleep, and wake up a few hours later with his head against Shisui’s shoulder, or worse, in his lap. But he never seems too bothered, always just editing photos and scrolling through his phone.
Oh yeah—Shisui is a bit of an influencer.
Those good looks, winning personality, and extensive knowledge on the outdoors is not going to waste. He makes short-form videos about life as a ranger, topics concerning his work, conservation tips, and general outdoors stuff. It’s actually pretty neat. While he’ll never admit to it, Itachi’s actually really proud of how hard Shisui has worked to make something of himself in their time apart.
Over the years, the quiet, nagging bitterness infected Itachi’s heart, and he hasn’t himself to think of Shisui positively in years. But now… now he can’t help but remember why he was so infatuated the first half of his life.
Shisui’s brand of chilled out extroversion is exactly what Itachi craves. Unfortunately.
And Shisui must be onto him, because he calls Itachi out on it while they watch the Christmas Cookie Challenge.
“Despite the frigid temperatures, I think you’re actually starting to warm up to me again,” Shisui says with an obvious smirk in his voice. Itachi swallows, forcing his mind to not panic.
“It’s out of survival. We live together, we have to get along. No point in wallowin’ in what once was,” Itachi says calmly and logically because it’s all true. They do work together somewhat, and they most certainly live together now, so there’s few options from a logical standpoint.
“Mhm,” is all Itachi gets as a reply. He tries his best to hold back a smile.
“So…” Shisui starts, sitting down at the scratched up breakfast table where Itachi is currently working on a 5,000 piece jigsaw puzzle of the Mount Rainier National Park art from the 59 Parks Project.
“So?” Itachi responds, not even looking up from his puzzle.
“Got any plans for Christmas? Goin’ back to Konoha or somethin’?” Shisui almost seems sheepish, shy.
“I’m plannin’ on it. Whole family’s comin’ over, you know the drill. Plus, Sasuke’s—” Itachi cuts himself off. He’s not really wanting to air Sasuke’s dirty laundry to Shisui. Not yet.
“How is Sasuke? Obviously been a while since I seen him.” The air between them grows awkward and thick, making it difficult to breathe.
“Yes. It has been,” Itachi decides on a non-answer, not sure how to reveal the truth of Sasuke’s condition without it coming across as a jab to the events that took place between them about half a decade ago.
“Look, Itachi, I think maybe at some point we should talk—”
If the glare didn’t shut him up, the words that tumble out of Itachi’s mouth sure do. The cold, calculating tone that even Itachi himself barely recognizes. “No, Shisui, we have nothin’ to talk about. The past is the past. Remember, roommates at best, coworkers at worst.” Even as soon as the words tumble out of Itachi’s mouth, he hates them. At this point, they seem more like a reminder to himself than a reminder to Shisui.
A heavy silence falls between them. There’s almost a quiver in Shisui’s lip as he meets Itachi’s eyes, refusing to break eye contact. Deep in Shisui’s eyes, there’s an emotion there. An emotion Itachi feels beyond uncomfortable addressing. An emotion that he needs to squash, to kill at the roots. An emotion that desperately scares him.
The silence continues. The strong eye contact continues. Neither want to be the one to break first, almost as though whoever does loses. Loses what? Who knows.
Then, Itachi surprises himself by being the one to speak first. “What’re your Christmas plans?”
Shisui swallows, sitting stiffer in his seat than before. “Nothin’. I’ll be here.”
Tilting his head, Itachi considers that answer. “How come?”
Finally, Shisui looks away for a moment, over to where the old fireplace crackles. “My dad died, a few years back. Ma moved to Florida. Just me here now. Don’t feel terribly welcome at your family’s Christmas anymore…”
“I’m sorry about your dad,” Itachi says earnestly. It’s true, Shisui’s dad was wonderful and Itachi suddenly regrets losing touch over the years. “Not wanting to go down to Florida for Christmas?”
Shisui smirks. “Not really. Plus, I don’t mind workin’ on Christmas. In nature, it’s just another day.”
Nodding Itachi says, “Well, if you want to go as me to my family’s Christmas you’re welcome to. It’s always so stressful. I wish I was just out working, or here at the cabin. Like you say, it’s just another day.”
“I don’t mean to say it’s not special,” Shisui is clearly trying to course-correct, “I just mean… doing my own thing for Christmas is nice. I greatly value my autonomy, to do what I want.”
Itachi meets his eyes again. “I know.”
They don’t talk for the rest of the evening. About Christmas or otherwise.
The moment Itachi wakes up, he can sense that something has happened. Something drastic. He hasn’t gotten out of bed or checked his phone or looked out the window yet and he can already tell. There’s a tingling feeling in his fingers and a drop in his gut that he gets before something big in his life is about to happen.
He had this feeling the morning he got his acceptance letter for the plant pathology graduate program.
It’s the same feeling the day Sasuke called him in uncharacteristic tears about his failed relationship.
This feeling came around when his grandmother died.
And the day Shisui left, all those years ago.
It’s neither a good luck charm nor an omen, just… a feeling. As it turns out, this feeling predicted something truly unique: a snowstorm.
When Itachi went to open his window, he didn’t anticipate finding snow halfway up to the window sill outside. A pure, white blanket of thick ice and snow. Sure, it snows in the mountains—the weather here is wildly unpredictable at times—but it has been a long time since it has snowed like this.
His cabin is also down in a holler, which means any snow that falls down the mountain will be piling up on his doorstep, to make matters worse.
Of course, today Itachi is supposed to head back home for Christmas in a few days. Looking out at what has to be knee-deep snow with hip-deep drifts, Itachi’s pretty sure he isn’t going anywhere for Christmas. And neither is Shisui. Which means, against his wishes, Itachi will be stuck in a remote cabin alone with Shisui for the holidays. Lovely.
Closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, Itachi tries to relax his mind and ease the anxiety prickling at his chest. It’s not ideal, but it will be fine. What he really needs to do is first assess the damage outside and then call one of the other stations to see if maybe they could get their driveway cleared with enough time for Itachi to still make it home. While he isn’t excited to see his exhausting extended family, he needs to be there for Sasuke this year (and far away from Shisui).
Once a sufficient amount of wool socks, long underwear, and wool layers are on, Itachi makes his way straight to the front door to head out and check the driveway.
“It’s rough out there,” Shisui’s voice comes from the kitchen. There’s a distinct bacon smell.
“What are you still doing here? Don’t you have field work to do?” Itachi stupidly asks, as if he hasn’t seen the snow outside.
Shisui snorts. “They used to call you a genius, but I’m starting to question that assessment.” Itachi just rolls his eyes, choosing not to rise to the bait. Since reuniting, Shisui hasn’t been as quippy as he once was. Nice to know he chose what is about to be the most stressful day of Itachi’s year to start back up again. “Gotta call from the district ranger, said to just stay put until they can clear out the roads down here and all that.”
Itachi perks up at that. “Did they say when they will be able to get the roads cleared for us?”
“Not for a couple of days. Also called to make sure we had supplies, electricity, all that. Told them we were all good!”
“Fuck,” Itachi curses under his breath. No point in torturing himself outside in the snow with that information.
“I don’t know where exactly you think you’re going, but don’t forget your mittens. I know how cold your fingers get,” Shisui calls. It makes Itachi’s heart flutter just a little. It’s a seemingly insignificant detail, that Itachi’s hands are perpetually cold, but it’s a detail that Shisui remembers, even after all this time.
“I—I guess I’m not going anywhere,” Itachi replies, trying to keep his voice from sounding disappointed. Even with his more anti-social tendencies making his big family’s Christmas a little rough, he didn’t realize how badly he wanted to go until he couldn’t. Sasuke needs him right now.
Shisui’s head peaks around the corner, dark curls still wild with bedhead. “Bacon?”
With a shrug, Itachi makes his way over to the kitchen where they begin to eat chewy bacon in silence.
Chewy bacon?
“You don’t like chewy bacon,” the words escape Itachi before his mind has a chance to vet them. Oddly enough, the tiniest bits of a blush begin to dust Shisui’s ears.
“Yeah, but you do.”
Taking another bite, Itachi can’t help but revel in how good it is, especially on a cold winter morning. “I’m… I’m surprised you remember that, ‘s all.”
Their eyes meet, Shisui’s are dark and glittery as always, but also a little… longing.
“‘Course I do. I… I remember lots about you.” At that moment, Itachi’s heart has the audacity to flutter. “Itachi, do you think maybe we can tal—”
“I need to go bring in more firewood,” Itachi says about as calmly as he can before taking off for the door again and out into the frigid cold.
Being snowed in is both a curse and a blessing. On the one hand, there’s something cozy about the crackling fire casting a warm glow on the living space, having nothing to do but curl up with a warm drink and just relax, watching TV or reading a book or something. There’s nice Christmas jazz cued up on Spotify, and it’s actually very calming, serene even.
On the other hand, Itachi is snowed in with Shisui. He’s already been struggling to keep up the hard boundaries he set the more Shisui’s been weaseling back into his life. Now, they are stuck, in close proximity, and Itachi can’t seem to stop glancing across the coffee table to note how much he loves the shape of Shisui’s eyes, or the curve of his smile, or the dark curls at the nape of his neck.
Fuck.
“Itachi?” Itachi jolts as Shisui’s smooth voice says his name again. “It’s your turn?”
Swallowing, Itachi straightens, trying his best to focus on the task at hand, the board game ‘Parks’ (of course).
“I’ll just move here, and collect my tokens, and I think I'll buy some gear,” Itachi says aloud while moving his hiker along the ‘trail.’ Depositing his sunshine tokens, he takes the Gear Card that reduces park costs by one mountain.
Shisui nods and bites his lip while analyzing the board. Itachi can’t seem to help but stare.
“Good move… Fuck it, I think I’m just going to go for it and buy a park!” Shisui says with a smile, placing his hiker on that space before reaching over the table to grab the Yellowstone National Park card, depositing three tree tokens and four suns along the way. Both of their eyes hone in on the new park card Itachi places on the board. Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
“It’s mine,” Itachi rushes out. Shisui looks miserable, running a hand through his still-tangled curls in distress.
“Why did I have to go and spend all my tokens on stupid fucking Yellowstone!”
“That’s our first National Park you’re insulting right now,” Itachi laughs, moving his other hiker.
Shisui rolls his eyes. “Yeah, but now I’m here.” Their eyes meet again. “I’m home.” Itachi nods in agreement, before performing whatever action he landed on.
They continue to play, Itachi nabbing the Smoky Mountains park card, adding Rocky Mountain National Park to the board, making him pause. That was where Shisui was stationed before transferring here. And that lack of intellectual curiosity concerning other people’s affairs that Itachi has always been so proud of is starting to erode. Well, it’s eroding when it comes to Shisui.
It’s been years. They haven’t seen each other in literally six years. So much has probably happened in Shisui’s life—no, Itachi knows so much has happened in Shisui’s life that he doesn’t know about. The ups and the downs, so much life that he’s lived without Itachi in it. The cracks in Itachi’s heart begin to hurt just a little.
“It’s super pretty out there,” Shisui says quietly, eyes darting back and forth between the card and Itachi.
“Why didn’t you stay out there then?” Itachi asks, resting his head on his hand.
Shisui bites his lip again, clearly thinking on the best way to approach this subject—a subject Itachi hasn’t allowed them to talk about. “I guess I felt this tug… in my heart. It’s stupid, really.”
“It’s probably not,” Itachi comforts, “I’m… I guess I’m curious.”
With a sigh, Shisui holds up the card, reading the fun fact on the bottom, “‘The headwaters of the Colorado River are here along with four hundred-plus miles of rivers and streams and three hundred-plus miles of hiking trails.’”
“Shi—” Itachi almost whines, as if he has any right to be annoyed with Shisui dodging this topic.
“I came back… because I heard about you. A few years ago, I saw your picture on the TACF Instagram page and my heart… it physically ached.” A sheepish smile grows on his face as he looks down at his lap. “Then I saw you again, on the Smoky Mountains National Park Instagram. You were helping run a tree-planting volunteer event. It was like the fog cleared in my mind and all of a sudden I was hyper focused on finding out more about you. I learned that you worked for TACF, in a special position in collaboration with the NPS. And… it got me thinkin’. What if I transferred here and maybe… maybe we could finally live the dream that our younger selves had wanted? That… I found myself wantin’... again.”
Itachi’s heart beats faster and faster the more Shisui talks. Because when Shisui left nearly six years ago, a young Itachi—and maybe even an older Itachi—was convinced that he never crossed his mind, was just a thing of the past that didn’t matter. Why else would he leave, otherwise?
“You left me,” Itachi says bluntly. A deep sadness seeps its way onto Shisui’s features.
“I know.” That familiar, awkward silence falls between them again. “I—I really do think we should talk.”
“Well… okay, then. Talk,” Itachi’s voice is that controlled monotone he always uses in tense situations, situations where he feels out of control. He can’t help but hate himself for always putting up emotional walls like this, especially when there’s always been a longing in his heart that reflects what Shisui has just laid on the table between them.
“I want to start by saying, I’m sorry. I am sorry that my stupid, nineteen-year-old self fucked everything up between us. You were—and still are—the best friend I ever had. But, you were more than that, and I broke your heart. And I’m sorry.”
Itachi says nothing, trying to control his breathing, just nodding for Shisui to continue at a pause.
“I… I wanted freedom. I wanted to see the world. I wanted to get out of Konoha. Even if… even if it meant leaving you.”
Digging up these old, buried emotions is something Itachi is admittedly deeply uncomfortable with. Even more so when he can feel tears threatening to prickle in his eyes. That deep, sickening feeling of being left behind, abandoned, unworthy, and unloved rearing its ugly head, shaking the cracked foundation Itachi’s worked so hard to repair over the years.
“You… I was a mess when you left. A broken mess,” Itachi barely whispers, “How could you do that to me?”
“Itachi, you were going to be fine without me. I… I wanted to see if I could be something without you. Do something on my own. Be my own person. Be acknowledged for my own accomplishments. I think… no, I know I was being so insanely selfish,” Shisui’s voice cracks like the fire steadily burning in the fireplace.
Despite the attempt at an explanation, Itachi still feels confused. “You were so smart and so talented and gifted! Everyone rants and raves about how incredible you are! They always have. You’ve always been able to accomplish so much. I—I don’t understand.”
“Itachi…” The game sits between them, abandoned. “I didn’t know who I was without you. I didn’t have any goals without you in them. I didn’t know what made me, me. I didn’t know what I wanted.”
“Do you know?”
“Yeah, I have a better idea of it now. I work for the NPS, I make silly videos on social media that people seem to like, I like hiking, and being outdoors. But I also enjoy being inside watching TV and playing old video games. I want to continue working a job that I love and… and I want you back.”
At those words, those four stupid words, Itachi’s racing heart completely stops.
“You… what?” Itachi’s voice is breathless, probably because his lungs have stopped working too.
“I—look. I’ve gone out and seen other parts of the world and you know what I realized? They aren’t as pretty without you in them. Since coming back, my world’s already been so much brighter, just because you’re in it again. Even if I’ve been getting your bitchy side these past few weeks. Itachi—” Shisui crawls over to the other side of the coffee table to where Itachi is seated. “I still really love you. And while I hate myself for leaving, I’m also really glad, because now I feel more secure in myself and the fact that I need you in my life in some way. Even if we’re just roommates at best, coworkers at worst.”
At that last line, Itachi can’t help but crack a smile. “I don’t think I ever stopped thinking about you,” Itachi admits. “I think that’s why I was such an ass, laying down very strict boundaries when you moved in. I’m sorry for being ‘bitchy.’”
A familiar, mischievous twinkle returns to Shisui’s eyes, but maybe that’s just his dark eyes reflecting the glowing fireplace. “Are you though?”
Itachi can’t help the smile that grows on his lips, before growing serious again. “Shisui, I missed you, and I was pissed when you left me, but… sometimes I can’t help but wonder, maybe it’s a good thing that we went our separate ways for a bit. We didn’t even know who we were without the other. But now I know. And even then, I…”
“You…?”
“I still want you back too.” Before he has a chance to regret it, Itachi closes the space between them, slamming his lips onto Shisui’s perhaps a bit aggressively. But he finds himself too distracted to care, too caught up in how good it feels to be kissing Shisui again. Home. He’s home.
When they finally break from the long, slightly-too-enthusiastic kiss, Shisui leaves a peck on Itachi’s nose before opening that big mouth of his and saying, “Would it be lame of me to say that all I want for Christmas is you?”
Despite instinctively rolling his eyes, Itachi still smiles, allowing himself to be charmed to death again. “Well, considerin’ the snowstorm, I may be all you get.”
“I’ll take it,” Shisui croons, leaning in to steal another kiss. “I’ll take whatever I can get.”
Itachi’s hand goes to caress Shisui’s cheek, the skin golden in the light of the fireplace and warm to the touch. “I’m glad you’re back home.”
Shisui leans into the touch, almost nuzzling Itachi’s hand.
“But you could’ve left the snow in Colorado.”
Smirking, Shisui just snakes his arms around Itachi’s middle, drawing him in closer. “I don’t know, I kinda like it. Gives me an excuse to keep you here with me this Christmas.”
There’s a lightness in Itachi’s chest and a warmth spreading through his body. He’s pretty sure it’s not from the fireplace. It feels right, the restlessness in his chest settled. It feels like home.