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Upon meeting you for the first time, the majority of people believe that you are about to violently attack them.
This isn’t because you’re big and scary. You don’t have a resting bitch face, you don’t carry a giant weapon with you, you don’t wear a cult-like cloak symbolizing your belonging to a criminal organization. Nothing like that.
You always greet people with a smile. You wave at them, you open your arms, you allow yourself to be vulnerable. You make yourself small and you invite people to see your weakness. However, everyone still hides behind their defenses the moment you begin talking.
Why? The answer is simple. You’re an ex Fire Nation Sign Language Interpreter, and you now communicate primarily through sign.
It’s not dangerous on its own - Fire Nation Sign Language is a gorgeous language that symbolizes centuries of innovative work for the deaf and hard of hearing communities in your nation. It creates a bridge between the great divide that is language and, in its simplest form, is the basic tool for communal survival.
It does, however, look almost identical to hand signs for deadly jutsu. When you initially raise your hands to sign a greeting, the uninformed are quick to assume you’re making a threat. They don’t see you as trustworthy or kind - they only see you as a target, which leads to plenty of tricky situations. You only ever met one man who was kind enough to give you the benefit of the doubt when you first met him.
“Excuse me,” a voice appeared behind you. You turned your head and furrowed your brow as your eyes landed on a tall man that was standing a few feet away from you. You were in the middle of the forest currently, only a few miles from Konohagakure. A decision had been made earlier in the day for you to go on a walk to collect berries for a medical group right outside the city, so you entered the forest and never considered that someone would be following you.
The man stood there and watched you for a moment before he spoke again.
“I have some questions about Konohagakure,” he eyed the hidden leaf charm that dangled from the handle of your basket holding your berries. “I have a feeling you may know the answers to them.”
You slowly raised your hands while nodding, immediately sensing that the man in front of you was certainly more powerful than you could ever hope to be. He stood tall and confident, like he’d never lost a fight in his life. His piercing black eyes were locked onto you - his long hair was tied back into a low braid, but the few strands dangling in front of his eyes were quickly blown out of the way by the oncoming gust of wind. His eyes remained focused on you as you slowly signed a message, desperately hoping he would understand that it was sign.
“I can help you” you signed, and smiled at him. “Do you know FNSL?”
The man, upon seeing your signing, found himself smiling in response. “A Fire Nation Sign Language user,” he said, “I have little experience in the language, but I’ll manage.”
You felt a pull at your heart, delighted to have finally encountered a hearing individual who, at the very least, treated your sign with respect. You set your basket down on the ground before pulling up your sleeves, ready to talk to the man in front of you.
“First, I need to know your name.”
The man nodded and blinked slowly at you - it reminded you of a cat, almost, and the way that they show trust to one another. “My name is Itachi Uchiha,” he said. Your blood ran cold. You knew that name all too well.
“I-t-a-c-h-i,” You fingerspelled, then followed with the name sign that he’d been given among your community. “Your name is BIRD in my language.” You flicked your dominant hand to mimic the movement of a wing, earning a chuckle from Itachi in response.
“I know you. Itachi of the Leaf.”
“Yes, that’s me.” Itachi stepped forward and showed his separated hands to you - a sign of respect not only within the shinobi community as an assurance of peace, but also in your community as an offer of mutual respect. “I would like to ask you a few questions regarding the Village Hidden in the Leaf.”
“Your brother is doing well,” You said, a gentle smile appearing on your face. His expression noticeably softened - the average person would have never even guessed that Itachi’s face had changed at all, but you were different.
Sign language has five parameters - handshape, palm orientation, movement, location, and non-manual signals. Those non-manual signals, primarily facial expressions, are a crucial part to communicating through sign. It makes the difference between LIKE and DISLIKE, between a question and statement, and shows the emotion of the speaker. Over the years of using Fire Nation Sign Language, you’d developed a keen eye for facial expressions; even the slightest twitch of the lip would be caught by your eye, and it would always indicate something.
In this case, it was clear to you that Itachi cared for his brother. Hearing the news that he was alive, that he was doing well , was delightful to him.
“I want to ask you about a child. His name is Naruto Uzumaki.”
You grinned and chuckled to yourself upon hearing that name - Naruto was an infamous boy in the village and he also happened to be your favorite.
“What do you want with the boy?” You asked, eyeing Itachi. “He is just a child.”
Itachi shook his head. “I cannot tell you that. I just need to know where he’s at in his training.”
You shrugged, frowning. “I wouldn’t know, I’m just an interpreter. He seems promising, though.”
“So you’ve heard about him, then?” Itachi asked.
“Everyone has. He’s the Nine Tails boy. I heard he’s being trained from the best.”
Naruto was certainly one of your favorite children in the leaf - being barely a chunin, he was starting to get sent out on missions that allowed you to interact with him and his team more. Team Seven had once accompanied you on an escort to and from a city across the Fire Nation to receive some medical supplies. You often fondly recall the moment you gave Naruto a sign name.
“I believe your name is N-a-r-u-t-o, or NARUTO,” You signed. The sign began with the movement for HOKAGE - two open hands, palm facing in, at the top of your head and moving outward into a sweeping motion, as if grabbing the rim of the Hokage headpiece. When your hands reached the end of the sign, you transitioned into bringing your hands forward, reminiscent of the sign for FUTURE.
The boy, upon being crowned a name by someone from the deaf community, cheered in excitement.
“THAT’S FREAKIN' AWESOME!” He exclaimed before signing his name, giggling to himself the entire time. You showed him slowly how to sign the name, feeling your own heart warm at the sight of his dedicated eyes focused on the movement of your hands.
“Sign language is so awesome!” He beamed, “it’s like jutsu but for talking!”
“Yeah, that’s what it’s for, idiot,” Sasuke had chimed in. He had been sitting under a nearby tree and watched everything that had gone down between you and Naruto - he pretended like he wasn’t listening, but you picked up on the change in facial expressions when you told Naruto that you wanted to give him a sign name. In his voice, you could even sense the obvious jealousy.
“Would you like one, Sasuke?” You asked, and all he did was ‘humph’ in response. You giggled and thought for a moment before you decided upon a sign.
“Your name is S-a-s-u-k-e, or SASUKE.” You began with the S-sign, a closed fist with your thumb placed on the lower knuckles of your fingers, and held it up toward your right eye. You opened the fist quickly to mimic the opening of an eye; You decided on such a sign because you’d just seen his Sharingan in action after you’d run across a team of lowly rogue ninja that wanted to know what you were doing.
“Woah, Sasuke,” Sakura grinned, “You have such a cool sign!” She stared at Sasuke, who slowly copied your own hand movement and then paused to consider it. After a satisfied nod, you smiled in satisfaction and turned to Sakura.
“Would you like one?” You asked, and she immediately said yes. You watched as she rocked back and forth on her feet as she anxiously awaited your response, biting at her lip in anticipation.
“Your name is S-a-k-u-r-a, or SAKURA.” You decided to combine another two signs for Sakura - FLOWER and KIND. You began with the handshape for FLOWER, a closed hand with all five fingertips touching, and circled it around your heart in the same location and movement for KIND. Despite being your first time meeting the girl, it was clear along the mission that she was the strongest of the team; During every moment of intensity that you faced throughout your journey, she stayed calm and collected the entire time. There was not a moment where she faltered or thought of anything except your safety. The other two had their moments of brevity, yes, but nothing compared to the composure of the girl in front of you.
“You are kind and strong,” You spoke quietly, “much more than the other two. Please use your name with pride.”
Sakura gave you a warm smile and pulled you in for a hug. “I will,” she said, “thank you.”
You were pulled out of your thoughts by another question from the man in front of you, Itachi Uchiha.
“And who is the best, exactly?”
“Kakashi Hatake,” you signed. You showed him the name sign for Kakashi - it used the sign for LIGHTNING, with the dominant hand using a K-shape instead of a usual pointer finger. You used your non-dominant hand to represent a cloud, holding out just your pointer finger at your chin. Your dominant hand started at the top of the pointer finger, held in a K-shape, and moved downward in a zig-zag movement. This represented the jutsu that Kakashi Hatake was known for the most - his Lightning Blade.
“The Copy Ninja,” Itachi confirmed. You nodded. He sighed audibly before looking to his side, glancing deeper into the forest. There was nothing but miles of nature surrounding you, and you had suddenly become painfully aware of it. One of the most dangerous ninja in the world was standing right in front of you, and you were all alone with your defenses.
You sympathized with Itachi, though. Back when you were simply an interpreter and had no interest in betraying your village, you would have never thought for a moment that you would ever indulge in the thoughts of Itachi’s. Shortly after your mission with Team Seven, though, you found yourself in an unfortunate situation that cost you friends, family, and a part of yourself.
Your throat had been torn to shreds. You were locked up for days by an interrogation expert - he poked and prodded at you endlessly until you were slipping in and out of consciousness. You had screamed so loud, begged for mercy so desperately, that your vocal cords had ruptured. A heated blade had drawn itself across your arm, causing you to scream out in pain. A new pain struck immediately into your throat the second that you released any air, sending a shockwave of adrenaline through your body. You began coughing violently, blood spilling out of your mouth as you cried in pain. The interrogator stood there, a plain look on his face, before he exited the room. Later that evening, you found yourself incapable of using your voice.
Even now, you were still hardly capable of letting any sound pass through your throat. Any noise that did exit was extremely painful.
You hated the Leaf ever since. You rotted in that cell for weeks on end before they had finally come to rescue you, and only then were you informed that a member of your family had been killed in an attack. At that moment, you retired from all ninja-related duty. Your life as a field interpreter had come to an end. A flame of hatred took its place.
It’s also why you felt no remorse in feeding Itachi information. You knew that you were giving the enemy a chance at destroying the village - of course you didn’t want Naruto to be harmed, being your favorite village child, but you simply couldn’t find it within yourself to deny Itachi’s questions. You figured that if anyone asked, you would say that you were being threatened by the most dangerous ninja in the bingo book - how could you not release information?
“All I know is that they are training together. I know no detail.”
Itachi nodded and bowed toward you in thanks. “I appreciate whatever information you can give me…” He paused for a moment before locking eyes with you, a smile drawn across his face. “I apologize, but I never caught your name.”
“Y/N,” You signed, “or Y/N.” You gave him your sign name - a combination of RED and MOON. The finger movement for RED was used, which was simply flicking your first finger up and down. You used the location of the MOON sign and used your dominant hand to sign RED at your eye-level before using a swooping motion to bring it above your head. It was the sign that you were first given by your teacher when you just entered the academy, and you cherished it well.
“That’s a beautiful name,” he stated simply. You nodded. “It was given to me by my teacher.”
“I have one more question for you.”
You nodded and urged him to ask, feeling a tug at your heart upon realizing that your conversation was about to come to an end. Itachi was good company, it seemed.
“What do you know about medical ninjutsu?”
You furrowed your brow. “I was a field interpreter with medical training,” you explained, “I know enough to get by.”
Itachi’s face relaxed and a genuine smile flashed on his face. “Lovely.”
He glanced at your basket before stepping toward you and picking it up, looking down at the path ahead. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to you a bit about this organization I’m part of.”
“You want me to join the Akatsuki?” You asked. The sign for the Akatsuki was one that was controversial in your community - people couldn’t decide whether or not a group as terrible as them deserved such a precious name. A sign name was a rite of passage into the world of sign language - to be given a name is one of the highest honors in the world of the deaf community, and it was unclear whether or not the deaf community had come to a consensus on whether or not the Akatsuki deserved a sign name.
You used it anyway - it combined the signs RED and CLOUD. You used the handshape for RED and moved both hands in the same circular motion as CLOUD, bringing your hands up toward your eye level. You moved your hands to mimic the shape of a cloud, and Itachi nodded in response.
“We believe you would make a great addition.”
“So you already knew about me, then.”
Itachi hummed and glanced back into the forest. “I like to play games, that's all.”
Together, the two of you walked down the path. You stopped at a few bushes to pick berries and harvest a few plants that you saw, pondering the idea of joining the Akatsuki along the way.
“How bad could it be?”
You asked yourself.