Amai was pleasantly surprised when Itachi showed up again a month later, and she smiled at him as he walked in the door. "Your associate isn't with you this time?"

"We're partners with regards to work, but we're not glued to each other outside of our missions." Itachi told her.

"That may be so, but this village isn't exactly a tourist destination." She remarked dryly, "You probably came out of your way to come here. He didn't question why?"

"He thinks I've just developed a preference for the sweets here."

"And have you?"

"Your sweets are well-made..." Itachi began slowly, not wanting to make any implications, but also not wanting to insult her, "But in truth, I was concerned about you being bothered by the Sendō Clan."

"So you figured that if you keep showing up here once a month, they might back off a little because they're already terrified of you." Amai guessed in amusement.

"What gave you that idea?" Itachi asked, not so much denying his intentions as inquiring why she believed the Sendō feared him.

"I heard from Reishi-kun about how you protected Rengyōdō during your stay a couple of months ago." Amai remarked, "That, and I saw Sendō Jiryuu's face when you confronted him in my store that one day."

Itachi sat down at a table near the kitchen, where he would be able to talk to Amai while she worked, "Well, I won't deny that I was hoping to deter them a little."

She chuckled, "So what will you have today?"

"Tea and botchan dango will be fine."

"All right." Amai said, moving over to the counter to prepare the food.

"May I ask you about something?"

"What is it?" Amai asked as she rolled a few balls of dough.

"When I was here last, my partner asked you about seafood... it seemed to unnerve you a little."

Amai's eyes widened and she dropped the last dumpling into the boiling pot with a rather loud plop, jumping slightly as it splashed her. She grabbed a pair of chopsticks and stirred the pot absentmindedly as she considered her answer. "...My parents drowned in the sea two years ago... I've... had an aversion to seafood ever since then... Those bonito flakes are the only thing I can even stand to keep in stock. I never eat them myself though."

Itachi considered this, "This used to be a shinobi village, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Were your parents shinobi?"

"They were."

Itachi was quiet for a moment. If Amai's parents had been shinobi, then they should've known how to walk on water, or at least how to swim. If they had drowned in the ocean, then...

"They were addicted, weren't they? To Sengenzai. That's why you now owe a debt to the Sendō."

"Yes... but... The Sendō... were not involved in my parents' death. At least, not directly..."

Itachi got the feeling that there was something more she wasn't telling him, but he didn't ask. After all, he too, had a past that he would rather not speak of.

甘い

A month later, Itachi came to the tea shop once again, and things proceeded the way they usually did. With this being his eleventh visit, their interactions were almost habitual. She greeted him, took his order, prepared it, and they engaged in casual conversation all the while. They didn't simply engage in small talk, but the conversations were not particularly personal either, which seemed to suit the both of them just fine. Even without speaking of their actual lives, there was a feeling of companionship between them.

It was when he visited a second time that month that things began to change.

Itachi walked into the shop as always, but it was later in the day than he would usually come by. He had just finished a mission with Kisame, one that had resulted in them winding up in the area of Howling Wolf Village once again. Itachi had headed there with the excuse that he needed to recuperate a bit from the mission. The mission, however, had also resulted in him entering the shop at dusk. Amai was sweeping the floor when he came in, and she looked up at him in surprise.

"Oh! Itachi-san! Welcome!"

"I'm not bothering you, am I?" Itachi asked, "I know it's evening and that you'll probably be closing soon."

"You're right, I was just about to close up." Amai said, but she smiled, "But it's no trouble! Just let me take down the banner and then I'll get your food!"

"All right." Itachi sat at his usual spot as Amai walked out the front door and removed the banner that showed her store was open, rolling it up and setting it aside as she walked in and closed the usually open front door.

"All right, now that that's taken care of, what kinds of food do you like?" She asked while moving over to the kitchen. If she could've seen his face beneath his jingisa, she'd have noticed that Itachi was looking rather confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I have a new matcha and adzuki cake that I think you'll enjoy, but you can't just have tea and cake at this hour! You need a proper meal first." Amai explained as she shifted through a cabinet.

"I don't want to put you out..." The shinobi said uncertainly.

"Oh don't worry about it." Amai replied with a wave of her hand, "What do you think I do when I close up shop anyway? A little companionship during a meal never hurt anyone, and it's hardly more effort to cook for two instead of one. Besides, I spend all day cooking. One extra meal isn't going to kill me."

"Besides sweets, I prefer cabbage and onigiri..." Itachi replied, his way of admitting defeat. At the moment, Amai vaguely reminded him of his mother or Izumi. There was just no winning with a woman when she was determined to take care of you.

"You're not opposed to meat, are you?"

"Not so long as it isn't steak, no."

"Great! Then I'll whip up some cabbage rolls, rice, and we can finish off with that cake. Do you want fried rice or steamed?"

"I prefer fried."

"Coming right up."

Itachi watched Amai through the fringe on his hat. His vision wasn't great, but he wasn't completely blind yet, although he had activated his Sharingan in order to see her a bit more clearly. The girl hummed to herself as she worked, the sleeves of her kimono tied back with a work-band and an innocent smile on her face. Watching her work reminded him again of his mother, but he wondered absentmindedly just how exactly she would react if she knew his true identity. The girl was totally clueless that she was preparing to share a meal with an S-Ranked international criminal. Would she still be so carefree if she knew?

He couldn't help but think that Amai was dangerously unguarded with regards to the kind of people she allowed into her life. Certainly, it was not her place to judge or ask questions of people who came here during business hours, but to insist he have dinner with her? They had spent, at most, five or six hours together in the past four months. How could she trust him so openly? He would blame it on her being from a small, safe village, but he'd already seen firsthand just the kind of dangers that she'd been exposed to. He couldn't help but worry... that her naive kindness was going to get her killed one day.

When she finished cooking, Amai brought the meal over to Itachi, and after fussing over his refusal to remove his hat, even while the shop was closed, began to eat. She had never noticed him watching her with the Sharingan, in part because he had made sure to stop using it once her attention was on him. The two of them engaged in their usual conversation, with Amai asking Itachi his opinions on new recipes she was considering and Itachi remarking on her skill as a cook.

When they had finished the meal, Itachi attempted to pay Amai as usual, but she refused.

"For me, being able to share a meal with you is enough." She insisted. Feeling he had no choice but to accept her decision, Itachi bade her goodbye and walked toward the door, with Amai following to see him out. However, he was still at least five feet from it when he suddenly groaned and staggered.

"Itachi-san!" Amai cried in alarm, rushing forward and catching him as he collapsed, his hat falling off in the process. He wasn't unconscious, so Amai merely ended up supporting him and helping him to sit down as she knelt next to him. She carefully pressed the back of her palm to his cheek. "You've got a terrible fever..."

"I'm... fine..." Itachi insisted, but Amai shook her head.

"Don't be ridiculous! You need to rest! You're in no condition to leave!"

"I need... to meet up... with Kisame..." Itachi told her.

"The way you are now, you won't even make it out of the village." Amai told him, "He knows where you are, right? If he gets worried, he can come looking for you, but you're staying here tonight, and the next night if necessary! I am not letting you leave until your fever is gone!" When he opened his mouth to protest, she fixed him with a stern glare, "Do not argue with me, Itachi-san! You can't win this fight!" Itachi gave a resigned sigh, finally submitting to her and, in his fevered haze, wondered why exactly all women were stubborn in this manner. Nonetheless, he consented as Amai helped him to his feet and into the back part of the store, where her living quarters were. She brought him into a bedroom and turned to remove his cloak, glaring at him when he attempted to stop her. "Stop it. You can't sleep in this. Maybe you do normally, but tonight, it's in the way. You'll be more comfortable without it." Itachi sighed in resignation and allowed her to take off his cloak, not noticing her eyes glancing up at his headband. They widened slightly, but then returned to her task, and her momentary hesitation went unnoticed by feverish Itachi. She set Itachi's cloak aside and then helped him to sit down on the floor. "Wait here, I'm going to get out the bedding for you." Itachi didn't bother to argue. He could've forced his way out of here, but... he had to pick his battles, and this was one he didn't feel was worth the effort to win. "Take off your headband too. It will be in the way. I want to place a cold compress on your forehead once you're settled." Almost automatically, Itachi's hands moved to obey her, but then he stopped, and his eyes widened as he registered what she had just said, and for the first time, he realized that she'd seen his forehead protector. He looked over at Amai, unable to really see her without the Sharingan, but he could tell that she was, by all accounts, focused entirely on her task of unfolding the futon she had pulled out of a closet to the side of the room.

When the bed was ready, she helped Itachi into it, and then draped the bedspread over him. She moved to do the same with his cloak, but then frowned. "No, you know what? This is going to be washed. Goodness knows what it's been through since the last time you were able to do so." She was honestly afraid to ask when he ever had the chance. She took the cloak and left the room, returning a moment later with a pitcher of water, a bowl, and a cloth. She poured some water into the bowl, soaked the cloth in it, wrung it out, and then folded it before placing it on Itachi's forehead.

"You aren't as alarmed as I thought you'd be..." Itachi remarked. He knew that even a girl from a backwater village like this had to know the meaning of the headband with a line scratched through the emblem of Konohagakure, and Amai was smart enough that she had probably combined that information with his name to discern who he was.

"We all have our secrets..." Amai said quietly as she softly dampened his neck with another cloth. She then folded the cloth and placed it at the base of his neck, just above his collarbone. "Here. Sometimes placing a cold compress directly on the thyroid gland helps to lower the body temperature. Now you get some rest. I'll be back to check on you in a little while. If you need me, ring that little gong. I'm not leaving the house, so I'll hear it."

甘い

Amai sighed as she soaked Itachi's cloak in the washtub underneath the pump faucet of her well out back, her face lost in thought. Uchiha Itachi... some people called him "the Clan-Killer Itachi", but... that wasn't the Itachi that she knew. She started scrubbing the cloak as she continued thinking. It wasn't that she was denying the truth of Itachi's identity, but she couldn't help but wonder what had happened in his past that had caused him to commit such a crime. "I wonder..." she murmured while turning to look up at the moon, "Could he share the same pain as I? Are we carrying the same burden?"

甘い

Later that evening, Amai came into the room, carrying another pitcher and a cup. Itachi had been sleeping as far as she could tell, but he seemed to wake as soon as she entered. "Sorry I woke you. Are you thirsty?"

"A little." Itachi admitted. Amai removed the cloths from his neck and forehead, helped him to sit up, and then poured something into the cup.

"This is an herbal tea that should help with your fever. It's more effective when taken cold instead of hot. It also has a few herbs to help you sleep more comfortably tonight." She explained.

"You seem to know a lot about looking after someone with an illness." Itachi remarked as he accepted the cup.

Amai looked down. She knew that, coming from Itachi, that was a compliment, but... "My little sister was often ill like this..."

"'Was'?" Itachi asked. It belatedly occurred to him that he had never seen the sister she'd just mentioned.

Amai nodded, her eyes lined with tears, "My younger sister was... of poor constitution. She got sick often. Things only got worse when, shortly after the Rōen incident, our parents became addicted to Sengenzai." She clutched the fabric of her kimono as the tears began to fall, "They became so useless that I had to look after the shop and Adzuki all by myself... and then they would go and spend of all the earnings on Sengenzai, without leaving anything to support ourselves or the store... we were out of money within a month, and that was when they started borrowing from the Sendō. They would be given Sengenzai on credit, and then all of our money would go to that clan... the debt just kept climbing higher and higher... I didn't know what to do... ...and then Adzuki got sick. Maybe a year or so after their addiction had started, she got really, really sick. She just woke up one morning in absolute misery. I didn't open the shop that day, just in case she was contagious, and spent all day taking care of her. I tried to get help, but... none of the doctors were willing to treat a penniless child whose family was drowning in debt... not when the village was already suffering the crisis caused by the Sengenzai. I asked Reishi-kun for help, but... he was only eight-years-old at the time, and only knew how to make Kotarō, which couldn't really help her, although he did give me some refined Kotarō to make her more comfortable, and told me not to worry about paying him back. I tried desperately... I did everything I knew to do... but in the end, it just wasn't enough. She passed away in my arms that night, and in that moment... I couldn't take it anymore." Amai sniffled and wiped her eyes in a futile attempt to stop the tears before she continued, "In that moment, I hated my parents, and I hated the Sengenzai even more. The entire day, they had been so consumed by it that they had never even known that Adzuki was sick. When my tears had stopped, I found them passed out, so I took their entire supply of Sengenzai. When they woke up and found it gone, I told them I had it and got them to chase me. It's not hard to outrun two people who are in a drugged stupor, even if they are former shinobi. I led them to the sea, and told them that if the Sengenzai was so precious to them, they would have to retrieve it. Then I threw it into the ocean. I'm sure you can guess what happened next."

"They drowned themselves trying to retrieve the Sengenzai." Itachi surmised.

Amai nodded, "I didn't actually think that they would do that, and when I realized how far they were willing to go, I tried to stop them, to save them... it was Reishi-kun who saved me."

"What do you mean?" Itachi asked.

"Reishi-kun saw what was happening and held me back. I was trying to go after my parents, but he stopped me and forced me to realize that no matter how much I wanted to, I didn't have the strength to save my parents." Her gaze was distant as she attempted to tuck a stray hair behind her ears. "That's why I've always been fond of those two. Kina-chan was only a toddler at the time, but Reishi-kun looked out for me when nobody else did, even though he is five years my junior."

"Does anyone else know about this?" Itachi asked.

"Not really. They know about Adzuki's illness, and that my parents drowned in the sea, but they just think that my parents were... not of sound mind when it happened." Amai replied.

"And they're right." Itachi replied, "Your parents were not of sound mind. If they were, they wouldn't have drowned themselves in pursuit of a narcotic."

"But if I hadn't thrown it into the sea—"

"They'd still be alive?" Itachi asked, "Perhaps, but that's assuming that they wouldn't have died from overdosing at some point, of which there is little guarantee. Even if they were still alive, you'd be no better off, Amai. In fact, it would be worse for you. You'd only find yourself buried further and further under their debt. Now, at least, you have a chance to get out from under the Sendō Clan."

Amai sniffled and wiped her tears again. "What about you? You're known for killing your clan, but... I can't imagine that doing so was your choice. In fact, from what I've heard, you have a little brother. His name is Sasuke, right? I bet he means the world to you, just like Adzuki meant the world to me."

Itachi's eyes widened, and then he smiled weakly, "You've seen right through me, but perhaps that's because we are so alike." He handed his empty cup to Amai and settled back down on the bed, looking up at the ceiling as he thought of Sasuke and of his clan. "You're right, I didn't want to, but for the sake of protecting Sasuke and our village, I had no choice."

"What do you mean?" Amai asked.

"The Uchiha Clan had been ostracized by the village for many years, in the same way that Reishi-kun and Kina-kun are here. Other members of the village were suspicious of us for things that we had nothing to do with." Itachi explained, "Naturally, the members of my clan resented being treated with such prejudice. That anger simmered beneath the surface for nearly eight years, before it finally reached the boiling point. The adults of the clan had decided to launch a coup d'tat and drew up plans for carrying it out. If they were not stopped, it would've triggered a civil war that would've made Konoha vulnerable to attack by outside forces."

"Naturally, once they were subdued, the adults of the clan would be punished as traitors, leaving their children traumatized and planting new seeds of resentment toward the village, which would be nurtured by even greater prejudice against them." Amai said quietly.

Itachi closed his eyes and nodded. "Thus, a higher-up in Konoha asked me to assassinate my clan, under the basis that if a clan member was responsible for it, the peace in Konoha could be preserved. In exchange, I would be allowed to spare my brother." Itachi opened his eyes again, "I accepted the mission on that condition. I knew enough about this man to know that he could've wiped out our entire clan at once and make it look like we'd been hit by a plague, but if I carried it out myself, at least Sasuke would be safe. Before I left, I warned him that if he did anything to harm my brother, I would leak village secrets to our enemies. I also had the assurance of the Third Hokage, whom I did trust, that Sasuke would be cared for. After that, I joined a criminal organization in order to learn of their intentions, and to keep them away from Konoha."

"So even now, you protect Konoha, even without anyone knowing."

"Yes. I have just one goal aside from that. To live long enough to be able to battle my brother, one-on-one. When that time comes, he will kill me, and be hailed as a hero who killed his villainous brother."

"Do you think that will fix it?! Do you think dying by his hand will heal Sasuke-kun's heart from the pain of this tragedy?!" Amai exclaimed suddenly.

"Probably not." Itachi acknowledged, trying to ignore the emotion that her outburst had been filled with, "But I'm going to die anyway. My fever tonight is but an episode caused by fatigue. My illness itself is terminal. So if I'm going to die, I would rather it be by Sasuke's hand. In that way, at least, I will have paid for my crime."

"Idiot..."

Itachi glanced up at Amai, because literally nobody had ever called him that.

"Itachi, you idiot!" She exclaimed again, tears streaming down her face, "You didn't commit any crime! It wasn't your fault! The officials in Konoha who oppressed the Uchiha... the man who ordered you to kill your own clan... the adults who wanted to start a civil war! They're the ones to blame for all of this, not you! By protecting your brother, you protected your clan's future! At least if he survives, it has a chance to be reborn! You said yourself that if you hadn't accepted that mission, that man would've found a way to quietly kill everyone off. Then what?! Your clan would've had no future at all!" Abruptly, she laid her head on his chest, still sobbing, "Don't you get it?! The greatest victims of a tragedy, the ones who suffer the most, are the ones who must endure the pain that follows afterward!"

Itachi didn't move as Amai continued sobbing with her head on his chest, partially because he was stunned by her actions, and partially because he was stunned by what she had said. Amai's words reflected exactly what he had been trying to tell her when she spoke of her family's death. They were exactly the same.

甘い

After a while, Amai's sobs died away as she fell into a fitful sleep. Itachi didn't bother with trying remove her from him. Instead, he gazed at the girl (as best as he could), idly reaching up with his hand and running his fingers through the top of her hair, where her braid was loosest, marveling at how they were so alike, yet so different.

The two of them carried the same pain and bore similar burdens, but seemed to respond in completely different ways. No, that wasn't quite right. Their response was the same; they both acted as if their pain did not exist. The difference was in how they portrayed that.

Itachi was always distant and unattached, acting as though he felt nothing at all. That had always been his way. Even before that horrible night, he had mostly hidden his thoughts and feelings about things because he thought that was what others wanted. It had never turned out well when he voiced his disagreement with other members of the clan. After joining the Akatsuki, Itachi had essentially buried all of his emotions in order to keep up the facade of being a heartless villain who'd killed his entire clan for the heck of it. Even Kisame thought that he was a man who cared about literally nothing—except, maybe, what kind of sweets he could find in any given location. The only one in Akatsuki aside from Madara who had ever known that he still had someone he was attached to in Konoha had been his first partner, Biwa Juzo, and he had only realized that fact moments before his death.

Amai was the exact opposite of him in this respect. Although she also buried her negative emotions deep within her, she greeted nearly everyone she met with a warm smile. She was friendly and accommodating, always looking out for the needs of others. Although Itachi had known that she didn't have a family, that her parents had been addicted to Sengenzai, and that she was troubled by the Sendō, he had never once known the depth of her hardships, just as she had never suspected the truth about him.

Perhaps he was just as naive as she was.


So, yeah, this is the point at which Amai and Itachi learn the truth about each other's past, which is where their romance truly begins. Up until now, they've just been looking out for each other because they are both kind by nature. It's a little hard to think of Itachi as being naive at this stage in his life, but he's coming to realize that there are still things about the world that he doesn't understand.