Izumi placed three plates of dango in front of Itachi and a cup of green tea that Itachi liked next to them and then she sat in front of him. Amaterasu cafe was closed and empty save for the two of them so the atmosphere was tranquil and serendipitous.

Itachi, despite trying to hide it, was drooling at the sight and smell of the sweetness called dango. He might not seem like it but Itachi actually had a huge sweet tooth and could unlock his ancestral sharingan powers because of dango. Izumi knew this so she decided to exploit it for her use.

"Which recipe is the best?" She asked, resting her elbows on the table surface and her chin on her open palms.

"You want to add dangos to the menu?" Itachi asked curiously.

"Is it bad?" Izumi blinked as rapidly as she felt her confidence leaving her. It was a bad idea to serve dango in a cafe, wasn't it?

"No it is not." Itachi might have said that a little too fast when he saw her eyes dimming sadly but he honestly thought it wasn't a bad idea.

"Don't sugar coat it for me." Izumi sighed.

"I do not lie." Itachi countered monotonously. A smile lit up Izumi's features as she thought of his words and gained her confidence back.

"I thought there are people like you who would prefer dangos to pastries so I decided to add it to Amaterasu's menu. Which one's the best?" The girl pushed the plate in the middle towards the younger one and brushed a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Izumi and Itachi met when the latter was in sophomore year and she was fresh out of highschool. It wasn't a really elaborate meeting; Izumi had been running away from loan sharks when she stumbled into the handsome Uchiha.

Now what is a girl fresh out of highschool doing with loansharks? How on earth did she stumble into Itachi in the first place? Let's go back to some years ago, shall we?

•flashback no jutsu •

With earphones on and playlist set on his jogging list, Itachi put on his jogging shoes and proceeded to do his usual morning jog. He usually ran through Kaguya avenue and sometimes out of his neighborhood, this time he chose to go outside Kaguya avenue.

It was a warm summer morning. In just a few weeks he would start his sophomore year at KSA. It meant more work and less time to himself but Itachi didn't want to disappoint his father. Sasuke was not happy that his brother didn't spend as much time with him as before but there was nothing Itachi could do.

He was going back home when a blur of brown suddenly tackled him. His balance was ripped off of him causing him to fall on his behind with an extra weight on top of him. Two voices groaned in unison. Itachi opened his eyes to see the person that ran into him, a scalding remark on his lips, when he got his breath got knocked out of him.

No not in the 'I fell in love at first sight' kind of way, he got his breath knocked out of him literally. The girl that collided into him sat up on his stomach causing the poor guy to wheeze out his intestines. As if that wasn't enough, she stood up in a rush– crushing his ribs (figuratively) in the process – and dragged him to wherever she was running to.

"Wha-what is wrong with you?!" Itachi yelled as he was dragged along. He tried to get his footing and bearing because the girl just swooped him up with impossible strength and started running while holding him like a mad person.

"R-run!" The girl panted and pointed behind them. Itachi looked back to see a bunch of bald men in black suits pursuing them, apparently. From their outfit and swearing yells to the girl's frantic running Itachi could tell that they were thugs. He just had to have a run in with thugs on the day he decided to jog outside Kaguya Av.

They both missed the thugs by mere luck- pretending to be a mannequin could do wonders (don't try this when in trouble, they'd kill you)- and could finally settle down to rest.

"Why- did you drag me?!" Itachi panted out each word for her was super exhausted.

"Are- you stupid-?! They saw you with- with me, they'd kill you!" The girl panted back.

"Why are they after you?" The boy asked.

"Haven't you heard of boundaries? I don't even know you!" She hissed but not harshly.

"But you would tell me." Normally Itachi wasn't this curious about strangers but concerning this girl, he needed to know. "I deserve to know because I was caught up in it." He pegged on.

"You're persistently annoying. Fine. Those were loan sharks, happy?" The brunette huffed a breath.

"You do not look that much older than me, how come you are in debt already?" Any other person would have slapped the Uchiha but this girl was strangely patient with him.

"How old are you?" She asked instead.

"Seventeen." Itachi answered. "How old are you?" He asked back.

"You lack manners, don't you?"

"You asked for my age first." The raven pointed out.

"Dah!" The brown haired girl screamed in frustration. "Fine, I am nineteen!" She answered his question and began to walk out on him but he followed.

"You haven't answered my initial question." Itachi pressed. "Why are loansharks after you?"

"I borrowed money to build my dream cafe, now go home!" The girl pointed at the opposite direction as if he were a cat that needed to be kicked out for being naughty. Of course Itachi ignored that and continued his game of twenty questions instead.

"You have a cafe?"

The girl strangled the air. "God yes! Yes I do!" She groaned.

"What is its name and where is it at?"

"I haven't thought of a name yet."

"But I thought you've launched it."

"No, it is still under construction. I still need to get approval and renovate the building."

Itachi was silent after that, much so that the girl must've thought he had left because she turned around only to scowl when she saw him walking behind her.

"Why are you following me?" She folded her arms over her chest.

"My house is this way." Itachi pointed at the direction the both of them were walking. "What's your name?" He asked.

"Oi, aren't you supposed to be polite with strangers? And older people at that?" The girl's scowl deepened.

"I am polite. Do you want me to refer you to as Miss? Nee-san?" Itachi quirked his head curiously at the girl's blush at the nickname.

"Just call me Izumi. Uchiwa Izumi." The girl, now Izumi, hid her flustered state behind a fake cough.

"My name is Uchiha Itachi." Itachi introduced.

"Our last names are similar. Weird." Izumi observed amusedly.

"They are." Itachi agreed.

The two of them bonded despite their awkward first meeting and became close friends. Izumi found out that Itachi simply had an awkward way of expressing his emotions which is why he often came off as arrogant to most people. Well he was arrogant but not in the show off-y kind of way.

Itachi found out the reason Izumi borrowed money from loan sharks. She didn't want to go to university yet because she had always dreamed of owning a cafe so she did the stupidest thing ever by borrowing money to buy a building that she got swindled for. Now she had a hopeless rundown building and bad guys on her tail for money.

Predictably, Itachi paid back her debt and helped with the renovation and naming of ththe cafe. Thus, the Amaterasu cafe was born! Also predictably, Itachi paying for everything didn't sit well with Izumi and she wanted to pay him back by installments.

"I don't need money." Itachi had said. "But my meals at the cafe would be free." He added when she insisted.

Itachi's feelings for the older girl grew into romantic ones over time but they stayed hidden within the deepest parts of his mind. His father would never allow their relationship especially when Izumi was technically a drop out.

Call him a coward if you like but he was also keeping his feelings to himself for her sake. He didn't want his father to humiliate her for dating him or for being a 'distraction' to his set perfect plan for him.

So his feelings stayed painfully platonic.

•back to the present•

"Can I choose all three?" Itachi asked.

"No silly, choose one." Izumi giggled.

The raven pondered a bit on which recipe to choose and decided to go with the plate at the right. "This one." He gently tapped the plate. "You could ask Tobi to help you out too." Izumi had met Itachi's weird cousin.

Unlike Sasuke, his brother, Itachi and Tobi had unbelievable sweet teeth which they inherited from one of their ancestors or something.

"I would." Izumi smiled at Itachi. She made to carry the used plates away when she felt a grip on her wrist. A puzzled brow was raised at Itachi but his grip didn't weaver, neither did his gaze on her. "Itachi?" She called. He was being weird again.

It happened too quickly for either of them to notice. All they remembered was the soft and warm sensation of lips meeting and Itachi pulled back just as quickly as he kissed her. Izumi looked shocked but Itachi himself seemed to be in more shock. Why did he do that?!

"Sorry..." He started to apologize but was cut off by the older girl.

"Sorry?!" Izumi asked in bafflement. "You just stole a kiss for me and you're telling me sorry?!" Her eyes narrowed. "Are you playing me?" It was a joke that Itachi didn't get.

"No!" The raven quickly denied. "I do have feelings for you, Izumi." He admitted in a softer tone and his eyes glued to the empty teacup in front of him. The cat was out of the bag now.

A giggle brought Itachi out of his reverie. He looked at the giggling girl questioningly. "Itachi you're so cute!" Izumi giggled softly. "I'm glad that my feelings are returned." She smiled.

For somebody as smart as Itachi was, it took him a while to understand Izumi's words. When he did he could not just help the elation he felt. This time, Izumi was prepared when he gently tagged her downwards and met her lips halfway.

The kiss was typically what someone would find in a romance novel or movie. It was sweet and hot like chocolate melting in a pan and electrifying due to the tingling sensations that spread through their bodies from their bellies. It was gentle and nice.

For that moment when he spent time together with Izumi, Itachi forgot everything about himself or his background. With her, he was not the school ace or president. He was not a prodigy or a country renowned genius. He wasn't even smart, polite and proper. He was just Itachi. With Izumi he was the awkward guy that loved sweets. He was himself.

Unfortunately in every dream you have to wake up and face reality. Itachi's reality came sooner than he liked. Fugaku somehow got word of his relationship with Izumi and summoned him to his study. It pained Itachi that his everything move was being monitored but he could do nothing about it. It was his father after all.

"What is her name?"

Currently Itachi was standing across his father with his head bored and fist clenched at his side as he was being questioned. Fugaku had some pictures of he and Izumi displayed on the study table. Itachi knew that his father knew all there was to know about her but he answered all the same.

"Her name is Uchiwa Izumi."

"Which school does she attend?" Fugaku asked boredly yet sternly.

"She does not attend any university-" Itachi was cut off by the slam of his father's hand on the table.

"A drop out? Itachi, a dropout?!" The man angrily hissed.

"Izumi is not a dropout father, she is just taking a lag year–!"

"Same difference!" Fugaku bellowed. Itachi's head hung at the shout and his clenched fists tightened. "You have a great future ahead of you, son, and you can not afford to waste it on distractions. What kind of example are you setting for Sasuke?"

The man showed Itachi a picture of Sasuke and some people he recognized as first years on stage in a local community. They seemed to be dancing and Itachi had honestly never seen his brother looking this happy in a while. Sasuke barely had friends and because of their father's standards Itachi just knew he was going to lose the few he just made.

"Father please leave Sasuke out of this." As always he would look out for his little brother. He didn't care what Fugaku did to him as long as Sasuke wasn't uncomfortable.

"Nonsense!" Fugaku blew a fuse. "I shall not have any of my sons playing around with vagabonds. You will break whatever relationship you have with that girl. Sasuke and I need to talk." He said dismissively.

"Father!" Itachi was absolutely horrified. "You can't..."

"I just happen to know the owner of the building that cafe is in." The threat was clear. If Itachi continued to be stubborn he would take away Izumi's only source of income and do much more.

Itachi's teeth grinded hard against each other in angry defeat. "Yes father." He conceded. "I would break every relationship I have with Izumi."

XxX symphony XxX

Sasuke knew that something was up the moment he stepped into the house and a maid told him that his father requested his presence at the study. The boy inhaled and let the breath out in a long sigh. Why did his father demand to see him immediately after he got back from his outing?

He didn't see his mother or brother anywhere in the house which was honestly weird. There was a sour feeling in his gut that something unpleasant was about to happen. He could never be more right.

Sasuke knocked on the dark mahogany door to his father's study and let himself in. Fugaku was brooding over some company work when he entered which he stopped in favour of turning his attention to him.

"Father." Sasuke bowed his head in greeting.

"Sasuke." That tone of voice was not good. "Where were you?" He asked.

Sasuke was floored by the question. He knew his father's habit of asking questions even though he clearly knew about the matter; his father had somehow figured out about his recent outings with the EsDee if his disdaining expression was anything to go by.

The boy swallowed and licked his suddenly dry lips. "I...was out practicing with my friends." He said hesitantly.

"Which practice?" Fugaku's stern voice drawled.

"Dance practice." The older Uchiha pulled out a picture seemingly out of nowhere and slid it down the table for his son to see. Sasuke picked the picture up with a subtle gulp. It was a picture of him and the EsDee dancing for the second round of their competition last week. "I..."

"This is what I taught you? To lie to me and hang around with vagabonds?" Fugaku asked sarcastically.

"If I didn't lie you won't let me!" Sasuke defended but Fugaku was not having any of that.

"Hah! Look what playing around with those ruffians has done you! Look at your plummeting grades!" Fugaku's voice raised a bit. Sasuke's grades didn't even drop, it was just that Shikamaru proved to be smarter than anyone in their grade but his father clearly didn't want to see reason in that. Everything was his damn fault.

"My friends are not ruffians." Sasuke defended the people he has come to like their company but as always, Fugaku had something to debunk that with. The older man pulled out a file that Sasuke recognised as student files and read out loud for Sasuke's hearing.

"Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto. Convicted for the alleged murder of Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina, sentenced to juvenile rehabilitation because he was too young to be jailed. Academic performance is VERY poor!" He flipped the page over.

"Naruto must've had a reason, he doesn't even remember his past!" Sasuke was flipped off (not in that way) of course by Fugaku who proceeded to read the next file.

"Sabaku no Gaara. Third son of the Kazekage and the black sheep of his family. Suspected for the murder of his uncle and has been jailed various times for violence. School delinquent, rebel, truant and very volatile. Academic performance? EXTREMELY poor!"

"Gaara is just usually misunderstood! He is hyphaephobic!" (Fear of physical contact)

"Ten Ten. She doesn't have any notable record. Seventeen! And she is still in her first year because she REPEATED a grade!"

"Not everybody was made for studying!"

"Inuzuka Kiba is just a level better than that Namikaze brat, coming third place...from the BACK!"

"Kiba is just dyslexic!"

"Aburame Shino is not notably good at anything, just going where the wind blows and Hyuga Hinata is the bane of her family like you are. These are not ruffians?! These are not ruffians?!" Fugaku slammed the file on the table.

Words died at the tip of Sasuke's tongue when his father called him the bane of the family. Fugaku was that disappointed in him? Just for doing what he loved and made him happy? He wasn't doing drugs or joining a gang or something bad, he was just dancing. Dancing! Since when did dancing become a crime?!

"These people are beneath the Uchiha. You can not afford to stoop as low to their level, that's just like eagles playing among chickens! I do not want to hear of you associating with any of them again, do you hear me?!"

Sasuke did not reply.

"I said do you hear me?!" Fugaku insisted.

"What are you trying to do, father?" Sasuke asked instead. His voice was broken with unshed tears and his jaw trembled with frustrated anger. "Are you trying to make ME another you?! I am NOT you! When would you see that?! When would you see me for me?!"

Fugaku rose from his seat and stalked over to the boy. Sasuke didn't back down.

"Do you even know the things I love?! I love dancing and it's not ballet! I hate classical music! I hate the piano! I hate having to go to formal meetings in stuffy tuxedos! I hate your legacy-!"

The sharp sound of flesh hitting flesh echoed loud in the now silent room. Sasuke's head which was snapped sideways by the slap turned around and faced his father, eyes widened with disbelief and hurt. He was just hit for expressing his thoughts.

"This is why Itachi is a better son than you." Fugaku hissed. A wave of hurt and pain hit Sasuke in the chest at those words. In the end it all came down to Itachi, didn't it? It all came down to the perfect son that would never disappoint his father...unlike him. "I do not want to see you associating with any of them again, do you hear me?!"

Sasuke's head hung low causing his hair to fall over his face like a curtain. For once they lost their spike and fell flat over his face. "Yes father." The boy droned like a robot.

"Good." Fugaku dismissed.

Sasuke opened the study door only to be met with his mother's wide eyes. She heard everything that went on in that room and did nothing about it. He hated how impassive his mother was. She was always listening to his father and not to him.

The boy walked past her before she got a word in and marched to his room. He had the unfortunate luck of running into Itachi on his way there and could feel all the anger and jealousy swell in his belly again.

"This is why Itachi is a better son than you."

Tears stained Sasuke's eyes. What would it take for their father to notice him for who he was? He just wanted half of the attention he showered to Itachi, was it that much of a thing to ask?!

Itachi, unknowing to his brother's dark thoughts, noticed his tears and the angry red mark on his face and got instantly worried. "Sasuke!" He walked over to the boy and gently held his chin, ripping his head sideways to inspect the mark. "What happened to you?!"

Sasuke roughly pushed Itachi back. He didn't bother wiping or stopping his tears as the words repeated themselves in his head.

"This is why Itachi is a better son than you."

"I hate you." Sasuke spoke.

"Sa-suke?" Itachi's heart visibly shattered but anger blinded the younger one to it.

"I really hate you Itachi. I HATE YOU!" And he ran to his room, closing the door with a ground shaking slam.

Sasuke stormed towards his baseball bat and picked it up.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

He slammed it down on the stack of old games he had repeatedly until only the broken pieces remained. His anger and frustration was still burning so he progressed towards the mirror in his room. He smashed his laptop, his study table, his old action figures, everything. He utterly destroyed his room until he was satisfied and crashed into his thrashed bed.

The last thing he did before sleeping was to exit the EsDee group chat.

Itachi on the other hand watched as his phone lit up once again with Izumi's number. His hand twitched to pick the call up and apologize to his now ex girlfriend for doing something as horrible as breaking up with her only a week into their relationship over text but he could not. It was for her sake too.

"I hate you."

Sasuke's words came back to him.

"I really hate you Itachi. I HATE YOU!"

So that was how Sasuke felt about him. So he hated Itachi.

Itachi curled up on his bed and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the vibrations of his phone and the voices in his head that whispered bad things about himself into his ear. It didn't work. Sasuke's words kept echoing. Sasuke hated him. Izumi hated him. The two most important people in his life hated him.

"Hey!" Naruto ambushed Sasuke in the hallway to his class first thing in the morning.

"Get off me, Namikaze!" Sasuke growled and aggressively pushed the blonde off.

"Whoa! You didn't call me dobe for once, did the world end?!" Naruto joked and nudged his side teasingly. The aggressiveness was lost to him as well as the obvious slur to his name, it was Naruto after all.

"Why did you leave the group chat?" Tenten asked, coming behind the both of them with her half empty bag pack slung over one shoulder and Neji's sweatpants (she didn't return it) underneath her skirt as usual.

"I left the EsDee as a whole." Sasuke snarled.

"What?! Why?!" Tenten gasped.

"I have no time to waste on extras like the lot of you. I just wanted to know what the local community is like, and I can't stand it." Sasuke turned to leave but Tenten ran in front of him.

"You don't mean that Sasuke, you promised to help me win!" She yelled, attracting stares.

"I don't remember making such a promise. If it's money you want I can give you that. I have no time for all these."

"Teme!" Naruto yelled in disbelief and proceeded to punch him but Tenten was faster. Sasuke toppled over because of the punch.

"What are you implying by that?! I do not need your money, fucker!" Tenten yelled enraged.

Sasuke simply adjusted his asked clothes and hit Tenten with a dull look. "Good. Now if you don't mind, I am late to class." The raven walked past Tenten and Naruto.

The duo stared disbelievingly at the raven's back until Naruto got out of his reverie and growled. "That teme!" He rolled his sleeves in preparation to knock some sense into the Uchiha but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. He turned around to see Gaara holding him back.

"Not now." The redhead, having seen everything that happened, told his blond friend. "Cool off steam and let him do the same." Fortunately Naruto listened to him and dropped his sleeves.

"He's right Naruto, let's cool down a bit." Tenten reasonably said. "Let's get to class boys!" She cheered and left them to class. It was all fake though.

The atmosphere was moody that day and it turned even sour when Hinata told them what they wished not to hear. She was also leaving the EsDee.

Thanks for reading!