Ameka woke with a start, looking over the room and surprisingly finding it to be her own. Her manga scattered carelessly over the floor, some clothes piled in the corner, her stuffed animals and plushies in a heap next to her bed, not a single thing out of place yet she was freaked out. She'd been having some really weird dreams recently; she blamed her love of the anime Naruto for that, seeing as how it seemed to be involved in her dreams somehow. Sighing she glanced at her alarm clock before jumping out of bed. "Crap! I over slept."
She grabbed the closest articles of clothing she could, rushing to the bathroom to shower. "Watch it, Ame!" Her younger brother yelled as she shoved him out of the way as she tore down the hall after her quick preparations for the day.
"Sorry Taka but I'm running late." She called back, jumping the last few stairs; she grabbed a peach before dashing out the front door, red hair flying behind her.
"Ame wait! You forgot your lunch!" Her mom shouted after her as she ran up the street. "Ugh, that girl." She said before returning to the house.
"Mom, what was up with Ame? She knows it's Saturday, right?" Takahashi, still in his pajamas, was getting himself some cereal.
"Oh, she just has rehearsal this morning and it's supposed to go all day." Their dad said, flipping through the paper.
His wife smiled over at him, pulling out a cookbook. "Which is good for us, all day without her poking her nose into our party planning."
Taka made a sound of annoyance. "Hn, forgot today was her birthday." He grumbled.
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"Worst hell day ever." Ame was in the dressing room getting out of costume with her best friend, Gwen, and the rest of the extras.
"Well, they don't call it hell day for nothing." Gwen reminded her. They, along with the rest of the cast of their school musical, had just spent the past 13 hours running through the whole show. Yep, all of Les Misérables from start to finish over and over and over with notes from their anal drama teacher after each curtain fall. "I'm sorry that it had to be on your birthday though."
She sighed heavily, getting her street clothes back on. "Man, I pity the leads, they are still being lectured in there."
Gwen laughed, pulling her own shirt on too. "What else would you expect? We open in five days and our Marius still isn't memorized."
A smile tugged at the side of Ame's lips while she turned to the mirror to get the stage make-up off. "True, makes you wonder why he was even cast as that role. Mark may be a great football player but that is all he has going for him." The boy cast a Marius was the star of their school's football team, with the best stats in the state.
"He only auditioned because someone told him that being involved in other extracurricular activities would look good on his collage apps." One of the other extras spoke up.
The pair of friends rolled their eyes. "Didn't mean that they had to cast him though." Ameka retorted.
"Oh, come on! We all know it was the theater department's attempt to draw in a larger crowd." Scoffed another girl. It was true; their city cared more about sports than arts, athletic events always drawing huge crowds while the theater program suffered.
"Who cares if he can't sing?" A freshman spoke up. "He soooo hot!"
Ameka and Gwen locked eyes, briefly as the shorter one joined her at the mirror. "Dang I hate this stuff." The red head growled throwing away the paper towel she had been scrubbing at her face with. "See you guys Monday." She called to the room, turning to leave.
"Later Ame!"
"Happy birthday, chika!"
The hallway was chaos as other cast members rushed to gather their things, some still in costume, techies getting all the props and mics put away. She watched in confusion as some of the guys ran past, shirtless, snapping each other with towels. She rolled her eyes at their antics before taking a seat on the stairs leading to the main school hallway, waiting. She pulled out her laptop and was reading some fan fiction she had found the day before.
"Hey, sorry that took a while." Startled she snapped the computer shut and looked up, meeting a pair of pale green eyes. "Some of the guys were being rowdy."
She smiled brightly at the blonde guy before her. "Don't worry about it Ben. I would expect the stage manager to keep the cast and crew in order."
"Right, so should we go?" He asked holding out a hand to help her up.
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"Are you sure this is the right one?" A black haired woman asked the guy with her.
He sighed heavily. "Yes, why would you doubt me?" He retorted, pushing the door open, they were met by a blindingly aqua room.
"Ah! My eyes!" Izumi had an extreme dislike of bright things. The dark haired man ignored her, looking over the room. He was sorting through some papers on the desk as his friend flopped herself on to the bed. She was playing with the stuffed animals on the bed and made an odd strangling sound as she picked up one of the plushies. "Look, Tobi!" She called to him. "It's you!" She cried holding out the doll to him, it had on an Akatsuki cloak and a swirly orange mask.
He scoffed. "Sure." He had spotted a picture with three teens in it, a short, tan girl with brown hair and eyes, a tall blonde boy with green eyes and, in between them, a tall girl with bright red hair and eyes that matched her wall perfectly. "Izumi, look at this."
She jumped off the bed, taking the picture from him. "Wow, definitely the right room then."
"Yes, she looks just like her mom." Madara mumbled.
"So what do we do now?" She asked, looking around the room again. "Should we pack up some of this stuff?"
"Yeah, get some of her clothes. Maybe some books. A few stuffed animals." He turned locking eyes with her emerald orbs. "But leave those things here." He told her pointing to the pile of mini Akatsuki members on the girl's bed.
"Right." They sorted through her stuff for several minutes, deciding what to take, when a car pulling into the drive way caught their attention.
Muffled laughing and the front door opening caused them some disquiet. "Shit, she's home."
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"That was way fun!" Ame said giggling as Ben's little truck pulled up in front of her house. "Thank you for making sure my birthday at least ended well."
He leaned over giving her a quick peck on the cheek. "No problem and after the hell day we just had a bit of fun was needed."
Smiling she climbed out of the car, skipping up the steps to the front door. "Good night Ben!" She called as he drove off. She laughed as he peeled out turning the corner.
"Mom! Dad! I'm home!" She yelled kicking off her shoes by the bottom of the stairs. She got no response and wandered to the kitchen, flicking the light on she looked around. "Hello?" She called out looking through all the rooms on the main floor. Spotting a clock she realized it was later than she thought and figured they had all gone to bed.
She turned the lights back off, locking up the door, before climbing the stairs. It was a house rule that you always check in when you get home regardless of the time, so she knocked quietly on her parents' bedroom door. "Guys I'm home." She said getting no response she shrugged turning to her room.
She paused; hand on the door knob as she heard some whispers and a thumping sound. Thinking it was her parents setting something up to surprise her, she threw the door open.
"Owie!" A man with an orange mask on cried out as the door smacked him in the face. "Why did you hurt Tobi? Tobi didn't do anything to you!" He rushed over to the young woman in the room throwing his arms around her, sniffling.
"Cut it out!" She tried to shove him off, but all it did was make him hold on tighter. "For crying out loud, get off me you freak!" She cried in exasperation.
"Um, who are you guys and why are you in my room?" Ame asked backing up. "And why is he dressed in Tobi cosplay?"
They both looked at her then at each other. "Tobi is Tobi." The swirly masked one said. "Tobi and Izumi were sent by leader to get Ameka."
She stared at them in confusion, pulling out her cell phone. "Leader? What leader? Why does he want me?" She was in a panic. "Where are my parents and Taka? What have you done to them?"
"Oh we are not doing this here." Izumi whined turning to Madara. "Do something."
Sighing, he walked over to Ame, taking the phone from her. "I didn't want to do this." His voice was deeper now and Ameka looked at him oddly. He took his mask off and she was further confused to see that he had the Sharingan.
"Are those contacts?" She asked as they started to spin. Definitely not contacts, was her last thought as she lost consciousness.
He scooped the red head up, turning to Izumi. "Finish grabbing her stuff and make sure this," he says tossing the bag from Ame's hand to her. "Comes with."
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He stared down at the girl in Madara's arms, dumbfounded. This couldn't possibly be right, could it? She looked just like Etsuka, so there really shouldn't be any doubt in his mind about this.
"Count on you two to bring back the wrong girl." Konan scoffed from her spot next to him, Pein looked over at her briefly before his eyes drifted back to the girl.
Madara set her down in a chair as Izumi scrabbled into the office with her arms filled with a huge box. "This is Ameka, we made sure of it, Konan, and if you have any doubts just look at her. The spitting image of her mother."
"She can't be Ameka, that child should be around four years old. This girl is at least sixteen." Konan sputtered.
Konan gasped as Pein walked over to the girl, kneeling before her to brush some stray red hairs from the pale face. "I have no doubt that this is my daughter." He finally spoke before looking at the other man. "I just am not sure what has gone wrong."
Izumi dropped the box with a huff. "Well I didn't do it."
"I have no answer for you Pein, time might have altered itself once the world was created." Madara spoke evenly. "I have been thinking it over and need a bit more time to figure out what happened."
"That won't be necessary." The orange haired man cut in. "She is home, that is what matters." He picked up his daughter for the first time in four years, carrying her out of the room. "Konan, grab her things." He told the blue haired woman as he turned down the hallway.
He passed few Akatsuki members as he made his way down the hall since Sasori, Itachi and Kisame were off recruiting a new member and Kakuzu and his partner of the week were out collecting a bounty. So really the only person he ran into was Zetsu, who questioned if the girl was edible. The plant-man received a glare in reply as Pein opened the door to the room he had set aside for his little girl. Konan followed him into the room, dropping the box before leaving.
He gently set the girl on the bed, pulling a blanket over her. "Welcome home, Ameka." He whispered, planting a kiss on her forehead before leaving.
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Ameka sat up, yawning and stretching. Yes! Sunday, wonderful day Sunday, she had the whole day to do what she pleased. No school, no rehearsals. I probably should at least clean my room though. She thought opening her eyes to see, not her room with its slightly orderly piles, but a room that was blank. "Where the hell am I?" She whispered.
"Oh, Ameka is awake! Leader will be soooooo pleased." She jumped, turning to where the voice came from and spotting Tobi.
That is when the events of the previous night kicked in. "Right I was kidnapped by a Tobi cosplayer and his friend."
"I'm not a cosplayer, I am Tobi!" He said exaggeratedly flinging his arms around. "Tobi brought you to the Akatsuki base because Leader told him to."
Sighing she stood up. "That isn't possible. The Akatsuki are a fictional organization of criminals." She finally noticed what he was doing. "Hey! Put those down!" She shouted with a blush sweeping her face.
"Huh? Tobi is a good boy, he is helping Ameka unpack!" He said placing the pair of panties in the dresser, pulling another pair from the large box. "Ohhhhh, Tobi likes these ones! They are cutesy!"
She stomped over pulling them from his hand. "Look, I don't need help unpacking because I'm not staying."
"Whaaaaaat? Why not?" Tobi cried hugging her. "Tobi thought Ameka would be his friend!" He wailed as she tried to get free. "Leader said that Ameka would be staying forever! Leader said he wanted to keep his baby close and teach her to fight! Leader promised…"
"Hold up. Leader doesn't know me and I don't know him. He can't make my decisions for me." She broke his hold on her, backing towards the door. "Listen, Tobi cosplaying dude, I can't stay here. I have school and I'm in a play that is opening this week. I have things I need to do. I can't stay here playing whatever odd game this is."
Tobi stopped his crying and approached her menacingly. "That is too bad, Ameka, because this is not some silly little game." His voice had changed, deeper and well, evil.
"Oh, so you're cosplaying both Tobi and Madara." She said through her terror, reaching for the door knob.
"Silly Ameka, how many times do I have to tell you? This isn't a costume." He said patting her gently on the head. "I am Madara."
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Pein was looking over some possible missions to send Itachi and Kisame on when they return when his thoughts were interrupted by Konan. "Are you sure that is your daughter?"
"We went through this already, she is Ameka."
"But you wanted your little girl, she is a teenager." Konan reminded him.
Sighing, he set the files aside, running a hand across his eyes. Konan was his best friend, they had been through so much together, but there were times he just wanted to punch her in the face. "What kind of father would I be if I rejected my own child just because she is older than I expected. I must confess myself disappointed that I missed out on her childhood, there are moments that I should have gotten with her that I now never will, but I can't let that interfere with the time I get to spend with her now."
"But Nagato what if she…" Konan never got to finish her comment; it was interrupted by a loud, shrill scream.
Pein immediately stood up rushing for the door, mumbling about Madara.