Amaya wipes the sweat from her brow, gazing up at the sun filtering through the open windows, letting the chatter of others wash over her in a calming manner. The humidity is clearly a bit unbearable for her foreign customers — an Iwa kunoichi, although Amaya is not supposed to know she's from Iwa, breathes a touch too heavily, and appears a tad too uncomfortable to enjoy her hot drink.
Amaya politely ignores her, as she has ignored many other customers that have entered her parent's teashop, and gets to work sweeping behind the half-open counter.
"Ah, Amaya-chan! Please take over for a few minutes, I'll be in the kitchen helping your father with the mochi," A feminine voice rings out from down the obscured hall. Amaya stops her task for a second, leaning backwards so that she can be clearly heard.
"Yes, Kaachan!" Amaya dutifully says, "Although Sen can help out later too," She tacks on, this time a hint of frustrated bitterness in her voice. It seems that no matter what kind of life she lived, siblings always seemed to be the ones that were allowed to slack off more than her.
Her mom's face pops out from the room at the end of the hall, her dark face covered in mochi flour. Long bangs frame the side of her face, the rest of her curly brown hair pulled high up in a bun. "You know he's busy with calligraphy," She tries to argue with Amaya, frown visible even from far away, "I know you can handle it," Her mother briskly answers, disappearing back inside.
Amaya rolls her eyes, cracking her neck with a quiet pop, ignoring the sudden flick of multiple eyes on her and a soft tut for her unladylike behavior. She doesn't like to push too far, but there were only so many differences from the world she was raised in and the world she was in now that she would tolerate. Frankly, if anyone deserved to be impolite because of what they experienced, Amaya Fucking Kimura was at the top of that list for being reincarnated in a place that was destined for wars, child soldiers, genocides, and authoritarian regimes. They could deal with a popped neck or two.
The jingle of bells beside the entrance door softly make their announcement.
"Welcome to our tea shop," She monotonously mutters to the new customer as she glares down at the floor, still in a bad mood from her mother's comment. "I'll be with you in a few minutes."
There's no response but the shuffle of feet as they make their way to one of the window booths, and Amaya does her best to finish up in a timely manner, grabbing a cup as she does so.
"Thank you for waiting, how may I—"
Amaya stops.
Two pairs of eyes stare at her, one of them small and sharp, overlaid across blue skin, and the other red and bright, staring directly at her face. They don't move either, each of them looking at her as if they can see right into her soul, their gaze flaying her alive as she silently screams. Amaya, in a state of shock, goes numb. She can't feel her fingertips, and even as she forces her eyes downward, they catch on the billowing red of clouds against stark black. The normal Kumo air, once familiar and loved, now turns suffocating.
She can't breathe.
Something shatters.
Amaya slowly looks down, glancing at the cup in pieces on the floor. "I'm, I'm sorry, I'll just… get a new one…" She tries to say, her breath short and fluttery.
Kisame Hoshigaki looks at her for a beat, then smiles, exposing rows and rows of razor teeth. "It's no trouble. We're all a little clumsy sometimes," He levelly says, voice friendly and understanding, contrasting severely with his large frame and intimidating features.
Itachi Uchiha says nothing. He continues to stare at her.
Amaya bows her head, frantically kneeling down to collect the pieces of broken pottery into her informal kimono. She's sure she's cut her hands at least once, but she can't bring herself to care as she almost runs back around the counter and into her room, completely abandoning the shop as she forces shut the shoji dividing her room from the hallway. Amaya stares at her bare walls, uncomprehending of what has just occurred. She had never recognized anyone since she was born — yes, there were ninjas, yes, unnatural, bizarre things occurred, but never, ever, has she been put in this position where something that she knew from her previous life intersected with the one she has today.
And from the Akatsuki of all things.
Amaya buries her head in her hands and screams.
Oh yeah, she's fucked.
Amaya takes a minute to calm herself, letting out a few hyperventilating breaths before pushing it back down with all the training instilled since before her birth. Shattered pottery falls to the ground, forgotten.
"Amaya," She says to herself, hyping up what she's going to do. "You are strong. You are going right back in there and handling the situation as best as you can. You are surrounded by family, and friends, and nothing will hurt you because of it," She finishes. There is a moment of self-imposed triumph before her eyes flicker to the emergency satchel stored in the small corner of her closet.
Amaya grabs it, and runs.
She hops out of the large window down the hall, ignoring her mother and father's questioning sounds, and runs as fast as she can through the forest. She doesn't even know where she's going, her mind racing a mile a minute as her instincts guide her far, far away from the threat hiding in a little teahouse in the corner of Kumogakure. Branches push against her, scratching her face and hands, but adrenaline pushes her forward until her legs feel like they're going to burst from the strain. Amaya runs past the point where she feels like she's going to collapse, sweat gathering on her brow until it burns her eyes as it falls. She looks back for a second, checking to make sure nothing is following her.
"Even for a civilian, you don't run very fast."
Amaya jerks backward at the voice that suddenly originates in front of her, tripping over her feet in the process and causing her to stumble and fall flat on the leafy ground. Damp earth gathers under her clawed hands as she gazes up in horror at the two silhouettes blocking her path, one pair of eyes pale and the other bright red, shadowed only by the sun gathering behind them. Amaya is as frozen as when she first saw them, her mouth unwilling to move in explanation.
Itachi Uchiha leans down, trying to get a better look into her terrified eyes. Amaya only watches back as intensely as he does, gazing at the spots of black in his iris as they twirl round, and round, and round. It's surprisingly… calming.
Itachi pulls back, frowning even more from where his expression is visible. "She isn't affected," He blandly states.
Like that, the words snap Amaya out of her stupor, and she realizes in what position she's in, literally and metaphorically. "I… apologize for my behavior," She weakly says, "We don't have a lot of shinobi that come through here, especially those of particular bloodlines," Amaya states, trying to simper as much as possible. It was true that being a civilian made her weak compared to most, but that weakness also meant she could be underestimated. Hopefully.
"You weren't looking at me, though," Kisame says, grinning wide enough she can count each individual, sharpened tooth. "You were looking at Itachi-san."
Amaya flicks her gaze over to Itachi, who is looking at her passively. "You have uncommon eyes," She tries to argue.
Itachi steps forward, his gaze more focused on her than before. "You weren't supposed to see them, nor my partner's. How did you get past my visual genjutsu?" He asks, his voice deeper than his partner's. It's an ill fit for how he looks, but the calm, almost disaffected tone rakes at Amaya's already unsettled disposition.
"I don't know!" She snaps out. "Listen, I'm just part of my family's teashop, I've lived here my entire life and I'd prefer it to stay that way for the next fifty years," Amaya says, feeling her fear turn into indignation.
"Could you see through the kunoichi's henge?" He asks. She hesitates. Any answer she would give would still settle suspicion on her; if she said yes, then why did she react differently towards both of them? If she said no, then what was different about Itachi and Kisame?
"Yes, I could," She carefully answers. "But she didn't look half as threatening as you two," Amaya adds.
"I'm flattered," Kisame dryly answers. "Now, hand over the bag."
Amaya's eyes drift over to her go-bag. Shit. Something brazen overtakes her, and she looks him in the eye. "No," She answers, her voice firm and sure.
Kisame looks at her with various degrees of surprise, exacerbation, and amusement. Itachi's eyes widen just a fraction, and Amaya spots a slight twitch to his lips over the dense coat.
"Ah, looks like she said no, Itachi-san. It seems we'll need to leave her be," Kisame teasingly states, glancing over to his partner. Amaya's eyes instinctively slide over to him as he speaks, and Itachi takes the lapse in attention to grab the bag from her faster than the blink of an eye.
Amaya's eyes widen as she sees him rifle through it, uncaring. "Wait!" She yells reaching out. Kisame steps in front of Itachi, blocking her path with his sword, surreptitiously pushing her down to the ground with it. They both ignore her, because of course they do, and the dark-haired thief quickly finds her journal hidden in the lining of the fabric, ripping it out with his bare hands. Fuckkkkkkkk.
Without care, he opens it, flipping through the pages with ease. His face betrays nothing, but he hands it over to Kisame's curious face, which turns into a frown as his eyes roam over the words. Kisame flips it over for Amaya to see as she tries not to seem too nervous.
"What is this?" Kisame bluntly asks, turning the book around to reveal handwritten English, its long, squiggly lines so unlike the language of this region.
Amaya can't help it — she tenses as she catches:
Obito Uchiha — Born before Shisui, older than Kakashi. Activates sharingan in Iwa after being attacked. Gives Kakashi sharingan. Zetsu (?) heals him and Madara Uchiha—
She vigorously shakes her head. "My older brother told me to keep that with me no matter what," She easily lies, making her lips tremble a little. It's not a hard thing to do when she genuinely feels the pulse of fear circling the edges of her brain. "I don't know what it says, but he's a shinobi, so you better not mess with me!"
They both stare at her, considering her words. Amaya turns her gaze to Itachi; while Kisame was friendlier, Itachi should be less prone to outright killing her.
Probably.
Amaya bites her lip as she tries very hard not to think about the Uchiha massacre. Itachi brings his gaze down, gently taking the notebook back from Kisame and flipping through it once again, remaining silent. The air remains tense as both Amaya and Kisame wait for the Uchiha's cue.
The light sound of flipping pages passes, and then, "Oh?" Itachi gently speaks. Amaya gulps, and Itachi kneels down, facing her again.
"What is your name?" He asks, this time his voice softer, more dangerous. He doesn't have his sharingan on anymore, but the dark iris is still intimidating. Amaya now clearly notices the deep purple surrounding the bottom of his eyelids, exposing his lack of sleep.
"Amaya Kimura," She answers, voice similarly soft, but not because of any threat she poses — just the opposite.
"And where is your older brother stationed?" Itachi asks.
"Along the Konoha border," Is the first thing that she blurts out. "But he's probably stronger than both of you, so, you know, don't go there," She lamely adds, unable to stop her mouth from running.
"I don't know any Kimura. Itachi-san, what about you?" Kisame asks.
Itachi ignores his question, flipping over the book again to show it up close and personal to Amaya. "Did you draw this?"
She carefully slides her gaze from Itachi's face to the notebook, making sure not to react to the doodled Uchiha emblem in the corner of one of the pages.
"No," She confidently says.
Itachi slams the notebook shut with a resounding thud. "She's lying. We're taking her with us to this alleged brother," Itachi resolutely states, turning away from Amaya's sudden scramble upwards.
"Huh?! Listen, this whole thing is a misunderstanding, that journal isn't mine—!"
A hand bruisingly clamps her bicep, and Amaya flinches, her shocked expression finding Kisame's toothy grin. "Looks like you're going on a trip to Konoha with us."
Fuck her life.