"Itachi…" He stood on top of the angular rock in his ANBU gear with his mask in his hand. He stared ahead as if he hadn't heard her but turned around after she called his name again.

His eyes were drained of emotion and she felt her heart clench. Kaede regretted cutting him off from her love life, but had felt that if she had continued being his girlfriend without actually loving him, it would have been the same as cheating on him. He was a sweet and kind-hearted person and she just hated hurting him. But even after telling him that she wanted to break up, he refused to break up with her. He was a stubborn mule.

He smiled and some light came back into those dark eyes of his. Kaede loved it when he smiled. His face was always so serious, but when he smiled his features softened and he was just another 13-year-old boy who loved to fool around and had dreams that he wanted to come true.

Kaede walked towards him slowly as he hopped off the rock and landed softly in front of her, his knees slightly bent to soften the impact. He straightened up and his hand reached out towards the girl as if to pat her head, but it stopped short. The hand remained in midair, unsure of what to do, so she clasped both his large, callused hands and placed it on her own head with an almost invisible smile.

His eyebrows rose like two synchronised swimmers.

"Itachi, you never change." The blonde girl gave a small laugh.

He looked nervous and also gave a quiet laugh.

"It's only been, what? Two days?"

A slight breeze tugged her hair loose from its waterfall braid. The caramel strands waved across her face and she tossed my head to the side impatiently, failing to keep the locks of hair at bay.

"Yeah," Kaede thought out her words carefully. "But in those two days you've been avoiding me."

"Have not."

"Have too."

"You misunderstood."

"Really?" She eyed him hard. His smile turned into a slight frown. "I'm sorry, Itachi, that we almost broke up. Can we still be friends like before? You're a really great guy, you know. I really don't want you to hate me."

He brought his hand back to his side and gave a lopsided grin.

"Oh, I don't hate you."

Her heart skipped a beat.

"So, you loathe me?"

He laughed again. "No, of course not. I'd never hate you. I still… love you, you know, Kaede… It's been two days since you tried to break up with me, but that still hasn't changed."

He was still rubbing it in her face. The fact that she had been a jerk. At that point Kaede couldn't look at him any longer and looked at the ground in the small space between the two of them, her hair sweeping in front of her eyes like a curtain signaling the finale of a long and tiring performance.

"So why did you want to see me, Kaede? I have to leave on a mission soon." Right. He was an important part of his ANBU unit Team Ro. Kaede couldn't keep him waiting too long. She'd heard that Kakashi Hatake, the squad leader, didn't tolerate people being late.

"Ah, I know. I had something to give to you. Like, a thing from me that would remind you of me."

She stopped and thought over what I'd said just then when Itachi gave her a blank stare.

"N-not that I'm going to die or move away anywhere. It's like, an early birthday present? Just take it." Kaede took the small gray paper box from her fanny pack pocket and handed it to him. He took it, tucked his mask under his arm, and opened the lid.

Inside was the necklace she'd made. It was a simple necklace: a black cord with three metal rings. She'd saturated it with her own chakra too, which was a traditional way of making good luck charms in her clan, or so her father had told her.

Itachi looked genuinely confused. "I… my birthday is already over, Kaede."

She placed my hands on her hips and gave out a loud huff. Boys would never change. "I said it was an early birthday present... For next year. Can't I just make something for you because I want to be nice?"

The raven-haired boy laughed out loud. "You? Being nice. Please."

The blonde elbowed him playfully. "Hey, what did you say?"

"Nothing." He kept his voice even, but his eyes twinkled in amusement.

"Well," I patted him on the chest. "You'd better go off to your mission now. Happy 14th birthday for next year."

He kissed Kaede lightly on the forehead and got her to put the necklace on for him. She tucked it under his collar so that no one would be see it and then gave him a warm hug.

"Be careful, Itachi."

"I'm always careful."

She nodded understandingly and took a step back. The wind blew again, throwing leaves up into the air around the duo and across Itachi's face. Then he was gone. Kaede blinked a few times trying to clear her mind. What she saw just then… Or what she thought she saw… Had Itachi been crying?

She shook my head - No way - And headed back towards the centre of the village. Aunt Mikoto wanted her to buy some seaweed for dinner.

"Thank you, please come again!" Kaede waved goodbye at the shopkeeper and headed back to the Uchiha District with a shopping bag full of sheeted seaweed as well as some furikake and tomatoes for Sasuke-chan. The sun had set and painted the sky a dark, bloody crimson. As she made her way down the street the restaurants lit their lanterns and slid out their neon signboards to attract families for discounted meals and free rice wine. It was always relaxing to walk through Konoha in the evening, when everything was lively and the smell of fried foods and sweet dumplings filled the air.

The merry sounds of laughter and music faded as she came to the edge of the village, close to the Uchiha District. The blonde stretched her fingers and the bags crinkled and rustled. Suddenly, something stirred to her right and she paused. Her pulse crept up to her throat and beat against it like a toad. The tall building to her right was a dark and towering beast, but there was still enough light in this pathway to see. Nothing to be worried about. She could kick away any perverts with that new taijutsu move she'd learnt from Shisui-san the other day…

There it was again. Kaede felt a presence behind her and turned and let out a scream when she saw the silhouette of a person directly behind her. She dropped the groceries and almost tripped but the person grabbed onto her upper arm. Her stomach went ice cold as metal twisted inside it. She keeled over as pain exploded from the wound, but the attacker held her upright. She tried to pull the sword from her gut but the person persistently pushed it in further. Her screams were muffled by the attacker's tough hand. I'm going to die, Kaede thought. This wound was surely going tear away her life from her, a newborn infant snatched from its mother's arms. And then the sword emerged from her backside, pinning her to the wall of the abandoned building like a dead butterfly on a collector's board. Each inhalation and exhalation of heavy breaths were like living in the hells of pain.

"I'm sorry, Kaede." Her foggy vision cleared slightly. That voice… it couldn't be… it can't be… Fearfully, she dragged her eyes upwards.

Those kind eyes that she'd memorised were moist with what she thought was a dark anguish. But it couldn't have been that. He had stabbed her. She was dying. He would never do something like this. It couldn't be him. It couldn't–

"It…" Kaede's head swooned from the blood loss. "Itachi…"

She then heard a strange sound. It sounded like a strangled animal. Could he be crying? Kaede looked back up at him again. Two thin silver streams ran from his eyes and his mouth was slightly parted. He blinked and gave out another strangled sob as he looked at her face. She didn't understand. What was going on?

"K-Kaede… I'm sorry. I'm so sorry… I had to…" He bent his head down and pulled his sword out from her and she screamed into his shoulder. He held onto his wounded girlfriend tightly to keep her from falling and cupped her face with one hand and rested his forehead against her own.

He started stuttering about something but she had no idea what he was talking about. But all she knew was that he still loved her. He stabbed her, but he still loved her. This wasn't something he had wanted to do. He was still that kind-hearted Itachi Kaede'd always known.

"Kaede. Kaede, listen to me. You have to listen to me."

Kaede looked up at him though her vision was already starting to fade away. The pain ebbed like a giant heart made of thorns. She nodded slightly. I'm going to die. This is it. This is the end. Mother, I'm going to be able to see you again.

"Why, Itachi? WHY!?" Her shout came out as a whisper and she hugged him back. The blood soaking through her own clothes and crawling down her legs trickled to the ground. And then, she started laughing. This whole situation was ridiculous. Never would Kaede have imagined the day when she would be dying at the hands of Itachi.

"L-Listen to me… The Uchiha Clan was going to hold a coup d'état. The whole village would have been destroyed. I killed everyone else. The Uchiha Clan is extinct." He shuddered and stroked Kaede's head shakily. "Except for Sasuke. Sasuke will live and he will avenge our Clan by killing me. This was the only way to prevent a war between our clan and the village – to save the lives of the innocent… If I'd let you live they would've tortured you... You hate me, don't you? I don't expect you to forgive me."

The blonde trusted him. He was never wrong. Kaede still didn't understand much about the situation, but Itachi always made the right decisions. Her tears mixed with his and she smiled and nodded. Even in a situation like this he still saw his younger brother as the most important thing in his life. She respected that, she honestly did. Kaede would've saved Hitomi in a situation like that too.

"I understand, Itachi. It's alright. I don't hate you." She heard him take a sharp breath inwards. "You're always right."

Kaede was almost asleep. The darkness had covered everything. Only the irregular breathing of the pair could be heard in this silenced night.

"I'll always love you, Itachi."

"I love you, Kaede."

Everything disappeared.