Kakashi Hatake POV
I was the second one to finish the Academy exam and I left quickly so no one would follow me. How did Amaya finish so fast? I wondered. Even though I knew the answers to almost everything on the test, it took me nearly an hour to finish it...
I was heading home thinking about that. Both the teacher and some students thought she cheated. The moment she stepped out of the room, they started talking. Plus, the teacher looked worried when he checked her exam.
But I don't think she cheated, I pointed out to myself. She had no reason to, she didn't need to do excessively well since that would just draw attention. I stopped my train of thought for a moment. Unless it's because of our bet!
I shook my head slightly. No, she wouldn't do something like that just for a competition. She understands the line between right and wrong, and she definitely knows cheating on an Academy exam is wrong.
I was passing by the Uchiha clan district. Glancing at it, I couldn't help but notice Amaya there, with that Uchiha boy. Shisui, if I'm not mistaken... I recalled, stopping for a moment. What is she doing here with him?
I saw the Uzumaki was carrying a medium backpack, while the boy had two wakizashis and a katana. Wait... I remember Amaya often trains with wakizashis, a thought hit me with that sight. Are they going to...
Without finishing my thought or overthinking it, I started following them. Since Amaya can easily recognize my chakra when I'm nearby – like she told me before – I had to keep it hidden the whole time, the best I could.
I followed them both a long way through the great forest, until they reached a clearing. Since there was dense vegetation around, I used it to stay hidden – even if I was a bit far from where the two stopped.
Amaya handed the backpack to Shisui and took the swords from him, placing them to their right, a little away from where they were.
After preparing, they stopped about three meters apart. They both knelt on the ground and stayed silent for a few moments. This doesn't look like normal training at all... I concluded.
Shisui's expression was calm, but he seemed, for some reason, slightly worried as he kept his gaze on Amaya. The girl looked completely neutral.
The Uchiha suddenly stood up, with a certain determination, and Amaya did the same right after, but she was paying attention to her surroundings.
Shisui went to where they left the equipment and picked up a few kunai. Without waiting for Amaya to do anything or look his way, he threw one of the weapons at her.
With superhuman speed, the redhead managed to dodge the object thrown at her. The kunai stuck into one of the trees behind her. This is definitely not training, I noted, worried.
Amaya and Shisui looked at each other without any particular expression for a few moments. Then she went to the wakizashis and gripped them – for a moment, I saw her hands tremble.
Can she even fight like that? I wondered, remembering the dojo incident [12]. But before I or the Uzumaki herself could do anything, the Uchiha charged at her with the katana drawn.
In a move of pure reflex, Amaya crossed the wakizashis in front of her, blocking the heavy strike. The sound of the blades grinding was clear, showing how much force both were using. The girl used her swords to push the katana blade aside and moved away.
This... This is like what she told me she went through in the lab, I thought, pausing for a moment. Don't tell me she's really trying to recover her memories by reliving what happened there...!
Shisui gripped the katana again, holding it in front of him, and Amaya got ready too. They ran towards each other and their blades clashed once more.
The redhead's expression seemed to grow darker with each second. And just like me, the Uchiha clearly looked more worried.
– No... Don't... Hold back... – Amaya suddenly warned him.
Shisui looked at her for a moment and gave a weak nod. His expression became more determined. You could tell the difference between their fight from moments before and from that point on.
The Uchiha put more weight into his strike and Amaya didn't waste time. She brought her blades to the katana's guard and held it in the air with just her right wakizashi. In a quick motion, she struck at the boy's chest, and he backed away in time, dropping his sword in the process.
He didn't wait and immediately joined his hands, quickly forming seals. Fire Style, I noted, recognizing the jutsu. The Uzumaki dropped the wakizashis and retreated near some trees.
When the fire jutsu was getting close to her, she slammed her hands on the ground, creating an earth wall. As the fire crashed against the raised defense, Shisui headed towards Amaya.
He broke through the earth protection, which was already degraded from containing the Fire Style jutsu. The Uchiha hit her sideways in the stomach with his forearm, sending her back. He hit her like that intending not to hurt her...
He held her by the neck and pinned her against one of the trees behind her. Amaya had a distant expression, like she wasn't really there, and didn't seem to be trying to fight back. I can't just keep watching! I admitted, already moving.
I quickly went over to the two of them and pulled one of the Uchiha's arms away from Amaya. He looked at me confused, and surprised too. However, a moment later, I felt a grip on my shoulder and was thrown to the ground on my back with overwhelming force.
I saw Amaya on top of me. She had an empty gaze and expression. I looked at her right hand, seeing her holding a kunai, swiftly bringing it down towards the side of my chest.
Amaya Uzumaki POV
I was recreating my memory from the lab with Shisui, but I started feeling a bit disoriented. When we crossed blades again, I started seeing things double, with the lab aspect overpowering reality.
– No... Don't... Hold back... – I warned Shisui, feeling him lessen the force he was putting into the katana.
He paused for a moment and gave a weak nod. I could see the worry on his face, but at the same time, it felt like we were getting somewhere, because instead of seeing him, I saw the image of the boy I fought in the lab.
My vision shifted between memories and the present. When I got rid of the sword Shisui was wielding and he retreated, using Fire Style without delay, I retreated too. Without thinking, my body acted on its own, performing the Earth Style jutsu.
I slammed my hands on the ground as the fire was almost upon me. I moved away from the earth wall and grabbed the kunai stuck in the tree further back. Everything around me turned white, like the walls of the lab's combat room.
I felt something hit my stomach and glimpsed Shisui near me. I didn't react, and he pinned me against the tree. He wasn't choking me, just holding me against the tree without even lifting me off the ground. But looking at him holding me, it wasn't him anymore, it was the boy with hair like Inoichi's.
I tried to speak, but it felt like the words were stuck in my throat. Unlike what happened in the lab, the boy abruptly moved away from me, and once again my body acted on its own.
I charged towards him, slamming him brutally to the ground. I kept one hand on his shoulder, holding him in place, and the other firmly gripping the kunai, bringing it down without delay.
I saw him mumble something, but I couldn't hear any sound. His expression was scared to me. I stared at his lips for a moment and, unlike other times, I understood what he was saying.
– Amaya! – I heard Shisui's voice calling me, as if pulling me back to reality, and everything around me suddenly vanished.
I blinked for a moment and then saw that the person I was pinning down was no longer the boy from the lab, nor Shisui, who I was just fighting, but Kakashi. His expression was scared of me.
I also felt something firmly holding my wrist, and looking at it, I saw it was Shisui restraining me, with a worried expression, holding my right hand which gripped a kunai just inches from the silver-haired boy's chest.
What did I see... I thought to myself, realizing. I was doing...? I completely relaxed my hand and the kunai fell to the ground. Shisui let go of my wrist and I quickly moved away from Kakashi.
– I-I... – I started speaking hesitantly and put my hand to my head – I-I didn't...
– Amaya-kun... – Kakashi called me, sitting up and visibly worried.
– I'm sorry... – I just said and started running away from them fast.
I was leaping through the tree branches in the forest rapidly. Like the day I went to the hospital looking for Shisui and Akemi, I was moving at an absurd speed, my feet barely seemed to touch the branches.
My mind was racing, my blood was pumping fast too. Everything around me felt distant. What did I do? I thought, scared.
When I misstepped on a branch, it broke and I ended up plummeting straight to the ground. I tried to grab onto some branches to cushion my fall, but I just cut my hands in the process.
I hit the ground hard and felt a shock run through my body. I groaned extremely softly from the pain. But that wasn't what truly hurt me. The anger inside me was growing disproportionately.
I attacked Kakashi. I... I lost control and mixed my memories with reality... I put him and Shisui in danger... I slowly opened my eyes and with my blurry vision, looked at the cloudy sky.
I slowly turned my head towards my hands, seeing them covered in blood. Different from all the other times, I thought, it's just mine.
Shisui was right... Maybe I didn't want to do this. If I had chosen to wait, none of this would have happened... If I had prepared more, I wouldn't have... I stopped thinking about it and closed my eyes, sighing heavily.
Besides the pain in my body, I felt extremely tired. I hit my head pretty hard, I figured. I can't pass out now, if I do here in the middle of nowhere, I might end up lost with no one finding me. I tried to force my body to move, but it wouldn't obey. Damn it...
Shisui Uchiha POV
Amaya had run off in an unbelievable way. Without saying a word to each other, Kakashi and I started chasing her. Even though we called out to her, she didn't seem to hear us. And since she was much faster than both of us, we quickly lost sight of her.
– She didn't want to do that – I explained to Hatake on Amaya's behalf – What happened wasn't her fault.
– I know – He replied curtly – But what were you two doing anyway? – The silver-haired boy asked as we ran through the tree branches, looking carefully around us.
– I was helping her...
– You call making Amaya relive her lab memories helping?! – He asked angrily and I looked at him, sighing heavily.
– There were three reasons we were doing that – I spoke as calmly as I could – The first was for a reason of our own – I can't tell you about Amaya's sharingan if she doesn't want to, I thought – The second reason was for her to try and remember the name that blocks her memories. And the third, because of you – Hatake looked at me confused.
– Because of me?
– If you know what she went through in the lab, you know Amaya can't wield a sword for long without freezing up from the memories – He nodded – And she said she wanted to fight you someday, but she wanted to overcome her one fear first: Wielding a blade against someone like you.
The silver-haired boy's expression shifted to one of surprise at what I told him. We stayed silent for a while after that, and I decided to use my sharingan to try and find Amaya's chakra.
Scanning quickly around us, I saw a very weak white chakra up ahead. It's Amaya, I thought, or more precisely, her sharingan's chakra...
– This way – I told Kakashi and adjusted our route towards Amaya.
– How do you know? – He looked at me and saw my eyes – Is that... – But he gave up stating the obvious.
We approached where Amaya should be and I saw her on the ground, eyes closed and not moving.
– Amaya! – I called out nervously, quickly descending to the ground, followed by Hatake.
I knelt beside her and carefully lifted her head, placing it on my lap.
– Hey, Amaya, can you hear me? – I called to her, but the redhead kept her eyes closed.
– She fell while running – Kakashi commented and I looked at him, seeing him looking at Amaya's hands, which were cut – She must have tried to grab something, but it didn't help.
– Shisui... – I heard the redhead call my name softly and immediately looked back at her.
– I'm here – I told her and placed my hand on her face.
– Kakashi-kun... – She called to him in an even weaker tone – I'm sorry...
– Don't worry about it – Hatake said and she opened her eyes a little.
Different from her usual green eyes, a red hue had taken over. Her sharingan...! I was surprised to see it, but soon her eyes returned to their normal color.
– I-I... – Amaya started to say something, but I interrupted her.
– Don't talk – I quickly advised her – You took a nasty fall, we need to get you to the hospital.
– I remembered – She insisted and I stopped – His name... – She said in an extremely low voice – Was...