Nevermore

“That damn child has run off again!”

It was starting to become a well known fact amongst every teacher that taught at the academy that Uchiha Hinamei should not be let out of their sights. Ever. Hinamei’s teacher, Chiyoko Sensei, had discovered this the very first day of flower arranging when Hinamei had strayed off the path within the first five minutes of the lecture. It was now the third month and she was at her wits end. “Chiyoko Sensei? She wandered off in that direction.” A small girl with brown hair said helpfully. She pointed a small finger towards the large sunflower field and smiled. Chiyoko nodded and with a stern face set off into that direction, her face getting redder and redder with each step she took. That girl shouldn’t be allowed here, she has absolutely no desire to be a true shinobi! What an embarrassment! She broke out of her thoughts when she saw five sunflowers fly into the air, a ring made out of their stems. A small sneer found her thin lips and she quickened her pace.

That stupid, stupid little girl.

Hinamei sat on the ground spinning leafy green ends together. “One for Kaa-san, oh, I can’t forget about Itachi-chan either. I wonder if Shisui-san would like one?” She put a small finger to her lip before shaking out her shoulder length hair. “He would just laugh, he doesn’t deserve one.” On her head she wore a small crown of baby sunflowers, and her hands worked fast to make the next one. It was something her late aunt had taught her to do when she was younger, passing the time after lunch before she was due to take her nap. Luckily, half of her classes at the academy were outside and it gave her the perfect excuse to have some alone time.

“Uchiha Hinamei, stand up right this instant.” A stern voice caught her and her large dark eyes went wide. She lifted the crown off of her head and swiftly held it behind her back. When she stood she made sure to humbly smile at her pink tinted teacher. “Don’t you smile at me, do you realize the trouble you’ve made?” Hinamei lowered her eyes and instead focused on a small caterpillar that inched it’s way across a thick leaf.

“No, I don’t. But Chiyoko-Sensei-” Her teacher held up her hand to silence her and shyly, Hinamei nibbled on her bottom lip.

“I had to pause the whole lesson because you decided it would be fun to teach yourself, right? Well, I’m telling your mother about this and don’t think you will go unpunished. One more time Hinamei, one more time and I will make sure you can’t come back here. Do you understand?” With a slow nod Hinamei released her trapped lip.

“Yes Chiyoko-Sensei.”

“What are you hiding behind your back?” Suddenly her eyes went wide and she clenched onto her flower crown. She shook her head and again, tried to bypass her teachers rage with a sly smile.

“Nothing, I promise I’ll be good from now on though!” But her teacher was a lot more swift than she was. She ducked down and snatched the flower wreath from behind Hinamei before she even had time to blink, pinching it between two thin fingers. With a small laugh she raised her other hand and tore it apart. Hinamei blinked before tears started to well up. “What was that for?!” She yelled, closing her hands into tiny fists. “That was for Itachi-chan!”

“Itachi hm?” Her teachers dull blue eyes glittered and she laugh, tossing the flowers over her shoulder. “A student like that has no time for such childish past times. You should really learn a lesson from him, it’s only because we have children like him that the Uchiha name is so honored. You wouldn’t want to disappoint your father now Hinamei, would you? At least he tried to make something of his name.” The small girl opened her mouth to retort but quickly shut it, she looked to her left and pushed the tears back.

“Yes Chiyoko-Sensei.” Her teacher made sure she walked behind Hinamei the entire way back to their class, and as they advanced, numerous eyes sparkled with grim delight. Hinamei sat down at the back of the class and still, she heard them whisper.

“Look at her, can you believe she’s the one they chose to marry Itachi-kun one day?”

Hinamei ran her fingers across the long blades of grass and frowned, these girls. They were all the same. It wasn’t easy to ignore though, she could admit. Itachi didn’t start showing off his true skills until he entered the academy. And oh, did everyone lose their minds. He was a prodigy, a gift. He was everything the leaf village needed behind their backs. He was an ace in the hole and they wouldn’t be afraid to use him. Lately, all the talk seemed to go straight to his head. He wasn’t the same. There was a brief moment in time where Hinamei and Itachi almost seemed to like each other. Almost. The year before they entered the academy they were nearly inseparable. But ask Itachi and all he would say is she wouldn’t leave him alone. Or he felt bad. But she forgave him, each and every time. He was special to her because even if he was too embarrassed to say it in front of other people, he liked her and she knew.

“I know, I heard he’s even embarrassed to even stand next to her. Poor Itachi-kun, he deserves better.”

All their talk, it meant nothing to her. With a sigh she sat back on her arms and stared up at the sky, the sun was high in the sky and burning onto her exposed shoulders, her hair was warm and she rubbed her cheek into it sweetly. She would show all these people, she could be something. Maybe she couldn’t be as good as Itachi could be but that didn’t make her useless. She lie back in the grass and shut her eyes, only twenty more minutes till this class ended and another one started. After all, it wasn’t that bad.

The end of the day came fast, she gathered up all her weapons (that she hadn’t even used) and ran out the door just as her teacher was talking. It didn’t matter, the day was over. It was like this every day, if she didn’t race out of her class and catch up with Itachi he would just leave her. And there was nothing she hated more than walking back from the academy in the hot afternoon. She pushed past various children, apologizing as she ran the way of Itachi’s class, almost there. She pushed through a cluster of three children, breaking up their conversation before running straight into a child her age.

“You really have got to stop doing this.” He said, she grinned and looked up into his nearly amused eyes.

“Hello Itachi-chan, ready to walk home?” He looked up over her shoulder and released his grip on her arms, with a nonchalant shrug he turned away from her and started to walk away. It was strange, like two different people had taken over his body just now and the rude one had won. “Itachi-chan?” But he continued walking. Hinamei glanced back and frowned, that couldn’t have been why he walked away from her was it? A group of girls pointed and giggled, whispering into each other’s ears slyly. Hinamei found a scowl and quickly turned on her heel towards Itachi, he barely noticed as she fell into step of him. They walked in silence for a few minutes until Hinamei could no longer restrain herself. “Itachi-chan?”

“Hm?” He kept his eyes firmly set on the road in front of him.

“Are you embarrassed to be seen with me?” Her voice rose higher and she bit back her lip. That’s right, Itachi hated this side of her. This weak, caring, little girl that somehow always managed to slip out. Itachi sighed and responded with a frank ‘no’ before moving his feet faster. But she couldn’t let him get by so easily. “No? Than why don’t you ever want to stand next to me, or walk with me? You don’t even talk to me when we pass each other in the halls.”

“Hinamei, shut up.” He shot her a fevered glare before grabbing her wrist and leading her forward. “Better?” This time when he looked down at her he managed a small smile. He was trying, for the most part. She nodded and let her eyes fall towards the ground. At least from far away it would look like they were holding hands, almost. They walked the rest of the way in comfortable silence until the reached they edge of the compound. “I’m going to go train with Shisui, you’re welcome to tag along if you’d like.” Even if he was trying, he didn’t put much effort into it.

“Uh, well no. I think I’ll just go home.” He released her wrists and quirked an eyebrow. There hadn’t been a day go by that she didn’t squeal with delight every time he invited her along somewhere. Something was wrong, he watched as she walked away, holding her weapon bag close to her chest like she was scared to let go. With a roll of his eyes he clenched his tiny fists shut. If she didn’t want to go then she didn’t have to, it was her fault anyway. He stormed off and began a run towards the training fields where Shisui should be waiting to help.

Hinamei sighed and dropped her bag to her leg, what was so embarrassing about her anyway? The walk home was long, it didn’t help that she was walking a lot slower than usual. It had been one year since she had met Itachi, and in that time a lot had changed. But she never thought that school of all things would have torn them apart. She advanced on into her house and past her mom, not that she would have noticed anyway. Her mother had changed, ever since Tou-san died…well she became very sad. But Hinamei knew, all she needed was time and in the end she would revert back to her normal, scolding self. Once in her room Hinamei dropped her bag and fell face first into her bed, moaning into the pillow. Stupid Itachi, she thought angrily, I hate you.

She rolled over onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. Maybe they were right, maybe she just wasn’t cut out to be a shinobi, or run head to head with Itachi. Even she could admit that he was miles ahead of her now, there was no point in trying to catch up. The worst part though, still, Itachi couldn’t even walk with her without looking over his shoulder. So much had changed, she blamed the whole village, his father. All that pressure they put on him, no wonder he was so angry. One day she swore, she would show him what the light looked like. And maybe then he would decide to stay next to her, head held high and all.

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He next day she didn’t bother trying to catch up with Itachi like she normally did. She walked alone, slower and slower still. Her fingers slipped over the edge of her book and she frowned as the sun was making her skin prickle. “Uchiha Hinamei, can you walk any slower?” She slowly brought her head up and a crooked grin found her face with ease. Itachi stood leaning at the main gate, his hands shoved deep into his pockets and a scowl perfectly placed on his lips.

“You’re not waiting for me are you?” He scoffed and started walking away from her, slyly throwing his eyes behind him to make sure she was following.

“Why would I do that? I just knew that if I didn’t, I would hear about it for weeks. So hurry up, we don’t have all day.” Happily, the giggling girl ran up to him, wrapping her small hand firmly around his. He stiffened but slowly smirked and glanced down at her. “Why do you do that? Don’t you know what that means?” Her eyes lowered themselves down to her palm and she gave him a reassuring squeeze.

“It means I like you and that you like me. It means you’re my best friend.” He frowned and shook his head, “What does it mean to you?” She asked quietly, looking back and forth between his eyes to read him as best she could. School was coming closer and closer and as the kids voices could be heard, she felt him wiggling out of her grasp. He wasn’t going to answer. Looking forward, she noticed a group of small girls raise there eyes to him, smiling and laughing like only they would. It happened so fast, her hand was soon gripping nothing but empty air and he walked forward ahead of her. “Itachi-chan?” He slightly turned but no sooner did he redirect himself and shake his head.

“Hinamei, stop acting like such a child.” Itachi lowered his eyes as he spoke, unable to look her in the face.

“I told you, he can’t stand her. Who does she think she is?”

All they ever did, those mean little girls, all they ever did was talk. Such arrogance, she couldn’t stand it. She would show them, Itachi wasn’t as great as he seemed. She stormed up behind the boy and pushed him, he turned towards her with a glare set into his young features, but she was faster then he was at that moment. With her hand balled she brought it flying up towards the young Uchiha’s face. His eyes widened and he closed them tightly when he saw her hand advancing, wincing as it made contact with his pale skin. He stumbled back a couple steps before gently touching his cheek with his fingers. “What the hell was that for?” He hissed, straightening himself back up. Hinamei held her chin higher and smiled, her eyes a mask of pain that refused to come out.

“You’re not better than me Itachi, not at all.” A loud voice brought her eyes to the left, five people were advancing and one of them happened to be a very angry looking woman. “Not Chiyoko-Sensei!” She hissed to herself, this was it. This was the chance her teacher had been betting on for months now. Kids around them stopped giggling and pointing, all of them being ushered in back to class.

“Uchiha Hinamei, what is the meaning of this?” She looked around, all those eyes.

Chiyoko’s, Itachi’s, the other teachers and all those mean little kids. All of them stood by and judged. Doing what they always had done. So was the art of failing, dissapointment, and cowardice. It was then Hinamei did what she always did best.

She ran.