Thank you, you helped me /Itadei

Itachi

I decided to do the timeskip early because I wanted to start the next chapter write away and it was getting boring.

As Itachi walked through the halls of his high school, he couldn't help but feel like an imposter. On the outside, he was the perfect student, good grades, involved in extracurricular activities, loved by his peers and teachers and admired by his younger brother Sasuke.

But on the inside, he was struggling. He had been dealing with depression for a while now, and the pressure of living up to everyone's expectations was taking its toll on him.

He sat in his classes, trying to focus on the lessons, but his mind was elsewhere. He couldn't help but think about how much he was struggling, and how he was supposed to be the perfect student. He knew that he couldn't let anyone know about his struggles, because he didn't want to disappoint anyone. He didn't want to disappoint his parents, who had always pushed him to be the best, or his teachers, who had high expectations of him.

He tried to push the thoughts out of his mind and focus on his classes, but he felt like he was being pulled in a million different directions, and he couldn't keep up.

Finally it was lunchtime. Itachi got his license over the summer and he wasn't limited on where he could go during lunch anymore. He decided to drive over to Whataburger. The first time he has ever went there was with his uncle. Itachi loved it and asked to stop by once while with his family, but his mother insisted that it was a place of filth and eating fast food will make him break out. That probably wasn't true because he'd never seen a single pimple or blemish on his face in his life.

Itachi ordered on the mobile app because he has always been shy ordering in person. He waited in his car for a bit then went inside to get his lunch. He sat alone at a small table in the restaurant, scrolling through his phone, not even tasting the food. He was so engrossed in his phone that he didn't even realize he was losing track of time.

tachi was done with his food, and only had a milkshake left. He was so focused on playing a game on his phone that he didn't even hear the sounds of other customers talking or the music playing in the restaurant. He occasionally took sips of his milkshake, it was slowly melting.

Eventually he finished it and fell asleep. Hours passed, and Itachi was still asleep when an employee of the restaurant came over to wake him up.

Itachi sat up quickly, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. "Can I help you?" he asked, looking up at the strangely familiar face of the blond employee.

The stranger smiled sheepishly. "Sorry to wake you up, but we're closing in a few minutes and I just wanted to make sure you were alright."

Itachi nodded, still trying to shake off the grogginess of sleep. "Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks."

As he gathered his things and prepared to leave, something about the stranger's face and voice felt familiar to Itachi. He couldn't quite place it, but he had the feeling that he had met this person before.

Itachi leaves the restaurant and the blond employee locks the door. Itachi's eyes suddenly widen as he realized the employee was actually Deidara, his old friend from elementary who disappeared without a word. Deidara didn't seem to recognize him.

Itachi watched Deidara as he readjusted his backpack walked away. He seemed tired. "Hey wait, do you have a ride? I can drop you off at your house. If you want I mean."

Deidara looked at Itachi with a blank expression. "Thanks for the offer but I'm good, I walk because I live close by."

Itachi was disappointed because he wanted to reconnect with Deidara, but he didn't want to seem creepy. "Alright, well stay safe."

Deidara turned around and flashed a smile. "I'll see you around, Itachi Uchiha."

Itachi could only stand there dumbfounded, as he watched Deidara walk away.

I used to work at whataburger and it was terrible, I quit in 2 weeks. Also Itachi has been addicted to his phone since he was a kid this is why kids shouldn't have phones 😭 Itachi's an ipad kid now 🌚