Counting Stars (Itachi x fem!reader)

-17-

(ARE WE STILL FRIENDS? - Tyler, The Creator/One Day - Lovejoy)

~Hard work is worthless for those that don't believe in themselves. – Uzumaki Naruto~

Extroverted. Majority of people in your live would consider you one. Nevertheless, your talkativity wasn't making its appearance the past few days. Unless it came to Itachi. You never approached a person this activly in your life. He didn't leave his room as far as you knew. He seemingly ignored you. The only coping mechanism, which worked was cleaning and cooking, constantly. 

The food, which you just made, was carried out by you. There was a lot of yelling, coming from the dining area. You didn't think much of it. Well, you should have. Aiko sat by the table, drawing her heart out. In front of her were a bunch of crows. Next to here stood Hiday. They argued. 

"Bring the raven out, bitch junior." The Jashinist yelled. "Crows." Both, Aiko and you, corrected him. It was a reflex by now. Afterwards, Aiko's eyes widen, she noticed the nickname. The crows wanted to attack him now. "Down." You stepped in, before anyone could cause harm. "Hey! Leave them alone. They're deserving of freedom." The food was placed on the table as she spoke. "No. Why are they here in the first place?"

She held up her drawing with an innocent expression. "I wanted to draw your favorite animal." Your rather serious expression turned into a soft one. "That's sweet." Her putting effort into making you happy, truly touched you. "Don't grow soft. The brat brought a dog with her!" Hidan told you. "He's a wolf and his parents died!" Aiko justified herself. You looked down at a little white young wolf which was on your students lap. He had one blue and one yellow eye.

You picked him up as he licked your face. "You're a cutie, aren't you? I'll give you so much love." You felt the death glare, which the Jashinist gave you, it made you cough. "I'm sorry, but you can't keep him." There she played the puppy eyes card. The wolf had the same expression. "But look at him!" She held him up, knowing she won. 

"How can you expect me to say no?" You asked Hidan, he looked at you kinda disappointed. "I'll talk with Pain. But get the crows out." She smirked, doing a little happy dance. "Yay! Puppy, do the thing I teached you." Aiko said as she sat the wolf down. He howled, making the crows move to the exit. He came a few seconds later back, jumping on Aiko's lap. "Did you name the wolf Puppy?" You asked as she nodded. "How the can you be so uncreative?" Hidan commented, rolling his eyes. "Don't judge me!"

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Just like the past days, Itachi wasn't there to eat. In fact, you didn't see him once. It wouldn't have surprised you if he didn't eat. This thought worried you. "Did you guys see Itachi-san outside of his room, lately?" You asked, everyone shook their heads. You took a plate and put food on it. Then you walked away towards his room.

You knocked on his door. No answer. "Itachi-san, open or I'm going to break the door down. You have the choice." He didn't open. Was he even in there? Yes. His chakra was easily spotted by you. The sad part was, this was the closest you have gotten to him after the incident. The only thing keeping you two separated would have been the door.

"Itachi. In all seriousness. This is stupid. I can't stay stubborn forever. Why can't-" You cut yourself off. There were so many things you wanted to tell him, but you had no clue how to express it. "There's not much love and trust left inside of me. I just hoped the next one wouldn't waste it." Silence. "I'm sorry. Forget everything I said. I don't want to make you feel guilty. I will stop bothering you. Toke was clearly wrong." You mumbled the last part as you placed the plate of food down. "At least eat something. I don't want you to die." You told him, walking away.

You hoped that maybe, just maybe, he would run after you to explain himself. That Itachi would apologize, telling you that he thought of you like you thought of him. This made you walk slower than usually. You hoped that Hotoke was right. But the concept of hope is after all nothing more than giving up. A word that holds no true meaning.

Then you stopped in your tracks. Before today, you never revisited the memory of this night. You never thought twice about Itachi's behaviour, his words, his micro expressions. The way Itachi looked at you with full regret. You should have known better. Itachi was an idiot, who didn't think he deserved love, appreaciation. Of course, he would lie. He lied to protect you. It was all clear to you.

Turning around, you took a deep breath. The door was pushed open. You saw him cuddling with the plushie you gave him? Ignoring that you started talking. "So, let's get this straight. Look me into the eyes and tell me that you don't love me. If you can't do that, we're going on a date. I don't care who plans it. Just be ready at 8." You gave Itachi a few minutes to process the current situation. He ended up looking down, not saying anything.

There was a smile on your face. "Alright. See you at 8 then." You held up two fingers to represent the peace sign. Before stepping out of his room, you looked at the plate of feed. Picking it up, you handed it to the Uchiha. "Eat." You looked at him demanding. He took the plate. "Thank you."