Snake.
Sheep.
Monkey.
Boar.
Horse.
Tiger.
The hand signs Itachi made for the fireball jutsu were executed so quickly, nobody on the ground watching would catch it. Not even with a Sharingan. But Shisui was an exception. He had his Sharingan lit, and could easily dodge Itachi's fireball.

"Damn..."
Itachi cursed himself. He should have known it would be too easy. But training with Shisui always made him nervous, so that he was never able to perform like he was used to. He was still well above every other eleven-year-old shinobi in Konoha, but for him, it wasn't enough. It wasn't as though he wanted to surpass Shisui, Itachi reflected while Shisui came up close to him in order to begin a round of taijutsu instead. No, he wanted Shisui to be IMPRESSED by him.
Shisui came close, landing a kick that Itachi easily blocked with his forearm. At the same time, Itachi drew a kunai with his other hand. It clinked together with a kunai in Shisuis hand, which he had retrieved from his pocket so fast Itachi hadn't even noticed.
'He's holding back', Itachi thought, full of shame.

'He's really something else...' I thought, looking him straight into his eyes. 'I'm not holding back one bit and I can't get one single blow on him.'
I landed on the ground, smiling, looking up at Itachi as he landed in front of me.
"To the cliff?" I suggested our usual spot that no one but us knew of, where we could sit and talk for hours. I had a feeling Itachi thought I did it for him, that I saw myself as his mentor, seeing as I was three years older than him. But I didn't. I really didn't. More than anyone else in the world, I saw Itachi as my equal. He was my best friend and I got so, so much out of our conversations.

'Perhaps, today I should mention it.' A dangerous thought.

The sun was setting, casting a beautiful orange glow which matched the warmth of the spring evening. Spring was my favourite season as it meant new growth and possibilities. I sat down on my usual spot, Itachi next to me.
"How does it feel, joining the ANBU?" I asked him.
Itachi looked up into the sky, thinking. This was one of the things I appreciated most with him. He never said anything recklessly; he always thought it through first. When holding a conversation with Itachi, you knew you got only what was absolutely perfect, as everything else was rejected to come out of his mouth. It was a nice contrast to myself, who, although not loud, was slightly more hot-headed. I could learn from this man.
"It feels like if the circumstances were different, I would be doing it for myself." He turned his head towards me. "But with the clan and Father, I feel like I'm doing it for someone else." His eyes shone dark, his eyebrows were furrowed and he looked troubled.
I looked out over the cliff and leaned back, supporting myself with my hands on the ground. "Sometimes", I started, trying to choose my words as carefully as Itachi did. "Sometimes, you need to do something that benefits others more than yourself, in order to gain what you want or need for the greater good in the future." I could feel his gaze on me, but I continued looking out on the sunset. Something told me looking at him would distract me. "Joining the ANBU because it's the wish of the clan and your father, might entail you reaching your own goals further on."

Itachi turned his eyes to the sunset as well. I dared to look at him from the side. He really was exquisite. I felt no jealousy over that; only pride.
Pride, and another feeling deep within me that I would do anything, anything in the world, for this man.

Two years later:

"I have been promoted to ANBU captain".
I was not surprised. Which I told him.
"I'm not surprised."
I stood opposite to him, on the same cliff. The wind made Itachi's hair flow out behind him. It had grown a good inch. It suited him. His hair wasn't the only thing that had changed; I had now a hard time dealing with him in battle. I still never got a blow in, but Itachi was close to hit me at least once per training. But with the maturation of his skills, I sensed something troubling him growing as well, deep in his soul. And with that change in Itachi, I had started to feel that I wanted to give him something better, something more, than the life he was given. "Shisui, I'm starting to suspect this is not my path anymore. It will not calm down the matters between the clan and Konoha, nor will it lead me on my way to exterminate all war. Nobody takes me and my desires seriously."
Itachis dream of a war-less world would have sounded childish to some, but never to me, and not to anyone, anymore. He needed to know this.
"Itachi... You have a way with words beyond your years. Why do you think your father's men become so upset when you speak at the clan meetings?" Itachi looked taken aback at this. "It's because they listen to you, and they know you're valuable."
Itachi looked at Shisui, his face not conveying any emotion. This saddened him a little. Two years ago, he could at least have seen a flicker of emotion in Itachi's face. Not anymore.

Never enough...
Itachi stood above the dead man, a spy from another land. He always carried out his missions flawlessly, but it was never enough. It was as if he was standing still, treading water. He started to lose his passion. The only thing he ever looked forward to, were his evenings with Shisui. During the last couple of years, since he joined the ANBU, he had felt he was more of an equal to Shisui, rather than his apprentice.
'Shisui of the Body Flicker...'
A shiver went through his spine, but he was uncertain why. He started digging deeper in his mind while dealing with the body of the now-dead spy to come to try to understand what the feeling was. He thought it might be the power Shisui held, how exceptional he was at everything he ever did, and how Itachi, when training with him, nowadays felt fulfilled, like he could actually do something to impress him. In a way, holding power himself. Shisui was also the only person to whom Itachi ever complained. Not because he felt the need to be humble with everyone else, but because he didn't have the need to express his feelings to anyone but Shisui. He could talk to him about anything. Itachi felt as though Shisui was slowly becoming his entire world. He didn't fight it.

They sat on the cliff with their backs leaning against each other, holding their knees, talking. Shisui was a member of the ANBU on paper, but had been given permission by the Third to act as he desired. He told Itachi about his plan to use the Kotoamatsukami against Itachi's father.

"Is it really well thought-out?" Itachi asked. "Will the outcome really change? They might suspect something has happened to Father and chose a new leader, and then continue with their plan."
"I know that is a risk..." Shisui sighed. "But the final meeting is tomorrow and we have no other plan. The Third agrees"

Itachi sensed a shift in Shisuis chakra, knowing it meant he lit his Sharingan. He felt Shisui lean his head back, resting the back of his head on Itachi's shoulder. This took Itachi by surprise. They were never physical other than the occasional fist bump. But it had felt so natural today, they both coming here directly after their missions, exhausted, to lean their backs together. And now this. Shisui acted as though it was the most natural thing in the world.

"Itachi..." Suddenly, Shisui turned around. Taken by surprise, Itachi turned to face him. For the first time, he saw Shisui's Mangekyo Sharingan as he stared at Itachi with such intent that it made Itachi speechless. "I will succeed. I will succeed because I must."

My heart was pounding the whole time. From the moment my back touched his, everything in me burned. When I felt his shoulder under my head as I leaned back, I was so afraid he would reject it. But he didn't. He just let me rest there as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Now I had turned around, promised him I would succeed.

'I must', I though. I wanted desperately to live in a world where I could spend more years with Itachi, to see how our friendship would be explored. I needed to do this for him, so that he could find his purpose in life. When I saw the hope in his eyes when I made my promise, my heart broke.

Itachi looked at his friend and could see he was troubled. He wanted to thank his friend, but didn't know how.
"Itachi, I need you to stay out," said Shisui. Itachi was taken aback. "Don't come to the meeting. I need you to wait for me here. The clan are suspicious of you, so they have made me spy on you." Itachi was taken aback. "I will come and meet you up."

Itachi was not happy with this command, nor that the clan felt they needed to keep him under scrutiny, but he did understand. He set his face and nodded.
Itachi didn't really know what made him do it. But he took two quick steps forward and put his arms around his friend.

"Thank you, Shisui."

He could feel Shisui give a surprise jerk, but he didn't reject Itachis closeness. Itachi had acted so fast, he didn't even know how he hoped Shisui would react. But he couldn't help but feel wave after wave of happy pleasure when Shisui relaxed and put his arms around Itachi's shoulders. He hugged Itachi even closer to him, resting his cheek against the side of Itachi's head. He squeezed Itachi's body closer still, making Itachi's heart sing. Itachi wished they could stay like that forever, because all was right in the world when the stood like this. Of course, that was not an option.

"I will succeed" was all Shisui said.

I had dreaded the moment we would have to break apart from our embrace. Not because I didn't want it to end (although that was true as well), but because I didn't know what to do afterwards. I knew what I WANTED to do, mind, but of course I wouldn't.
Itachi was the one breaking the embrace in the end. I kept my hands on Itachi's shoulders, and Itachi kept his hands on my waist. This felt more intimate to me than the embrace; I could feel a light pulse of chakra emitting from Itachi's hands in the same pace as his heartbeat, which was surprisingly calm. It felt as though my own heart was pounding. I took a strand of his hair between my fingers, starting to play with it. Itachi remained still, emitting calm.

'What does this all mean?' I couldn't help but think. At some point, it had stopped being just about the clan and Konoha, and starting to be about the future of the two of us, at least for me. I wanted time with Itachi, and part of me thought he wanted time with me. I wanted for us to live peacefully in our home village to see where we would go in the future, and that couldn't happen with the enmity between the clan and Konoha. I had to give my all to the Kotoamatsukami. I had to give it my all so that Konoha and the clan found peace, so that me and him could continue our training together, so that we could start going on missions together, growing, becoming stronger and also reach a level of content with life and ourselves, preferably together.

Reluctantly, I let go of his hair, and we parted.
"Be careful, Shisui", Itachi said.
Next time I saw him, I wanted to offer him a new world.

Snake.
Sheep.
Monkey.
Boar.
Horse.
Tiger.
Itachi felt giddy. Over and over again he went through the events of their meeting. When he came to the part where Shisui had grabbed his hair and started playing with it, he had to start going through the hand signs of different techniques, or he would go mad with something he still hadn't figured out what it was. A feeling he had yet never experienced. When he had calmed his mind, he started the thought process over. The feeling of Shisui's warm body against his. How surprisingly hard and large it had felt under his large shirt.

'Shisui of the Body Flicker...'

Itachi shivered, a smile spreading across his face. But then it disappeared as he realized the danger in which Shisui put himself by attempting to do what he believed must be done. 'Please, please, let him succeed', Itachi prayed in his mind.
He mindlessly walked back to the compound and his family for dinner. He wanted to spend the evening alone. He needed some time to figure some things out. What was happening to them? What was this new feeling? Did Shisui feel it, too? What were they to do? The giddying thoughts filled him up again.

He looked out of the window, at the moon who was on its way to become full, probably in a couple of days, and wondered what Shisui was doing and thinking. He found it impossible to imagine that Shisui was doing the same thing he was doing himself, which was just being still and thinking about the other.

'I need to see him again', Itachi realized. 'I need us to do what we did today over and over.' After a good few hours, it dawned on Itachi what the feeling he had experienced and not been able to understand was.
It was desire.

I looked up at the moon. It was on its way to become full, probably in two or three days. I hadn't left the cliff after we parted, and now laid down on the grass, my arms underneath my head. I felt a warm breeze ruffle my hair. I closed my eyes and enjoyed it. Enjoyed life. Itachi didn't know that I had kept my Sharingan lit during our embrace so as to memorise it as carefully as I could. Now, I brought every last detail back. The sensation of Itachi's slender fingers on my waist. The feeling of his hair in my fingers. It had been soft, not course at all, and so smooth I had had to grab it hard so it wouldn't slide off my fingers.

I carefully went through the steps I would have to make tomorrow to capture Fugaku in the Kotoamatsukami. It had to happen before the meeting, of course, as this particular meeting would be crucial. If I failed, the clan would soon move against Konoha. I felt confident I would succeed. I had to.

I thought one last time of Itachi before going back home to go to bed. I wondered if he needed me, as I needed him. I wondered if he felt everything that I felt, too, or if he was as cool, calm and collected as he had been when we had been together. He seemed to have evolved from being a friend to someone I had to deserve. He seemed to represent everything that was good and I felt so, so lucky to have him by my side against the clan.

He made me feel safe in the space in my own head. I went home, and went to bed.