You can't run away forever.

"Itachi! Don't run so fast!" I snapped, trying feverishly to catch up to the black-haired, red-eyed man.

"It's not my fault you're too slow." He whispered in his soft voice. "You always drag us behind."

I froze for a millisecond, slightly hurt at his words, before shrugging it off.

"Kakashi, what are you even doing here?" Itachi asked, turning to face me.

"Sorry if that's not what you wanted." I snapped. "But our Hokage is the one who wanted this."

He was silent and my mouth twitched in irritation. I ignored him then and simply started to run in front of him.

A few seconds later, I found myself on the ground, him hovering over me.

"What the hell –" I started to snap, my face blushing furiously, when his hand covered my mouth gently. I nodded, figuring out immediately what was going on.

He listened to our surroundings while I breathed as quietly as I could. Then I heard a snap of a branch. Itachi signaled he would be right back before climbing off of me. I waited for a few seconds before joining him.

He was staring at three kids, one girl and two boys. One of the boys was laughing while the pink-haired girl was scolding him and whacking him on the head. But I followed Itachi's eyes to a boy who looked like him. The boy was ignoring the other two and looking in the bushes for something.

I turned to Itachi to ask him but I could see that Itachi was beyond listening. His expression, one I had never seen, was full of so much guilt.

"Itachi?" I reached for him but he was gone, back the way we came.

I sprinted after him, using all my speed to catch up to him.

"Itachi! Stop!" I cried, reaching for him.

He did and I crashed into him. He turned around slowly and I looked at him, worry coursing through me.

"What do you want?" He hissed and I flinched. He took in a sharp breath at this but I ignored that.

"Why are you running away?" I asked. "Do you know that boy?"

He was silent before nodding slowly. "Yes, I know him." He choked slightly.

I reached for him but he slapped my hand away. I looked at him, hurt flowing freely in my expression, but I gritted my teeth. I slapped him back as hard as I could. His expression was filled with surprise and he looked at me angrily for a second, before seeing my true expression.

I could feel tears in the corners of my eyes, threatening to pour out. "Why won't you tell me anything?" I demanded. "I'm trying to help –"

"What if I don't want help?" He asked quietly.

"You can't run away forever, Itachi!" I yelled. "People need you, I need you." I froze, realizing what I had just confessed.

He had frozen as well. We stayed in silence before he did something I never would have guessed would happen to me.

Itachi looked at me before tilting my chin up slightly to look in my eyes. He was silent as he read my eyes and I waited for him to finish.

He leaned in closer and gently put his mouth on mine. I took a sharp breath of surprise before melting into it. I wrapped my arms around his neck to deepen it and he matched the movement my putting his arms around my waist.

We stayed glued together for a few more seconds before we emerged, breathing heavily.

"You know, people don't run away from their problems." Itachi started once we both caught our breath.

"Oh?" I raised an eyebrow.

He leaned closer towards me. "They run away to see who cares enough to chase after them." He whispered in my ear, tickling the hairs on my neck.

"Did enough people chase after you?" I asked teasingly.

"I only care about one." He said before kissing me again.

You can't run away forever… alone.