Nevermore

The knocking on her door persisted and heavily, she cast her blood shot eyes towards the sound. "Go away already," her hands rubbed at her sore eyes and she cradled herself closer into the blankets. This time she remembered to lock the door. Finally, the sound died away and she sighed. They were all so persistent. Why couldn't they understand? She just wanted to be alone for a while. This was her third day barracaded in her house. She hadn't talked to anyone other than herself, for a slight second she felt guilty, having not spoken to Ayashima about anything. Surely they had gotten worried by now if not furious. But the world seemed too vast suddenly, as if anything outside her house would break her and never again would she be able to live freely. And it was all thanks to Itachi.

Since that day she had cried, endlessly until her own sobbing lulled her to sleep. And when she woke she cried some more. It was one of those qualities Itachi had always hated. Her biggest weakness was how sensitive she was to everything. And that was lightly speaking. At least before she was able to walk throughout town carelessly and if she did happen to see Itachi it was a gentle passing, no words exchanged but at the same time both knew the other was there. Now even the thought of seeing Itachi made her tremble, surely if she would pass him in the streets now he wouldn't even spare a glance. To him she was nothing now. If she wouldn't forget about him with her own free will his only other option was to force her. Even if it meant driving her to hate him.

"If you won't listen to me then there's nothing I can do to help you."

His parting words stayed trapped in her brain, over and over she repeated them trying to figure out what was behind it all. What was he planning? Her fists clenched at the blankets, she could feel the upheaval of more tears coming. And by now, she was so sick of crying. She couldn't help that she loved him and even if someone had asked her she wouldn't be able to find a reason why. His soul had grown bleak and cold and his mind was a puzzle to anyone that could work a word out of him. What was there left to love? Something bad was going to happen, he had made that much clear to her. But she had yet to understand how far he would go for the clan. Her mind quickly shut that thought out. Politics had never been her strong point and if this what was going to prod that chaos until it burst, there was nothing she could do to help. She was lost in thought for about an hour until a loud series of bangs startled her from her thoughts and quickly, her eyes flashed to the door. All was quiet for a few seconds until the large strikes happened once more. This wasn't someone looking to see if she was home. This was someone who knew she was there and wanted in. Her breathing stopped for a second and her eyes shook with fear. "Please, go away. I can't handle this right now." Her hands wrapped around her head and she closed her eyes tightly.

Her mother had once told her that if she was scared all she had to do was close her eyes and count to five. So she started with one. Another loud bang occured and the door shook. Much more of that and the door was bound to give in. "Two!" Once more, she let out a small scream and held her hands to her head almost painfully. "Three!" The banging stopped and for five entire seconds she waited. "Four..." Suddenly, her window rattled and she screamed loudly.

"Hinamei, let me in dammit!" She turned towards the voice, it was Shisui, eyes wide and terrifed. His ANBU mask was pulled up over his towards his forhead and he had a gash on his arm that was dripping blood faster than what looked healthy. She stumbled clumsily over to the window and quickly unlatched it. He wasted no time in pulling himself through, pushing her aside as he did so. "Where's your katana?" His voice was shaking and steadily he held out his hand to her.

"W-what?" Shisui snapped his head at her, his sharingan was activated and she quickly shut her eyes. She had never seen Shisui's sharingan before and for some reason it frightened her more than Itachi's had.

"Your katana!" With as much speed as she could manage she rushed over to the closet and pulled it from the corner. She didn't even have a chance to turn around before it was out of her hand and Shisui was searching her face for something. "Stay in here for a while alright? Whatever you do, don't come out till you know everybody is gone." His hand drifted over her face till he cupped her cheek and as quietly as he could he whispered, "keep your eyes shut. No matter what." Firmly, he pushed her inside and pulled down the tanuki mask. He held a finger to his mouth and then blew a kiss through the mask. Even when in danger Shisui was still Shisui. Closing the door quickly she flinched, someone new was banging on the door. Her hand quickly slapped to her mouth, muffling the scream that was threatening to come out. This had to be a dream, it had happened so suddenly what else could it be? She shut her eyes and counted back to five, starting at one. From where she sat she could hear the door splinter under someone's impact. All these sounds erupted from in front of her and she pushed herself as far back into the corner as could manage. Shisui, be careful please...

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Shisui pushed his mask back up, exhaling loudly as he stepped through the gates of the village. His mission ended sooner than he had thought it would and happily, he strutted with a lopsided grin on his face. After he reported in to the third he would finally be free to take that long deserving nap he'd been waiting three days for. Itachi was out in his mission still, and judging by the description Itachi had read him, he'd be gone for a couple more days still. It had been one hell of a month already, missions were coming in left and right and the number of Jounin and ANBU the village had at the time stretched only so far. He wasn't overexaggerating when he said they were truly working him to the bone. The early evening light was relaxing, even the slight breeze that came in was something to be thankful for thanks to his last grueling assignment. It had been a warm winter so far, but he wasn't complaining. He hated the cold. As he approached the Hokage's tower he halted, something didn't feel right. Slowly, he pulled the tanuki mask over his face and leaped up onto the closest building, trying to scan the area for foul play. The strike hit him before he even had a chance to turn around. He skidded to the edge and grasped a firm hold around his upper arm, blood seeped through his fingers and he winced, "what the hell?" A tall man stood in front of him and Shisui's eyes widened. This man's clothes, they were that of a group of rogue shinobi that had allianced together and had been attacking various villages. They were from the same group that he had been assigned to assassinate.

"Looks like your job wasn't finished after all coon boy." Shisui narrowed his eyes and dropped from the building, he landed gracefully on his feet and whipped the tanto from his back. The ninja followed quickly, landing heavily in front of the small boy and leered.

"How did you follow me here?" His eyes flashed towards the main gates where three more rogue's had walked through. Then it occured to him. When he had first stepped through the gate not one outlook officer had greeted him and asked for his information. Normally, if he hadn't been so tired, he would have noticed it and been on his guard sooner. "This is what I get for all my hard work, it figures!" Shisui stormed the man, with bursts of speed he landed on the man's shoulders and quickly dug the tanto into the top of his scalp. It wasn't by all means a practiced kill but what worked for now got it done. With his sharingan activated he searched the other three thouroughly. There weren't as strong as this first one had been but he had yet to see what their special abilites were. "I have to tell the Hokage, we need more than me out here right now!" He hissed under his breath and flickered towards the remaining three. They were easier than the first had been and he narrowed his sights. They were too easy for them to have killed the outlook officers without a sound. Something wasn't right about this. Before he had time to react his body was flung to the ground, invisble wires stretched across his skin painfully and forced him down into the dirt.

"Struggling is futile." They appeared out of nowhere, six of them circled the pinned Uchiha and laughed. Night fall had finally come and it was just him and the six shinobi that surrounded him. By now any spare people would have been safetly inside their houses. Unless by chance there were more out there than just these guys and they came to raid the village. This thought made him struggle more, grating his teeth together as the wires cut deeper into his skin.

"Dammit, I can't move at all!" The taller of the men wore a mask, it was all black with two eye holes cut around so he could see. He placed his foot at the base of Shisui's spine and pushed until he heard that gutteral yell rip through the air like he had wanted. Things would have gone much differently if they hadn't caught him then. His chakra was worn thin and his eyes strained from overusing the sharingan as much as he had. If he hadn't been so tired he wouldn't look like such a fool right now.

"What's your name?" The man in the mask bent down a nudged Shisui in the face. "Well?" As Shisui stayed quiet the man slipped his finger under th e ledge of the mask and slid it up. "My, what's a young boy like you doing in such an elite rank? Is this village really that desperate for fighters? They'll take just about anyone it seems." He ran his hand through the Uchiha's hair and pulled up, making Shisui wince as his neck strained. He closed his eyes and tried his hardest to suppress the yell that was desperately trying to spring forth. "Let me put it to you this way kid. What you did back there, killing half my men in less than two days, that's just unacceptable. I don't think you realize who we are." He took his hand and slammed Shisui's face back into the ground. "What am I left with now? Nothing but a couple of men with nothing to their name. You killed my best men, now it's just me and Karasu."

"We could kill you but that would be no fun now, would it?" The man that stood behind him was gaunt and pale, his dark eyes scattered feverishly over the area. As if something were going to burst from the shadows at any time. "What do you suppose Habiki? Should I tear his little mind to pieces?"

"I've got a better idea Karasu. You see kid, this shinobi behind me has a rare ability that works wonders when we're stuck with a case like this. He can dig inside your mind and find what's most important to you. Is it your mother? Your father? Or maybe you have a sweetheart lingering around here? Whatever the case he'll find out and when he does we'll go an slaughter them all. Then you can be left with nothing just like you did with me." The man named Habiki stood up and removed his foot from Shisui's back. "Maybe then you'll change your mind about us and join me. After all, I would be lying if I said I wasn't impressed with your skill. Karasu, he's all yours." Shisui's hand was inching closer to his hip pouch, inside were three shuriken, once he cut through the wire he'd be able to stop these thugs. Whatever the case he couldn't let the guy inside his head. He froze when he felt ice cold fingers wrap around his temple, he was wasting too much time!

"I'll kill you all for this, don't think you can escape me. Once I'm out of this beginner's trap I'll rip your thr-" He didn't get a chance to finish as his eyes went wide and his mouth fell open. The man named Karasu hummed a small tune and it echoed around his brain like an unstoppable bell. Shisui thrashed under his hold, feeling his hands trying to get at information that couldn't be released. They would have him killed for that. It was only his luck that the man probing inside his head wasn't nearly as skilled as Inoichi was. Shisui later discovered his technique was solely based on information that he had been thinking about more than other snippets. And the last thing he ever thought about was the village and its secrets. He read names and places, it wasn't a direct feed of secrets but his heart stilled when Karasu spoke a single name.

"Uchiha Hinamei. And she's an awfully pretty one. Maybe I'll have a go at her before I kill her." Karasu smirked and stood back up, his eyes never leaving the rage that twitched in Shisui's own eyes.

"Don't you touch her! I swear, if you go anywhere near her I will show no mercy when I kill you." Habiki shook his head and nudged his foot again into Shisui's side. He bowed down and picked up Shisui's tanto, swinging it behind him as he laughed.

"You're all talk boy. We'll be back after we've all had our share of fun and then we'll discuss what to do with you." Before he could retort the men had darted off, leaving the Uchiha to struggle helplessly on the ground. If he hurried he still stood a chance at getting there before they did. His fingers desperately inched closer until he found the lock to his bag. Opening it, he fumbled a shuriken out. It took some careful planning but he managed to strike the shuriken into the wire. Once, twice, he could feel it lifting from his skin, the third hit cut it in half and as quickly as he could he stood up. His arm was going numb from the cut but that didn't matter. What was important was that he get to Hinamei before they did. Without another thought he worked his infamous body flicker and darted towards the Uchiha compound.

"They must have taken the backroads." Shisui pounced from a building top to the gates of the compound. Knowing full well they were behind him he still took carefully into the compound. Eyes aware of any movement. He reached Hinamei's house and quickly made to turn the knob. "It's locked?" He growled and pounded fiercly on the door. Since when did she ever take his advice? His eyes flashed towards the windows, easily he could break one but if those men got here and saw the window was broken they would surely know he had passed that way. Again, he pounded on the door. When it was obvious she wasn't coming he started to panic. Throwing his shoulder at the door until a better idea flashed in his head. He closed his eyes and when they reopened they were a bright scarlet. Their chakra flared up outside the gates of the compound, they were quickly closing in. But judging from the size of their chakra they wouldn't pose much of a problem. It was Hinamei's involvement he had to worry about. He darted towards her bedroom window and quickly pounded on that. A candle was lit by her bed and through the pane he could hear her scream at his sudden appearance. "Hinamei, let me in dammit!" Her dark eyes looked back at him and he felt his heart ache. He had brought them straight here, all because his guard was carelessly down. He watched anxiously as she stumbled over to the window. She unlatched it and he pulled himself in. He was running out of time, at this rate they would be there any minute. He held his hand out, "Where's your katana?" Shisui could feel his body giving in, no matter how hard he tried he could feel his voice tremble. Hinamei fell back and opened her mouth in shock.

"W-what?" Shisui glanced over at her nervously and she shut her eyes, afraid.

"Your katana!" Finally, she was beginning to catch on and she rushed to her closet and pulled from it the tall blade Shisui had once given her as a gift. He stole it from her hands. Desperatly he turned his eyes towards her, searching her own glossy orbs. After this was all over he was going to owe her quite an apology. "Stay in here for a while alright? Whatever you do, don't come out till you know everybody is gone." Gently, he cupped her cheek in his gloved hand, leaning in towards her he edged closer to her ear. "Keep your eyes shut, no matter what." With one steady push he forced her into the closet, knowing full well she didn't have the strength to move herself. He pulled down his mask and put a single finger to his mouth. It was important she keep her mouth shut. If they were to find her at any point, she wouldn't stand a chance. Itachi's gonna kill me, with a grin from under his mask he blew her a kiss. Hoping his small bursts of confidence would keep her hopes up, he shut the door on her. "Alright, bring it on." A loud bang erupted from the front of the house and he winced as he felt his chakra sink lower and lower. He needed his sharingan though, now more than ever. The door splintered open and his eyes widened. All six men stood at the front of the house, the man in the mask held his own tanto in front of him. His best chance was to sneak attack, it looked as if they hadn't sensed him yet. As quietly as he could he crept towards the doorway, not wanting to bring them into Hinamei's room if he didn't have to. Across from her room was the bathroom and he edged in. They were lurking around the corner, taking their time.

"Here little kitty, daddy's got a treat for you." One called out loudly, Shisui shook angrily. Keep your calm, this isn't going to work if you lose your temper. "Come on sweetheart, I won't bite." He shook his head, how much more of this he could handle, he wasn't sure. Even the thought of those men looking at Hinamei made him violent, he almost couldn't contain himself. His sharingan shot left as the presence of neither Karasu or Habiki, which only meant an easier kill. The man walked by quietly, unaware of the sharp blade that was now plunging into his side. With a twist of his arm the blade shifted and he pulled it out, smirking as the spray of hot blood splattered his mask. Shisui shot out from behind the bathroom wall and with a loud yell, charged the oncoming men. The second fell easily, along with the third. It wasn't until he was slicing down the fourth did realize Karasu and Habiki were hanging behind, watching.

"Too scared to fight back?" Shisui stood tall as he was pulling the blade from the last man's chest, his lean body ready to pounce at any time. Karasu only grinned in response. "You don't know who I am or what I'm capable of, so wipe that grin off your face."

"I wouldn't praise yourself too highly, those men you just took down were nothing but pawns. Habiki and I on the other hand, you'll have to work much harder. Now where is that little flower? Tell me and maybe I won't make you watch as I have my way." Shisui's teeth grated together and angrily, he whipped the mask off of his face and tossed it to the ground. This had no longer become an assignment, this was going to be a personal kill. The masked man took a step back, holding is hand out towards Karasu warningly.

"Don't get too cocky Karasu. That boy has a sharingan." Karasu pushed aside Habiki's hand and stepped forward, obviously ignorant. Shisui just hoped they would hurry up. His vision was getting shakier and his knees threatened to give out. It was only a matter of time before his body failed him and he collapsed out of sheer exhaustion. He had no choice, he was going to have to use that jutsu. Hoping it would work, if it didn't he wouldn't have enough chakra to do much else. This was definitely a last resort. He pulled his hands up to his face and made an elaborate weave of hand signs.

"I don't care what he has, the boy's going to die." Karasu made to dart at Shisui but it was already too late. His jutsu was faster. Habiki lunged at his partner, throwing his fists and gradually missing the guant man. "Habiki, wha-" his fist collided with his face and Karasu fell into the wall. Habiki struggled to speak, each word came out as a grunt and it wasn't long before his partner was begging for mercy.

"What did I tell you? You didn't stand a chance against me." Habiki reached down and snapped Karasu's thin neck. Shisui's hands fell and before Habiki realized he had control of his body again the blade had already been lodged into his chest. "And before you die I want you to know. I'm not a part of this branch because we're desperate, I'm here because I am the best of the best." The katana twisted and Habiki choked on the blood that rose in his throat. He was dead, they all were. Almost instantly Shisui's sharigan faded and his eyes returned to their normal charcoal color. He had to brace his aching arm against the wall just to stop himself from falling. Never had his chakra been so low, his body felt useless and heavy now. Slowly, he inched towards Hinamei's room, using the wall to support his body as he moved. His head began to swim and he realized he wasn't far from passing out. But he stumbled into Hinamei's room and slid the door shut, gasping as he did. "Hinamei, whatever you do, don't leave this room." He didn't get a chance to find out if she had heard him or not though as his eyes fell shut and he hit the floor in a record five seconds.

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It was the pain that woke him up. His eyelids were heavy but he forced them open, blinking away the dizzyness he found himself staring at the speckled tiles of a hospital ceiling. "Hinamei!" He shot up and instantly regretted it. He slapped a hand to his arm and clenched his eyes shut. That cut, he had let it bleed for far too long now. The damage it might have done to his arm was nothing he wanted to think about.

"If you don't be quiet you'll wake her." Shisui tore his eyes to his left, eyeing the nurse curiously. When the nurses blue eyes met his she motioned with one finger behind him. Hinamei sat curled up in a chair, her head resting on her knees as she gently breathed in and out. Even with her eyes shut he could tell she had spent most of the night crying. "When we found you she was cradling you, she must have thought you were dead. She's been here all night you know." His eyes softened and he looked down. As bandaged and sore as he was he couldn't help but feel guilty. This was all his fault, he was getting overconfident and in turn careless. Whatever the case it couldn't happen again.

"How much longer will I have to stay here? I've got important matters to attend to." The nurse shook her head and put down the book she was reading.

"We're keeping you one day, I think that's reasonable. It's only thanks to us you'll be keeping that arm considering you hadn't wrapped the gash. Calm down, you're a captain right?" He nodded and she waved her hand. "Lord Hokage stopped by earlier, he told me to keep you as long as we like. He seemed happy just to see you were alive still. After all that you had done I think we were all surprised you were still breathing when we got there." He eased back into his pillow and sighed, feeling like a child again. After witnessing what he had last night he knew what he had to do, but how much time he had left he wasn't sure. The nurse stood and told him that she'd come if he pressed the button, leaving Hinamei and Shisui in the room alone. She stirred when the door shut, blinking at the light until she saw Shisui smiling at her from the bed.

"You're alright?" She asked quietly, when he nodded her eyes lit up and she threw herself at him. He stifled a wince as she wrapped her arms fully around his neck and squeezed. But he couldn't complain, her warm body felt good against his. He really couldn't understand what Itachi used to complain about.

"The question is if you're alright?" She pulled away and sat at the edge of his bed, finger wrapping nervously around a thread of hair. "Hinamei?"

"Shisui I'm more than alright. You nearly killed yourself trying to save me though, you really didn't have to act so reckless." Her eyes drifted off and he knew exactly what had crawled into her mind. Selfishly, he bit back an angry retort, tired of seeing her stress over Itachi so often. After all she was right, he did nearly kill himself trying to save her. The least she could do was acknowledge it a bit more. "I'm sorry," she gave a flustered wave with her hand and stood up. "I'm being rude." She bent down and clenched her eyes shut, unwilling to bring herself up to look at him. "Thank you Shisui, I really owe you one." The tears were rising up, feeling that pain in her chest again, always thinking of Itachi. She really needed a distraction. He could hear the tremor in her voice and he sighed, not willing to blame her. Itachi had vaguely told him what had happened three nights ago. Not enough to understand but enough to realize he was really going to do Hinamei in for a long, painful month.

"Shut up Hinamei, tell you what, you can repay me by crawling in here with me and keeping me company till they let me out of this place." He grinned and happy to take the posistion she kicked off her shoes and slipped in next to him. She tossed her hand over his body and softly nuzzled into his chest. Gladly soaking in the comfort Shisui naturally gave off. To the best of his abilities he held her, his eyes relaxed back as the pain was subsiding.

"You're like the brother I never had, I'm really glad I met you Shisui." She softly mumbled it into his chest but as he heard it his eyes softly opened. Brother? Normally, her small pointless statements were easy to overlook but he found himself unusally bothered by that title. He blinked at the ceiling and then looked down at Hinamei, having his own emotions dawn on him. Her eyes soft and bruised, the way she nuzzled his body every now and then. It all made perfect sense. After having to shield his emotions for so long it was hard to recognize one when it did rear it's ugly head.

"I don't want to be your brother Hinamei." He finally said, letting his head fall back against the pillow. A part of him was relieved she had already fallen back asleep but a different part of him desperately wanted her to know. His mind flashed back towards his best friend, knowing full well the damage he would cause if this ever got out. With a glare at the ceiling Shisui clenched the smaller girl closer to his body. "Dammit Itachi, you really do ruin everything."

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Metal clashed against metal and it wasn't long before Hinamei was hunched over trying to catch her breath, again. "You aren't going to get far if you keep stopping to break." Shisui's arm was in a temporary holster, not that it had to be but the nurse had warned him not to move it around much. The wound was so wide that any fast movement would break the stitches open. And then he'd be right back in the hospital. He had explained to Hinamei the importance of having her train to protect herself. She didn't agree but then again she had never really been in battle.

"I still can't keep up. You're way too fast!" He scoffed and held his weapon back upright. It was kunai against katana. And despite having the upper hand she was still getting no where. "I give up. Thanks Shisui but I'm really no good at this." His eyes narrowed and he realized the only way to make her learn was if he made her angry enough to get the true potential out of her.

"Itachi doesn't like you because you're weak." It was a cheap shot, he knew, and after seeing the look dawn on her face he instantly regretted it. "He tells me you're potential rests at absolute zero. But I know better. Or at least I thought I did. It looks like Itachi might have been right after all." Her eyes narrowed coldly at him and he fought back to resist the smile. He unhooked his arm holster and threw it backwards, preparing himself for her attack. Making Hinamei mad had always been an enjoyable past time for him. At least now she was old enough to really get mad and make her move. Hinamei's hand tightened around the handle and she responded faster than he thought she would. He held his kunai up and blocked the hit from the sword. She swung lower, aiming for his midsection. He only escaped the hit by jumping out of the way. "If you can adjust to my speed than everyone else will be easy to hit!" He perched on the edge of the wall, waiting for her next move.

"Shisui this isn't a lesson anymore! You two don't know the first thing about me, I should have known you'd follow Itachi. You always did." She smirked and let it be his turn to narrow his eyes. The hand that held the kunai dropped and he frowned. Had she really just gotten the better of him? "You acted more like the lost puppy than I did. It's sad really."

"Hinamei, stop. I didn't me-" She took another swipe at him and quickly he lunged for her. His hand caught her arm before she had a chance to bring it down and she dropped the katana to the floor, frightened. Shisui's sharingan had sprang back open, he wasn't kidding around any more. Quickly she jumped back, tearing her hand from his.

"Are you going to attack me now too?" Her voice was deadly cold and it took a second for him to realize what had happened. He deactivated his sharingan and shook his head, wordlessly he stepped over and retrieved his kunai from the ground. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean it. I should have realized you were only trying to help." Shisui stood back up and looked at her, his eyes serious and emotionless.

"We both know what you said was true. But not for long." He was speaking mostly to himself but Hinamei stood by and listened. Her mouth getting tighter with every word. "Maybe they were right about him, his arrogance has gotten out of hand and for once I'll be the one finally a step ahead." His eyes flashed back towards Hinamei and he smiled, "Thank you Hinamei."

"You're talking about Itachi aren't you? What has he done this time?" There that came the feeling again. Shisui clenched his hand close to his chest, why was she always so concerned about Itachi? Didn't she realize that so many more people cared about her? She needed to know, even if she didn't accept it she needed to hear it from him. He walked over to her and slipped both his hands into hers, looking into her eyes with a seriousness she hadn't ever seen from Shisui. She was going to learn about Itachi one way or another.

"It's not what he's done but what he's planning to do. I was given the assignment to keep tabs on him for a while. This is almost his sixth month in this division so it's possible it's just the stress. But more and more of the men on the police force are starting to talk that he's acting stranger with each passing day. They don't trust him anymore." Shisui brought his eyes from her face, it was hurting her just to hear it. When Itachi did take action she wouldn't know what to do. His hands squeezed harder, unbearing to think of Itachi hurting her. He had to get her better with that weapon and fast. He hadn't mentioned that his biggest concern for teaching her to fight was solely based on his fear of Itachi attacking her.

"Do you trust him Shisui?" She wasn't looking at him when she spoke, but her voice was strong and serious. Maybe he should have given her more credit. Hinamei knew what Shisui would say. He had made it obvious from the start. But even if everyone lost faith in him she was sure Itachi would pull through. He always did.

"I really don't know anymore..." Gently, she took her hands back from Shisui and for a slight second he thought that maybe he had said too much. But instead of leaving, Hinamei leaned forward and slid her arms under his. Her body snugly fit into his and his eyes shut painfully. He wanted to push her away and tell her not to do that anymore. He couldn't handle being so close and yet he was still just a friend towards her. Itachi didn't deserve her anyway, he never did. "Hinamei..." She pulled away slightly and looked up at him with those bruised, dark eyes of hers. Her mouth trembled but she tried hard to hide it. As his hands lifted he knew he should have stopped himself there. He never meant to spiral this far out of control. Gently his fingers lifted her chin higher, her eyes widened but she didn't pull away. And he did what he felt like Itachi never deserved to do. He closed his eyes and softly pressed his mouth to hers. Warm lips gently crushing, his hands moved and cupped her cheeks and even if she hesitated for a moment she gently wrapped her arms around him in response. The world stopped, for a slight second he knew he had done the right thing. It wasn't until she pulled away did he realize that he had simply done it at the wrong time. She looked up at him, watching the guilt flit across her eyes and he couldn't take it. "I'm sorry Hinamei-" He quickly left her alone and she realized almost numbly that Shisui had been the one to steal her first kiss.

A spot she once said was reserved for anyone but Itachi. With a weak smile she put her fingers to her lips, maybe she should learn not to speak so soon.

And who said Uchiha men didn't fall in love?