Back To You [Shisui X Itachi]

Chapter 1

Dedicated to sommergymnastica for inspiring this story with their amazing novel "Encore"!

*Four Years Ago*

Itachi had the ability to seamlessly blend into a crowd and disappear. He had the ability to answer any question thrown at him, but also the disadvantage of not relating to his peers. At the age of fifteen, he was the youngest student ever admitted into Konoha High School. After being pushed into higher and higher grades when teachers found there was nothing new to teach him.

Itachi didn't have any friends - he simply didn't have the need to make friends. At lunch he would always just sit in the far left of the cafeteria, at the table next to the large windows that revealed the fields of the school. Many had approached him, trying to invite him into their groups but soon gave up - finding Itachi Uchiha too boring to spend another second on.

That being said, Itachi didn't have any enemies either. He made sure to speak when spoken to, was always polite and stayed away from any form of gossip or drama. He just didn't understand his peers like he understood adults or his academics. His peers were a mystery to him...

He had often heard other students talking as they passed by his locker in the hallway.

"No way, she's way hotter!"

"OMG, he said what?!"

"I think I love him..."

That was the one that always puzzled Itachi - love. It was a chemical reaction in the brain, that's all love was. He didn't understand the sentiment attached to it - the glorified image that word had.

That day, when he got home from school, he went straight to the kitchen.

"Hi love, how was school?" His mother asked over her shoulder while cutting up some vegetables for that night's dinner.

"It was good", he said simply.

His mother hummed in response. Itachi was by no means talkative - so she assumed that was the end of the conversation.

"What is love?" Itachi asked her curiously - although he didn't outwardly express his curiosity.

She stopped cutting the vegetables and turned to look at him, "Well, love is...it's a feeling. It's something that people share with each other."

Itachi tilted his head slightly, "Is it important?"

"I would say it is. Everyone deserves to feel love - even though sometimes it can hurt."

Itachi dissected her words, trying desperately to understand.

"So if love hurts, isn't it a bad thing then?" He asked after a few minutes.

"Well no. You see, when you love somebody, and they get hurt - so do you. But, at the same time, when they're happy so are you. It's kind of like a give and take."

Itachi turned away then and walked to his room to study and contemplate what he had just heard. His mother went back to chopping the vegetables.

*****

The next day at school, Itachi was the first to be in his class - twenty minutes before school officially started. All the other students were in the hallway with their friends - talking about whatever they wanted to.

Itachi sat quietly in his front row seat and stared out the window.

Love, he thought. I wonder how it feels...

He took out his notebook and practiced his chemistry - hoping to clear his mind.

The room started filling up, and soon the teacher walked in - silencing the class. Behind her was a boy who seemed completely at ease. His excited eyes bounced from one student to another - until they finally settled on Itachi who sat alone at a two person desk.