Shutting you out

~Suine's POV~

I walked to school with Kisame and Melody one each side of me. It had been three weeks since that incident in the cafeteria. Itachi still avoided us; like we were some contagious disease. I had never felt more terrible then I did now. Everyone has noticed the change in me; the wound on my heart hurt more than anything and changed every bit of myself that I loved. I no longer smiled as often as I used to, I was depressed more than anything. Melody and Kisame made sure my mind stayed off of Itachi as much as possible, but it was harder than it seemed. Every single brain cell worked towards figuring out why he had suddenly hated us but nothing came up. And I thought that he cared, I thought he was falling for me too.

"Hey! I have an idea! Why don't we, after work, go see a movie!" Melody happily said and Kisame smiled, "I heard that new action packed thriller, Lakeside, came out yesterday! Come on! How about it?"

"I can't but you two should go." I told her and they looked upset.

"Why can't you come?" Melody asked and I looked away, "Oh no, I will not leave you alone to go deliver his damn money to him. We had already talked about this, you going alone could result in him hurting you more and I don't want you to lose the progress you had made-"

"That's why I must go alone…" I began, "If I am to ever get over this depression, I feel that I need to lose all ties to him. And this is the last thing that keeps us connected, in my eyes. I still owe him money for buying the both of us dresses Melody. As much as you would just like to turn a blind eye to it, I cannot. My heart won't begin to heal until he's gone for good."

"Is that why you have been taking extra hours from work?" Kisame asked me and I nodded, "I think we should let her do it, Melody."

"What! Why!?" Melody angrily retorted.

"Because she obliviously needs to do this. And Itachi isn't changing so we need to make sure that she is able to let him go. If this is what her heart needs then let her have it. It's her closure."

"…Ugh…Fine…But I want a call right after our movie! You better tell me everything that happens…"

"I will… I promise." I explained to them and they both smiled, satisfied with that answer.

. . .

By the time that school had ended, the three of us had to run to work just to be able to get there on time. We all had our uniforms tucked safely into our backpacks, ready to go the moment we got to work. Kana just laughed at us when we came in all out of breath. She allowed us a five minute break before work began. We all quickly got ready and went onto to the floor for our shift.

Kana had noticed that there was something wrong with me about 2 weeks ago. However, she never had any complaints for I just put on a mask the moment I clocked in. She did have a talk with me to make sure I was okay but I just told her that she was imagining things. I knew she didn't buy it but it kept her away from prying anymore.

I smiled lightly to Kisame who began cleaning the table next to me. I wiped the table down and wiped off a little bit of sweat that came down my face.

"Suine!" I heard a voice say and I saw Shiki waving to me, "Can you get the next costumer? I have to go to the washroom!"

"Yeah sure! I'll be there in a minute!" I told Shiki as the bell rang from the door, meaning that a customer had just arrived.

Shiki ran off towards the back of the café to go to the washroom. I quickly went over to the door and grabbed some menus from the podium before looking at my costumers. I gave a big smile and closed my eyes to try to hide my sadness.

"Welcome to Morning Brew's. How may I help you today?" I began as I opened my eyes, "Will this be a takeout or dine…" My throat closed at the man I saw standing in front of me, with the girl I hated more than anyone.

"Suine right?" Yuka's voice began and I saw Itachi look away from me, actually showing his eyes this time. However his cheeks had reddened but he seemed to ignore it.

"No…No I'm not doing this…" I took a step back and I felt Kisame's eyes on me.

"Suine is everything okay?" Kisame asked as he came up to me and then saw our customers, "Son of a bitch."

"K-Kisame…" Itachi's voice spoke up and his eyes widened.

"Suine, go take your break, you deserve it." Kisame told me and I looked down, "Welcome to Morning Brew's. Will this be a takeout or dine in?"

"Dine in." Yuka smirked happily as Kisame rolled his eyes. He grabbed two menus and turned to me, putting a hand upon my shoulder.

"Go talk to Kana. Tell her Kisame says it's urgent and that you need to go home…" Kisame told me, loud enough for Itachi and Yuka to hear.

"Oh so soon? I was so hoping Suine would be able to serve us." Yuka remarked but Itachi said nothing.

"If you speak another word to me, besides your order, I will kick you out." Kisame told her and she smiled.

"I don't think the manager would like that very much."

"Guys, what's going on?" Melody came beside me but Kisame balled his fists in anger, "Oh…you have got to be fucking kidding me."

"Take Suine to Kana, I'll handle this." Kisame told her as she grabbed me and pulled me away from the scene.

I didn't know when my lungs opened up for air again and when my heart began to beat again. All I knew was that Itachi was here and now my heart was unstable at work. Melody brought me to Kana and explained the story to her; I was too shaken up to even say a word. Kana brought me my stuff and put my jacket over my shoulders.

"Go home Suine…" Kana smiled to me as she began to bring me to the door.

Everyone's eyes were one me as we walked down the red carpet. Once we reached the podium she turned me around to her and my sad eyes looked up to her. She smiled, trying to make it feel okay but nothing could. Suddenly, to surprise everyone, Kana kissed me lightly on the forehead, just like a mother would. My eyes widened and she put her arms onto my shoulders.

"Suine…" She lightly said but the dead silence made it loud enough for everyone to hear, including Itachi, "Go home, fix your heart okay? You have done so much for me, this is the least I can do for you. Don't even worry about the next week's shifts; they will be given to other people. Take a break and recuperate. I don't want to see that fake smile when you come back okay?"

She lightly gave me a hug and pushed me out of the door. I took another look at the café's doors before turning around and leaving to be at home for the rest of the night.

. . .

Later that night Kisame and Melody came back from their work shift and they were discussing their stories. I stood beside the wall around the corner, listening into their conversation.

"Seeing Kana act like a mother to Suine…That just made my day." Melody told Kisame and he laughed.

"That's true, I truly am thankful that she was able to get out of that situation." Kisame began to tell Melody, "God…Yuka had some nerve to continue to talk to Suine like that. I really thought I was going to punch her in the face. I would have punched her if we weren't at work."

"I know what you mean. Did they treat you like shit afterwards?"

"Well, Itachi said nothing but you know of course Yuka said something…Actually, she said something really weird. She said 'Now that you can't have our money, you go to try to make your own and look like the good guy huh?'" Kisame paused, "I don't get it…"

"That is weird. I wonder what she meant by that…"

"But besides that they left me alone. I would have snapped if she had pushed me any further. Somehow I have the feeling Kana would have been okay with that…"

"Oh she would have been…Hey we should go check on Suine. I can't believe of all the places to be, he came into our café."

"Hey, you guys home?" My voice asked as I came around the corner and saw them, acting like I heard nothing of their conversation, "How was work?"

"Oh it was work." Melody told me as she came up to me and pulled me into a hug, "How are you?"

"I'm fine, Melody. You guys overreacted-"

"Don't say we overreacted." Kisame told me and I shut up about it, "That was the proper way to handle that situation."

"If you say so…" I replied as I squirmed my way out of Melody's grasp, "I have to go now. I want to get this over with."

"You don't have to go you know…" Melody chimed in but I shook my head.

"I do. Just like Kisame-san said earlier, I need closure and this is my way of getting it." I told her and she sighed.

"Be careful."

"I will I promise." I paused for a second, "Kisame do you know where Itachi lives?"

"…" He chuckled and wrote down an address on a piece of paper, "Don't get lost."

"Yes dad!" I told him and he rolled his eyes.

I went past Kisame and Melody as I headed for the door. I grabbed my jacket and left the apartment, heading down to the street. I pulled out the piece of paper that Kisame wrote down and began to follow the roads down to his street. I had a roll of cash in my pocket, ready to be delivered in full to Itachi for the price of the dresses. Even though I wanted to give him back the money, at the same time I didn't. I wasn't quite sure if I was ready to let him go, after all I had still wanted him to love me or just like me again.

What bugged me more than anything was that he fell for whatever Yuka's plotting. How could he believe lies about us? I wish I knew what Yuka had said so that way I could prove her wrong and get the Itachi I used to know back. Maybe that was why I was going alone. I knew that Kisame and Melody would have disapproved, since they believed Itachi was a lost cause but I knew that I could get him back. Somewhere in my heart, I wanted to do so, even though it hurt more than anything.

I looked at the address on the paper again and stopped when I made it right beside Itachi's house. It was a huge old Japanese mansion, probably one of the most expensive houses I have ever seen, even though I was on rich lane. It had big stone walls covering the majority of the house, except for the entrance. I peeked around the corner of the wall and gasped when I saw Itachi outside on the grounds.

He was raking up some leaves, with his back turned away from the entrance. He wore an old looking kimono. He had a long sleeved black jacket- which ended down at his knees- around a dark blue sleeved kimono. There was the Uchiha emblem imprinted on the back of the jacket. He wore black kimono pants that ended a bit above his ankles. Then he wore white socks and the traditional wooden sandals that they used to wear all the time in the past. I guess the Uchiha's really were an old traditional family; from what I heard this house has been in the Uchiha's family for over 6 generations.

Itachi didn't notice me at all as his saddened eyes stayed focus on the chore he was made to do. His eyes were what really hit me. I have never seen such sadness in his eyes, such loneliness and pain. Something happened to him too; we weren't the only ones being affected by Yuka. His heart was just as hurt as mine. He hid these eyes from all of us with his sunglasses, but somehow I knew that his heart was crying out for us.

I sighed and took a step out from behind the wall. I had to get this over with, I had to ignore his eyes and his pain. I just had to give him the money and then everything would feel better right?

"I…Itachi…" My voice started before my mind was made up and Itachi's eyes widened. He stared up to me and quickly ran over to me. He put a hand on my mouth and hid the both of us behind the wall.

"What the hell are you doing here!?" He began but I couldn't answer since his hand covered my voice, "You can't be seen here, my father would kill me and you if he saw someone that wasn't rich at our front door." He sighed and then his eyes widened again.

"Itachi!" A male voice began to say from inside the house.

"Stay here…" Itachi began, "Stay quiet. I'll come deal with you later."

Itachi pulled his hand off of my mouth and put a finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet. My heart wanted to yell out at him but my mind obeyed him. For some reason I could tell that even he was a bit frightened.

"Yes father?" Itachi asked as he pretended that he was raking up leaves from the sidewalk.

"Come here!" His father's voice boomed throughout the area, his anger could be felt just through his words.

"Yes father." Itachi went into the entrance and back into the courtyard of his house, "What seems to be the problem?"

"Why don't you tell me?" His father's anger didn't dissipate, "Explain to me why I got a call from my co-workers, telling me about how there is a stop on our new project? Explain to me why your name is signed on the top of a petition that will put a stop to our project?"

"Father, you are going to destroy thousands of homes just to expand your company, which you don't need. Those people, they are friends of Sasuke, old friends of mine. They go to my school and if you continue this damned project of yours they will have nothing!"

"They will have the privilege of helping us create a better production company that can help them."

A limo came up to the sidewalk, hidden by the wall, not disturbing Itachi and his father. I quietly watched as Sasuke stepped out of the limo. His eyes widened the moment our eyes found each other. Sasuke came closer to me and was about to speak but I quickly stopped him. I put my hand onto his mouth and pushed him up against the wall right beside me. I put a finger to my lips and Sasuke's hearing caught the voices of his brother and his father arguing. He lightly took my hand off of his mouth and we both stood up against the wall listening to the conversation continue.

"How will it help them father!?" Itachi fought back which made my eyes widen, "Your project is going to destroy their lives forever! You will take away their lands, their properties just to expand your company which will bring the world more consumer products that those people will never be able to buy! They are having a hard enough time just trying to keep their heads above the water! Sasuke's best friends live there and you are going to take their world away from them."

"Correction, old friends. They are no longer his best friends as they used to be in the academy."

"Of course; you made sure of that didn't you father. Making sure that Sasuke would be there to hear certain parts of the conversations…Telling him lies to make him believe that his friends and me are his main enemies. But they are his best friends no matter what you say; they are his true friends. And you are willing to destroy them just because their land could help you profit more."

"This is why you started the petition? For a stupid reason? This is why you called the council and asked for a debate over this new project idea? This is why you made sure I couldn't fire you before the debate? You are going to appeal to them just to protect Sasuke's friends."

"More than that! To protect everyone from your selfish ideals! Including my old friends…"

"Your old friends…I've heard of them. Kisame Hoshikage, Suine Iburame and Melody Nami…All runaways and all using you for your money. You still care for them even though you know their true intentions."

"That isn't the point-" Itachi paused, "Wait…How do you know that? Yuka said she was the only one who knew and I never once told you their names…How do you know this?" Another pause, "You're spying on me?"

"I had to take measures to protect our family name and the heir to my company. It was necessary to get them out of the picture-"

"What are you saying?"

"Yuka played her part well; she was able to get you out of their greedy grasps."

"Played her part?" I could feel Itachi's pain and my heart began to feel for him, "W-What are you talking about! What did you do!?"

"I told you I did what was necessary." His father remained unemotional, "There is no point in hiding it now, and the damage you have caused them will surely keep them away from you." Tears began to run down my face, all this time, it was his father's doing, "Yuka's family, as you know, is another great company, one with great assets, assets to help our family. With a promise for a merger, I was able to get her parents to bring their daughter in for a favour. That favour was to get you away from those pathetic people you called friends and get you to understand your position in my company. Yuka accepted and then made fake evidence to prove that your friends were only after your money. Sure enough she got you away from them and hurt them enough to keep them away from you forever." He paused and I heard Itachi fall to the ground, "It was all necessary for the family, you have to see that. Those friends would only bring you down and take away everything from you-"

"You son of a bitch!" I heard Itachi scream out, "You do this to Sasuke and to me, you try to control us with everything and for what purpose!? You have hurt me for the last time father! You made me hurt them; you made me break their hearts! Do you know how long I have cried over that!?"

"Be a man Itachi…" His father coldly stated and I fell to my knees in pain for Itachi, "Just remove the petition…"

"If you think revealing this to me will make me stop trying to fight against your stupid project, think again!" Itachi's voice rose in anger, "I will never stop fighting you!"

"Then try to fight me outside of here! You are banished from this home, do you understand me!? Banished! I do not want to see your face around here again. Until you have realized what you have done against this family and this corporation, I will never let you back into this house! You will be banned from using our money, from all the resources you have ever had from us!" I heard something get dropped on the floor the moment a snap of fingers had taken place, "Now get out of my sight!"

My heart stopped at those words and I looked to Sasuke who was just as shocked as me. I had to help him; even if he hurt me, it was his father's fault. If I should blame someone it was his father and not Itachi. Sasuke went past me and around the corner, I wanted to go but my body just froze. I just could not move, my body was too shocked to want to move a muscle.

"Brother…" I heard Sasuke's voice begin and I heard Itachi's sobs begin, "Where are you going to go? I have to go talk to father, this is ridiculous-"

"No, Sasuke…" Itachi's voice stopped Sasuke from continuing, "It will just get worse if you get involved…My one chance to stop him is at that council…"

"But what are you going to do? Where are you going to go? I can't just let you suffer because of father's stupidity…" Sasuke sighed, "I'm so sorry Itachi…I should have known better than to blame you. And now I know that father had also tried to control me as well…"

"I do not blame you; I didn't want you to know. But maybe it would have been easier if I just told you the truth right from the start. I am sorry for hiding so many things for you…I just wanted to protect you." Itachi paused, "I hurt them all, it's all my fault…They hate me…They'll always hate me…Kisame-san had warned me and I should have listened. I lost him, the greatest friend I ever had…Melody…and Suine, I lost her and that hurts more than anything…"

"She's not totally gone, they all aren't gone. Just like Naruto and Sakura…their hope for us to be reminded of who we really are…That never goes away…Besides Suine is just right outside our house anyways."

"Suine! Oh God! Suine!"

My body froze the moment I saw Itachi run out from the entrance, looking for me. More tears streamed down my face the moment his eyes connected with mine. The tears he was holding in came down his cheeks the moment he saw me.

"I-It…Itachi…kun…"My voice pushed past my paralyzed mouth, "Itachi-kun!"

My body finally was freed from its frozen state and pushed forward into his chest. I wrapped my arms around his waist and I gripped onto him. His arms fell onto my back.

"I'm so sorry, Suine…" He spoke to me, "I…I'm back…"

"I've missed you…" I sobbed into his chest, "I've missed you…Itachi-kun…"