his silver hair gleamed in the faint light. i wasn't sure how early it was, but the sun was barely beginning to rise over the horizon. the slight chill of the window behind the bed made me guess it was only four thirty in the morning, but i was tired and half-delirious.

i wasn't sure what to say, so i kept silent as kakashi pulled his shirt over his head, covering the scarred torso. i didn't want him to leave so soon, however, i knew it wasn't the time, anymore. i felt an odd comfort in the bed, one i hadn't felt before. the pillow he laid his head on and the spot beside me remained warm, but empty.

when kakashi finally turned back to face me again, we locked our gaze for a prolonged period, his expression unreadable through the thin mask, headband already covering his eye again. he was leaving, and i felt as though it would take a while to actually sink in; when would i see him again?

without having to indulge myself too far into the mind of him, attempting to dissect his emotions, he leaned down, allowing me to feel his intoxicating warmth one more time.

his gentle graze against my arm sent chills down my spine as he placed a masked kiss onto my exposed shoulder. relief came over me for a moment, placing my hand onto the back of his neck, attempting to kiss him properly again. he obliged, pulling his mask down with two fingers, revealing just enough of his face to kiss me again. another gentle rub on my arm told me it was time to let go, to trust that i would see him again, and that it would be just as perfect.

"you'll be okay, right?" i asked, feeling as though i needed a definitive answer before letting him walk away. his warm fingertips brushed against my skin as he pulled the blanket up, covering my entire body with the reminiscence of his warmth.

"get your rest. . . you need it, after all," kakashi simply responded, a grin prominent behind his mask, momentarily closing his visible eye. "i'll be fine, and so will you."

i relished in his words, loving how they sounded from his lips. he was confident, perhaps to ease my mind, but maybe because he needed to see me again, too. i hoped for the latter, attempting to imagine how i would feel to see him again - albeit, maybe not in this way, but some way.

"i love you," i whispered, as if the morning breeze was listening. his fingers moved the hair from my face as his bored eye seemed lighter, more amused.

"i love you," he promised, easing the small voice in my head telling me how much better he deserved. i was selfish again, hoping he didn't hear that little voice, too. although my words of affection sounded like suicide, practically begging for something bad to happen, i needed the shinobi to hear it before he left, without the intoxicating high of sex masking over it.

he left, locking the door behind him. though a few thin walls segregated us, the pleasures and adoration seemed long gone. i tried passing these distant feelings off as yet another little voice in my head, resting into the comfort of my bed once more, trying to fall asleep for a few more hours.

***

my fingertips placed against one another, finding solace in the soothing method of meditation, atop the rather large mountain near the village i resided in. i attempted to live my life as it was - alone, finding peace with myself - but it was harder without kakashi, and naruto remained in the back of my mind like a parasite. i lost all my friends becoming rogue, most of them already prepared to kill me for the sake of konoha. the idea settled in my mind once more, feeling chakra enter my body with each beat of my loud heart. i had never felt more alone, trying to dismiss the lone tear streaming down my left cheek.

the diluted presence of another appeared on the rock beside me, feeling extremely alike itachi's chakra signature. i didn't have to listen, or open my eyes to know the past shinobi was here to, once more, haunt my thoughts.

"you're alive," he almost sounded surprised, as if he wasn't continuing to live in my subconscious, alone. i wasn't certain what kept him in specific around. the guilt i carried for lord jiraiya's death weighed heavier than itachi's. still, it was nice to be - somewhat - accompanied whilst meditating. "me, lord jiraiya, minato, kushina. . . the sound and sand shinobi."

i flinched, but attempted to keep the mediation flow intact as itachi listed the deaths i carried, reliving each one for a moment before it was gone, again.

"their soul's. . . they see the peace you crave. we're protecting you," he seemed to answer the question floating in the back of my mind. i couldn't help but furrow my eyebrows, keeping me eyes closed against the wind. i wondered who - if anybody - floated in the subconscious of itachi like he was for me. i wondered if he had guardians, and i wondered the same for kakashi and naruto. i found peace, knowing that kakashi had obito and rin, and naruto had dad and jiraiya, too. rather than spending my free time worrying for my kid brother, itachi made me feel safe, like i was the one needing protection. it was a relief, learning and accepting itachi's words of guardians rather than bearing the weight, myself.

"yo," another voice interrupted my easing meditation more abruptly than itachi had, dragging out the greeting. "rei namikaze."

finally peeling my eyes open against the sun, shining onto my skin, i turned my head, witnessing tobi, the masked man i had tried so hard to hurt before. his voice gave me chills, however, his calm demeanor as he sat on a rock behind me forced my body to stay put. itachi was gone, and a lone red eye was all i could see through the singular hole in his orange mask.

"my, how you have grown," he mused, his chin resting in his left hand, slightly leaned forward to see my face better against the glaring sunlight. i felt an odd, calming sensation. perhaps the meditation relaxed my nerves too much, too fast, however, i felt less stiff and more so voluntary in my stillness before tobi.

"you're still alive," i barely whispered, half surprised he had surpassed the life span of pain, itachi, and anyone else associated with that damned, cloaked organization.

"ghosts can't die, my dear," he sounded amused, almost, as his hand stretched across the orange mask covering his face. his fingertips gripped the edges, slowly pulling off the strangely textured mask. i wasn't sure if he was hesitant on revealing himself to me, however, he did it, anyways. a pair of red, mismatched eyes stared into my own, overwhelming the chakra within me to a wake. i knew i flinched, seeing the rippling of his skin, covering the right side of his face entirely. his black hair looked slightly messy from the mask covering some strands. he didn't smile, he didn't blink, and i wasn't sure if he breathed, either, as he bored his gaze into me.

i felt a soft zapping sensation shoot through my mind, forcing the rest of my body to shiver as i inspected his right eye closer, seeing the matching pattern, familiar from last night. my breathing stopped abruptly, turning blue as my thoughts began to blur along with my vision. anger coursed through my veins, and i was blinded with rage once more. the sharingan matched kakashi's in a way i couldn't describe. the feel of it on my skin, burning into my eyes; that was kakashi hatake's eye.

my fingertip looped into the edge of a kunai, placing the tip of the blade into the solid ground beside me, staring - not at him, but that single eye. he leaned back again, likely seeing the flame behind my gaze.

"don't tell me you don't recognize me," his voice barely made it my attention before i moved behind his actual, warm body. i wasn't so stupid, of course i kept anchor kunai's close by while meditating. luckily for me, he sat right in front of one. my left hand grabbed onto his shoulder, ensuring he was really there, and i wasn't in some sort of genjutsu. the blade of my kunai reached the edge of his right eye faster than i could breath again.

"i will fucking kill you," i seethed, tasting the sourness in my tone as tobi barely had enough movement available to look at me with the corner of kakashi's eye. the blade poked against his skin, just beside the red eye he stole.

"i see," tobi's voice eased, disappointment prominent as his eyes closed with a soft sigh. my jaw clenched, grabbing onto his soft hair, pulling his head back to force his gaze back to me. my knee pushed into his back, ensuring he wouldn't move as i pulled the blade beneath his eye once more.

"where is he?" i asked through gritted teeth, giving tobi one more chance for redemption as the slightest pressure began to draw blood. his face resembled defeat, staring into my soul rather than my eyes, a stray tear would have been obvious coming from his left eye if i wasn't so fixated on the right.

"you're just like her," his voice soothed, bringing my stern grip to a weak one, recognizing the soft, soothing tone almost immediately, though i didn't want to believe it. he sensed the ease, taking the opportunity to pull from my grip, the knife losing it's place against my palm as it fell with a clatter beside me. tobi turned, facing me again with his burning eyes. "that's right, rei. . . it's me, obito."

my shaking hand barely grabbed the kunai again, locking my clouded eyes with his for a moment. suddenly, i recalled the teasing, the rivalry, all of it; obito always said he didn't like violent girls, like kushina and myself. mother told me it was just another reason to be tougher, and perhaps a sign he had a budding crush. i knew that wasn't true, even then, as we remained rivals until he. . . died.

my grip tightened on the kunai again, another burst of anger originated from my gut as i lunged forward.

"you're lying!" i shouted, pulling the kunai over, abruptly halted by tobi's own blade, blocking my attack with ease. "i'll rip that fucking eye out of your head!" i screamed again, moving faster once more towards him. his blade made contact with mine again as i pulled my leg up, using all of my might to kick into his chest. he phased through the space again, dodging the kick whilst his kunai and hand also moved through my own with ease.

when he returned, his hands gripped around my wrists with a strong force, though, it wasn't going to be as strong as my own rage. pushing against him, i forced him to move backwards, tackling him as we both moved down the side of the mountain, smacking against every rock in our path.

by the time we came to a stop on somewhat flattened earth, tobi's body laid beside my own, his warm body signaling me to move before he phased away again. desperately reaching my open hand to his face, my fingertips dug into the edge of his sharingan eye, using the force i retained after rolling through sharpened rocks to push into the flesh. i felt the moisture of the eye when he finally pulled my arm away, placing his forearm against my throat, laid down in the dirt without the opportunity to breathe properly.

my body struggled against the force of his own, attempting to move from beneath him as my vision went dark, full of anger and shorting on oxygen. rage had blinded me entirely, forcing me to ignore the familiar sensation of fighting him in specific - whatever this deja vu was, i was determined to get rid of it.

"don't make me get violent, rei."

before my hand could finally reach his eye again, tobi pulled a kunai, slashing the tip of the blade against the skin on my face. the skin burned, and a warm fluid quickly covered the open wound. stretching from the bridge of my nose to my left cheek, tobi's knife dripped with my own blood as a scream escaped my lips.

perhaps it was shock that made his grip ease slightly. regardless, it was enough to push his body away from my own, feeling the warm blood drip down my jaw, onto the ground beside me. his muscles contracted beneath his pale skin, once more blocking a slash of a kunai his way with another swift movement.

"whether you like it or not, the nine-tails will be mine," he sternly stated, glaring at me through our touching blades, digging ridges into each thin metal with force. "i thought that - maybe - i could do this without killing you. . . but i don't think that's true, anymore."

"it would never be true."

"it could have been. . . but it seems you've become concerned with someone else," he spoke, obviously referring to kakashi, making my skin crawl. i furrowed my brows, not wanting to indulge in his words, however, the sharingan burning into my skin forced my body to tense in a way i didn't think possible.

"where did you obtain that eye?" i finally asked, hoping the grief wasn't so thick in my tone.

"you've become so concerned with him that infinite peace has taken second priority. your brother, your family - look where everything is, now, rei!" he raised his voice, growing frustrated by the second. i blinked, forcing my gaze to his other eye. he wasn't right - was he? "if you really wanted him safe - if he, and peace, came first - you wouldn't be asking me about my sharingan right now."