Nevermore

Hinamei had never been happier. She sat on the edge of the dock with her eyes transfixed on the almost hypnotizing current of the water while her feet dangled over the edge. Every now and then she could feel the water rise up and wash over her ankles and she couldn't help but laugh with delight when they did. "What are you doing so far out here by yourself?' As she turned, her smile faded. It was that voice, she hadn't truly heard it for so long. Itachi stood tall behind her, his eyes a soft charcoal color and his hair loosely tied back. A small smile appeared on his mouth and he raised an eyebrow expectantly. "Cat got your tongue?" Itachi had gotten older and with it dozens of changes had occurred. His shoulders got broader, his body more toned, his voice had gotten deeper and even his face had filled out a little more. He was spectacular and Hinamei had to force herself to look away. What is this? I've known him for nearly eight years and all of a sudden I can't look at him? Suddenly a hand grazed her chin and she was forced to look into his face as he knelt in front of her.

"Itachi, w-what are you doing?" Her eyes got wide and desperatly she pushed a hand into his shoulder to move him away, but he merely swiped his hand up and pushed her's off. Smirking as he did so.

"Hinamei," his voice trailed off and expectantly he looked at her mouth. Her eyes dropped and she leaned in, feeling his warm breath tickle the edges of her lip. I can't stand this anymore! They were so close she could feel his lips grazing against hers and when he spoke as softly as a whisper she thought now was the moment she might truly pass out. "I need you..."

Her tousled head shot up from the pillow and she hit her hand hard against her temple. "No, no, no! Disgusting! Itachi, get out of my dreams already!" Her dark eyes flared up and she fell back, yelling into the pillow as she did so. Really, Itachi wasn't even her type and he's the last person she wanted to have her real first kiss with. Even in dreams, that spot was off limits. She crawled out of bed, angry to have been wakening up in such a horrible way and from the looks of it, quite early. A knock on the door pushed her anger away and she snapped her eyes towards the front of the house. Who would visit her at this hour? She looked down at herself and blushed angrily; they had picked quite a time to call on her! Quickly she rushed into the closet, looking for anything to cover up her skin with. She settled on a black silk robe, it hung above her knees but it was better than before. Hurriedly she rushed to the door, streaming a hand through her hair trying to tame it, but it was no good. The day was early, still dewy with last night's chill and she shivered as the early winter air wrapped around her ankles. Hinamei blinked at the vast emptiness. "No one's here?" Her eyes fell to the floor and she grinned. A bouquet of flowers lie on her porch and just as she was about to bend down to get them, a kunai darted out from one of the trees and splintered the door right where her head had been. A small scream left her mouth and stupidly, she wrapped her arms around her head and bent to her knees.

An attack, first thing in the morning? She blinked before her eyes narrowed and she dropped her arms to her side. Of course, why hadn't she seen this coming?

"Oh look, it's the birthday girl. I think I might have woken her." Shisui sat in the tree branch, swinging his legs back and forth childishly with a devilish grin slapped on his face. The now sixteen year old boy laughed to himself and gave Hinamei an over exaggerated wink. It was too early to deal with them. Above him stood Itachi, his eyes dark and looking over Hinamei without a readable expression on his face. Even still, she looked away uneasily. Shisui pounced down to the ground and smiled, feeling the tension in the air get thicker. Why did this always have to happen when they were around each other? Hinamei looked up, both boys were dressed in their ANBU uniforms. Shisui's bare arms showed off the tattoo he had where as Itachi's short sleeved shirt hid his from view. They must have just gotten back, she hadn't seen either of them for three days. But she smiled regardless. At least they remembered her birthday. "Sorry to start your day off like this, but really, I couldn't break tradition now could I?" Hinamei smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear. She bent down an picked up the flowers, not missing a beat as Itachi slid his eyes towards her to watch her reaction.

"They're my favorite. You sure have good taste Shisui." Itachi looked away and Shisui smirked in response, eyeing his team mate curiously. "How long are you here for anyway?" She didn't want to make it too obvious she cared, more or less she tried to disguise it as nonchalant conversation. But from the looks on both their faces she didn't mask it too well.

"Don't know yet, after we're done here we're off to see the Hokage with our report." Shisui stretched and muffled a yawn. "But anytime now we should be getting some time off. I'll let you know when we find out." Itachi nodded and Shisui blinked back, "right, we really have to get going though." He gave a small, happy wave to Hinamei who returned it with no exuberance and watched as Shisui darted off. She kept her eyes glued to the ground until she felt Itachi's presence leave too. Leaning against the door she sighed, arranging the petals with her slender fingers.

She really should have gotten used to Itachi by now.

He started acting like this after their fight two and half years ago. Gradually slipping away from her as she liked to see it. As it stood he was at his worst. Getting a single word out of him would have been a miracle. The only people he was really kind to was Sasuke and Shisui. And even the latter she had to question sometimes. On occasions such as this she found herself missing the person he was more and more. What made matters worse is that arranged marriage still loomed over her head like a black cloud. She wasn't sure on the details but assumed that he had to follow through with it before they turned eighteen. There was once a time when she almost saw it possible, where he held her close when she was scared and promised things would be alright. But something like that hadn't slipped from his mouth in years and she doubted she would hear it again anytime soon. Shisui liked to blame it on the stress, but she knew better. Itachi just didn't like her. Not like he used to anyway. A part of her actually felt like she'd rather have Itachi walk around calling her annoying and stupid now, anything but the silence.

The silence killed her. It was like she didn't even exist to him. She hadn't heard anything but one word answers come out of his mouth for over a year now. At least not directed at her. With a sigh Hinamei pushed herself up off the door and went back into her house. The pale light drifted in through the open blinds and she watched as the dust reflected off the small beam. From overhead she took down a vase and filled it with water, taking her time to unravel the bouquet and arrange them till she was happy. Now that she was up she saw it fit to get ready. After all, according to the clock she only had two hours left till her shift at the flower shop. Since it was her birthday she felt like it didn't hurt to feel pretty. She took her time in doing her hair and spotting her face with bit's of makeup. She left the house feeling in check in a minty green dress, cream tinted cardigan and peach flavored lips. The walk down was lonely, people had yet to come out from their beds and she sighed, blowing a fringe of hair up with her.

Hinamei looked down and frowned, she had forgotten Ino had painted her nails for her last time she worked. All ten fingers and toes were an eye grating blue. Unmatched to her mellow dress. She had moved on from wearing boots, now she wore sandals. The type citizens wore who had no intentions on ever fighting again. She had become, as Shisui like to put it, the most normal person on the planet. On the outside that is. Her mouth still spouted some of the strangest things and he persisted that she would never grow out of her eccentricity. Hinamei pulled the shop key from her apron pocket and walked under the shop bell that went off every time the door shook it. It was just her till noon. With a sigh she got started, trimming the frail looking leaves and weeding out the dying flowers, it took her less than ten minutes to water every plant. A frown replaced her complacent expression. How could she be done already? According to the clock she wasn't supposed to cut new flowers for three more hours. With an agitated sigh she sat back on the stool behind the counter, guessing that all she could do now was wait for customers to arrive. Over the course of twenty minutes, her fingers had tipped, tapped, and throttled almost everything on the register. Bored until she carelessly pulled the sale book out from under the register and began leafing through it. "Ah, that was nice of him. She deserves something sweet," Hinamei mused to herself as she scanned the names. "Yellow roses, tsk, what's he trying to say to her?" Her eyes fell lower on the page until she reached the last name and she stilled.

"Uchiha Itachi, 7:38 pm. Winter's eve Orchid."

She closed the book and wordlessly put it back. Her eyes out of focus and lip trembling. "The flowers were from him? Did he remember..."

"What's your favorite kind of flower Ita-chan?" He cast her a flat stare and she smiled, continuing on like she hadn't seen it. They sat on the perch of a wall, watching as Shisui hit targets with perfect accuracy "Mine's called a Winter's eve Orchid and it's one of the most beautiful flowers I've ever seen." Her eyes fell and a small blush crept into her cheeks. "They say that those kind of flowers are given as apologies to people you love. That if accepted and put out on a winter's eve morning, whoever you're giving them to will forgive you for whatever you've done. Isn't that sweet?" Itachi stared ahead, trying his hardest to block her out. He hoped that if he ignored her for long enough she'd stop rambling. "I think it's sweet."

"I don't care about your stupid flowers Hinamei, if you're going to spout words at least talk about something interesting." She grated her teeth and turned away. Stupid Itachi, one day he'll realize he'd be lost without her. She looked over her shoulder and stuck her tongue out. Meeting his glower with mirrored expression.

"But even if you gave me a flower like that I still wouldn't forgive you." Itachi snorted in response and hopped down from the wall.

"Trust me, you wouldn't get flowers from me even if you begged."

She slipped off of the stool and walked over to the door. Could it have been just a coincidence after all? Her dark eyes widened as she watched two people advance down the street, one was talking with his hands about and the other was staring broodingly ahead. His hands in his pockets and his mind obviously not in the conversation at all. It only took them two hours to finish their report? She slid out of view, slipping behind the tall rose displays and watched from between the leaves as they passed. A grateful sigh passed her lips and she laughed nervously, turning her attention back to them as they walked ahead. Itachi turned his head to look back and momentarily they made eye contact. Her breath caught in her throat and she couldn't force herself to turn away. It was only when he broke away did she choke back her breath and wobble back over to the register. "He saw me. He had to, what else could he have been looking at?" She smoothed her dress and stood up straight, rolling back her shoulders. It's not like it mattered anyway, he wasn't talking to her and therefore she didn't see a reason to speak to him. "I'm going to go cut those damn flowers early." She mumbled before stalking off into the back room where they grew. Keeping her mind occupied she willed herself to think of everything but the moody Uchiha and she kept herself busy till the first customer arrived and left. After that a steady flow of people came in till the clock hit noon. Ayashima came in and stretched as she walked through the door, managing a tired hello to Hinamei as she passed.

"We haven't been very busy have we?" From where she sat on the stool she shook her head and Ayashima nodded knowingly. "Well around this time of year it usually isn't. How about you head on home, there's no point in working if you'll have nothing to do." Hinamei smiled with wide eyes, Ayashima was nice but when it came to work she had rules that she followed religiously. "Happy birthday sweetheart."

"How did you know?" The Uchiha girl asked, unable to remember telling her at any point. With a soft grin Ayashima winked and Hinamei quirked an eyebrow curiously.

"That handsome Uchiha boy of yours told me last night. Speaking of, did you get his gift?" Hinamei looked away uneasily, managing to force half a smile.

"Yes I did, this morning. They were beautiful." Ayashima paid no mind to the girls dropped voice and instead she continued on.

"That's what I told him. Imagine my surprise when he walked in and picked out what he wanted in two minutes flat. Like he had been thinking about it all day. You don't see many men like that come in. You sure are lucky to have someone like him Hinamei." To her surprise Hinamei snorted, she took the apron off around her head and shot Ayashima a sarcastic smirk.

"Trust me, when you really get close you'll find out he's not the saint everyone thinks he is." Ayashima blushed and shrilly exclaimed with her hands to her face. It wasn't until she started gushing, 'tell me more, please!' that Hinamei realized she had said the wrong thing entirely. She gave a loud nervous laugh and covered it up with a swift, "I would but I can't keep him waiting after all!" She left the shop shaking with Ayashima's last words still hot on her tail. "A fox, eh?" Hinamei shook her head and giggled. Even if the whole conversation made her feel sick she was still happy to have found out it wasn't so much a coincidence as she had first thought. A stiff smile found its way to her pink lips and she rubbed her neck nervously. But what did it mean? Surely it had to mean the same to him if he was dropping flowers at her door, right? She sighed and tried her best to shake the thought. Until he made a move it was probably easier to just forget about it.

She'd be running in circles for hours if she didn't.

As she walked into the compound and past the old training grounds she heard the unmistakable sound of grunting coming to her left. "Huh?" She turned, a part of her prepared to see Itachi and Shisui still throwing shurikan and wooden plates. Her eyes lowered, they haven't been here for years. What would change that? A small child stood where she once did, throwing weighted kunai at a splintered plank. The boy halted and whipped on his heel, holding a kunai out in front of him defensively. She blinked and laughed nervously, rubbing her hand on her neck. "Oh hey Sasuke-kun, I didn't mean to interrupt you or anything. Just passing through." She heard the kunai drop to the floor and when she opened her eyes she saw Sasuke running towards her with a smile bigger than she'd seen in a long while.

"Hina-chan! It's been so long since I've seen you!" His arms wrapped around her dress and he inhaled. "You smell good, I miss this." He mumbled into her leg, turning his face upwards he grinned. "Do you like what you see? I've been training hard every day. I have top scores at the academy you know, just like Nii-san had." His eyes lowered and his smile wavered. "But I'm still not as good as he was at my age." She placed her hand a top his head and ruffled his inky black hair.

"Hey, don't say that. Itachi's a big bore anyway, I'm sure you'll be even better than him within the week. I still can't even throw a kunai that well." He laughed a let her go, stepping back he whipped a second kunai out and spun it on his finger. "Why don't you show me some more tricks of yours." With a wink she laughed as she watched him run off, she didn't realize how much she missed the kid. Since Itachi stopped talking to her she hardly went out. Between home and work she found reasons not to go over and visit. Even if it meant cutting Sasuke out of the picture. She leaned against the wall as she watched him, smiling as he skidded and leaped. Never once did he miss his target.

"Sasuke, Kaa-san has your lunch ready. You know she doesn't like to be kept waiting." Sasuke whipped around with a pout, his eyes struggling to silently plead with his brother. Hinamei let her eyes drop, feeling awkward as she stood in-between the two.

"Nii-san, please, just a few more minutes!" Itachi shot him a warning look before waving his hand and allowing Sasuke to continue. Out of the corner of her eye Hinamei glanced up at him. He hadn't looked at her yet.

"I wanted to thank you for the flowers Itachi, they're beautiful." Her voice was quiet but she caught his movement as he turned halfway towards her. He answered with a small 'hn' and she smiled. "Did you remember?" His dark eyes flashed away from her and he turned back up towards Sasuke.

"Let's go, you can come back after you eat." Sasuke whined and slowly picked up his kunai, throwing them in his bag he muttered a faint 'fine' before he strutted over.

"Bye Hina-chan, it was nice seeing you." His large eyes flashed over to his brother and he smiled, mischief flashing in his eyes. "And you look pretty today, I'm sure Nii-san would agree." Itachi cut him a hard glare and Hinamei blushed with a fluster. She choked on her words till Sasuke laughed and walked off. Her shoulders slumped, leave it to the kid to make her speechless, he was just like his brother. Sasuke broke into a run and to her surprise Itachi didn't follow. She turned towards him, cheeks still tinted pink with the blush. It was the first time he had really looked at her and she saw it in his eyes, something passive. Was he ever going to speak? She bit back on her lip nervously, still tasting a faint peach flavor on her lips.

"Itachi-" He smirked and raised his head fully towards her and she stepped back, unsure. This was the first time he truly acknowledged her in over a year, it was comforting even if it was sarcastic.

"You should get home Hinamei, walking alone looking like that will get you in trouble if you're not careful." Itachi turned away from her, leaving her staring wordlessly after him. He made it out of the training grounds until he heard his name called out from behind him. "Hm?" He looked over his shoulder, eyes serious and bold. Watching as he placed her hands together in front of her, something she did often when she was younger.

"Apology accepted." And he answered just as she thought he would. With another 'hn' left from his mouth he continued walking, a smile graced his lips and he made sure his back was to her. He didn't know what he'd do if she managed to see that, kami knows he'd never live that down. Hinamei placed a hand to her chest and sighed, that went off well but still, again with the one word answers! She frowned and knocked herself in the temple, "don't get carried away, he's still a jerk just like he'll forever be. Stupid Hinamei." She clutched her apron in her hand and carried off back to her house. Head still lost to his words. Had he called her pretty? She laughed to herself and strained, of course he didn't. What he said was vague and made no sense, like all the nonsense that rarely spewed from his mouth. She approached her house with a headache, the trials of the day too much for to handle anymore and at this point, all she wanted to do was go back to bed. As she passed the vase she stopped, looking back over at she gently took one orchid out and examined it. It was perfect, petals curved like bone, pale and icy with a dark blue speckled center. With the flower still in her hand she wandered over to the bookshelf. "I won't forget this Itachi." She pulled a book from the shelf and opened it middle page. "You were wrong after all, I didn't have to beg once." The flower sat center on the page and with a grunt she slammed the book shut. "I'll take this flower to the grave with me, insisting you liked me after all. That idiot." She stifled a yawn and put the large book back on the shelf, making her way into her bedroom she crawled onto the bed. Her sandals slipped off of her feet and she brought her legs upwards, curling into herself like she did when she was scared. Her eyes looked out the window, watching as a couple passed down the street, holding hands and whispering sweet nothings. Hinamei snorted and rolled over, her hair coming undone from the intricate style she had pulled it into. Was this how things would forever be? Get up, go to work, come home. How dull, her eyes drifted shut and she brought the spare pillow in close to her chest. "Itachi, what's happened to us?"

She fell asleep alone again, hoping in the back of her head she'd wake up and he'd be there. But she knew better.

"You really shouldn't leave your house unlocked. Anyone could just wander in and take what they like you know." She opened one eye warily, annoyed at whoever it was the stole her from her sleep. The person was lying down next to her with his arms casually thrown behind his head and his legs crossed at the ankles. "I told you I'd let you know when I had time off, I figured you wouldn't mind if I let myself in." Lazily she threw an arm over his chest and nuzzled into his rib cage.

"Shisui, shut up and go to bed." She mumbled into his side. He laughed and shook his head, obviously not wanting to oblige.

"Now that's no way to spend a birthday, when did you get boring Hinamei?" She peeked up at him through one eye and glared, he knew the answer to that one. "Oh that's right, after we stopped hanging around you." His voice got softer and slowly he turned in towards her. "Look, I don't know what happened either. But I've been thinking lately that the only person who can make Itachi normal again is you." At this she bolted away from him, withdrawing her arm and looking at him like he'd grown a second head. "I'm serious, don't look at me like that."

"For once in your life, yeah I get it. But you must have lost your mind. He won't so much as glance at me." She turned away and tapped a finger to her lip, "well except for today, but I'm not counting that. When he can come up and strike up a normal conversation then maybe I'll consider it." Shisui sat upright, ignoring her last sentence he had that look in his eye like he had a plan. A brilliantly stupid plan.

"You know, I'm off the rest of the day and I don't even have to ask to know you'll be doing nothing." She looked away, already offended and he hadn't even been there for more than ten minutes. "Let's go on a mission together, like we used to. I'm sure we can figure this out. And by the end of the day you'll have Itachi sitting back in your palm, just like old times." Irked, she pushed him off the bed with her foot.

"I never had him sitting in the palm of my hand. From how I remember it, I was the one following you guys around like a lost puppy!" He snickered and looked up at her expectantly. She couldn't help it, Shisui had a charm that not even she could resist. She crossed her arms and looked away, mumbling a small 'fine', unknowingly sealing her fate.

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

Itachi wandered outside of his house, he looked up at the sky from the shelter of his hand and sighed. "Sasuke, are you ready?" He called back, looking over his shoulder to see if the small child was coming. Sasuke bolted from inside the house and darted onto the porch, grinning as he did so. "This won't take long, when we come back I'll help you with your training alright?" Itachi smiled down at the boy and tousled his hair, heading down the steps once Sasuke's hand was secured in his.

"Nii-san? What's wrong with Hina-chan, how come she doesn't come over anymore?" The small boy looked up until Itachi sighed and shrugged his shoulder.

"That's what happens when people get older. They lose friends and some they keep. It all depends."

"But aren't you two supposed to get married?" Itachi kept his eyes ahead of him, this situation was one he had gone over in his head a million times and yet he still couldn't find a way out. Again, he smiled down at Sasuke and bent down to pick him up. Happily, Sasuke sat on top of Itachi's shoulders, his hands tangled in his hair.

"That's something you don't need to worry about right now."

"That weasel! Look how nonchalant he is about the whole thing. Shisui, I really can't stand this. Can we please just go back already?" Hinamei brushed back her fringes and sighed, the air was growing hotter. Only a few more days of this till winter really would start to set in. Shisui gave her a stern glare, whispering a threat before he hopped out of the tree. He looked up at the girl and motioned for her to come down. Angrily, she snapped back. "I told you I wouldn't be able to come down! I'm stuck!" With a roll of his eyes Shisui glanced back, Itachi was well ahead of them now and he took that chance to jump back into the tree. Swooping Hinamei up in his arms she loudly struggled, unbeknownst to him, afraid of heights. Her arms secured around his neck and she nuzzled into his collarbone. It wasn't until he commented that she realized she was safely on the ground and still in his arms.

"Alright you crybaby, you can let go now." His eyes were closed and she glanced around. She was being made a spectacle of and nervously she climbed down.

"Sorry." Her eyes relaxed and she looked ahead. Itachi was out of sight by now. Suddenly she began feeling sick, this was too much. Despite what she wanted to think she couldn't pry herself away from Itachi. She loved him, too much to stand around and watch him think nothing of her. "Shisui, I really don't think I can do this. Look, thanks for trying but it's pointless unless he wants my help." She blinked, did she not hear him? "Shisui?" She looked to her left and frowned. Shisui was standing a foot away from her, leaning against the wall and leaning in towards a young woman a little older than herself. "Right," she waved her hand and started walking away. Knowing that when he was in this mood he wasn't going to hear a word she said. "And to think, I could have still been sleeping."

When she made it back to her house she was in an even fouler mood than she started off in. Itachi had forgotten about her. Shisui had blown her off completely. And to make everything worse a migraine was setting in. Rubbing at her temples she kicked off her shoes and slowly made it towards the bathroom. Figuring a hot bath might fix the headache and maybe she could forget about both selfish Uchiha boys in the process. While the bath ran hot she fixed herself a cold glass of water and as quickly as she could, downed it. What a birthday this was turning out to be. Her eyes settled on the flower arrangement and she plucked three small blossoms from the bottom. Despite that it still looked full. She let the flowers go on top of the water, watching as they floated around the porcelain edges. "Maybe I could leave the village," she sighed as she settled in the water. her hair floated around her shoulders, sticking to her wet skin. "I could become a traveling florist and sell the blooms I find on the side of the road as I wander." She sunk in deeper until her neck was surrounded by the floral scented bath. "And maybe then I won't have to marry that awful boy." With her head leaned back she closed her eyes, picturing the many adventures she could have if she hadn't been born into the Uchiha clan. A fantasy she often had at bath time. The first twenty minutes went by flawlessly, but as expected something had to go wrong.

A door opened somewhere out of the bathroom and she froze, eyes narrowed at the bathroom door. As she remembered she had left a window open, it could only be a breeze. Before she got another chance to relax however the sound of footsteps reached her ears. Someone was in her living room. If it's Shisui I swear I'll kill him. Quietly, she wrapped a towel around her body and snuck over to the side of the wall. Sudden panic set in and she wondered if maybe it was no one she knew at all, coming in to hurt her and steal what little things she didn't possess. "Hinamei? Are you home?" A voice called out, unrecognizable through the wall. Her shoulders slumped though and she assumed it could only be one person. Took him long enough to wander back in. She threw the bathroom door open and scowled.

"Shisui, I told you I'm done chasing him around. He doesn't like me anymore, can't you understand?" She turned the corner into the kitchen and glowered. "Now don't you-" she opened her eyes to make sure she saw what she was seeing and swallowed. That wasn't Shisui at all.

"So you were following me?" Itachi's dark eyes drifted down her legs and a small blush crept into his cheeks. "Uh," he turned around suddenly, both hands on her counter with his head held down. Hinamei, still shocked from seeing Itachi in her living room only blinked and tried to will herself to move. "Can't you put some clothes on or something?" His voice wavered and she snapped out of it. Her face got bright red and her eyes widened. Clothes? I'm not wearing any- She stormed into her room as quickly as she could, with her hand over her mouth she closed her eyes. Nothing but a towel, Itachi had seen her in nothing but a towel!

Could this day get any worse?

She threw on a dress and pulled her hair up into a loose bun before she felt like she could face Itachi again. If he was even still waiting. Carefully, she slid the door open and peeked out. As far as she could tell she was alone there. She walked out into the living room and quickly looked away. Itachi was at her bookshelf, leafing through a book she hadn't read since she was little. "Itachi?" He closed the book and glanced over at her, obviously still a little flustered from the incident before.

"Kaa-san sent me over here with that." He pointed at a small folded box on the counter. Hinamei walked over and gingerly lifted the lid. It was a box of different sweets with a birthday note placed center on the goodies. She smiled and closed the lid.

"How considerate. Tell her I said thank you. Is that all you came over for then?" Itachi looked at her curiously. He didn't say anything for a second but when he finally spoke he held his head high. Like he was proud and challenging her. Their eyes met and she couldn't seem to shake him off. Chills ran down her spine. His eyes were so empty, careless almost and inhuman. Finally he placed the book back on its shelf and started.

"Not just that. I'm curious as to why Shisui and yourself were following me this morning? And why you seem to think I don't like you anymore?" Hinamei lowered her head, could he be serious? This is the most she had heard from him in over a year and he has the nerve to ask a question like that?

"Is it not true?" Her eyes darted back and forth, trying to understand why he was doing this and now of all times. "You have hardly spoken to him since we were ten!. Has there been proof you still are fond of me? Because from where I stand all I see is a selfish-"

"-did you not say my apology was accepted?" Her mouth opened in surprise and she withdrew herself, arms coming in towards her chest as if to put up a wall. Nervously, she looked away. It's true she had said that, but she didn't think he would take it to heart as he had. "Did you ever consider that the distance between us is maybe for the best? Because of something you would fail to understand even if I put it in the simplest way. Or has all your reasoning been self centered?" He was taken aback as Hinamei's lips curled into a smile, her eyes dark and unreadable.

"This again? I thought we finished this three years ago. Why can't you let these things go, like I've been forced to. Every broken promise, every time you helped me, every time you stopped me from doing something reckless, I've had to let them all go! All that I thought was special and important I've had to forget because I just can't standwatching you keep pushing me away. Do you love me or n-" His hands wrapped around her wrists and her back hit the wall with a force that made her wince under his weight. Itachi had pinned her to the wall, her arms held high above her head. There was no point in struggling, her fingers pried but he was too strong.

"Shut up Hinamei! You have no idea what I'm going through. Just listen to me for once, you don't want to get involved!" He hissed down at her, eyes brightly lit and boring into her. "Just let me go, there are things in this world that could hurt you, break you. I won't be here forever, sooner or later you'll have to learn to protect yourse-" his voice carried away and his hands loosened around her wrists. Standing taller than her he looked down as she cried, her tears splattering against the floor. His chest ached again and he found himself unable to continue. So even after all this time she still had a hold of his heart.

"I can't just let you go Itachi, I refuse to." She brought her head up and glared, tears streaming down her face but under that he saw sheer determination. "You know letting you go isn't an option. No matter how hard I ever tried I wouldn't ever be able to forget about you! No matter how hard I ever could will myself to, I couldn't ever completely rid you from my life. And it will always be this way." She pulled one hand free from his grip and cupped his cheek. Hoping he would look at her and yet his eyes stayed averted past her. "I like you too. And I can't even tell you." Black orbs flickered to her face and she managed a smile. "I haven't cried like this since that day." Itachi pulled away from her, his eyes wide. Hinamei had a gift she didn't even know she had and yet she could break his heart in two with it.

"If you won't listen to me," his voice was deep and dripping with sincerity. "Then there's nothing I can do to help you."

In a blink he was gone and for the first time in three years, she cried until she couldn't cry anymore and her eyes fell shut to visions of her living room floor.