"is that your decision? is that what you want?"

i glared across the table towards the aged man, my fingertips digging into the stained wood as anger and uncertainty exhausted my mind. my cheeks were wet and hot as i sobbed before the seemingly calm old man. i bowed my head, itching to do something of relevance before it would be too late.

"he's a weapon; he'll be treated accordingly -"

"shut up," i winced, forcing the words out as the stabbing sensation in my throat quickly spread to my chest. i didn't want to cry, though, given the circumstances, i felt as though i had no choice. "my father - the rightful hokage - wanted me to protect him. . . i'm not going to let you treat him like he's a monster. . . he's a baby!"

"the nine-tails is what threatened konoha. it's also what brought death to you family; i'm surprised you feel so strongly," his words swirled in my head, nearly coming to deaf ears as i tried to stop crying. i couldn't breathe; an infant brother with the spirit of a monster sealed within him was certainly going to ravage the remainder of his life, as well as danzo, who had the nerve to sit across the table and tell me he is a weapon of war, unable to match the prophecy of minato namikaze. horrible people with even worse intent were expected to come for him, and soon, as to build their military power with that of the nine-tailed beast.

i breathed hard, lifting a sore hand to wipe the stream of tears running down my cheeks as the news of my parents death still littered my mind like a virus. i was quickly being overcome with responsibilities that i had never expected to take; a child, a beast, and a seemingly unforgiving village of people that would rather cower from an infant before accepting that naruto would ever be able to control the sealed monster.

naruto - such a unique and beautiful name.

slowly lifting my reddened head towards the somewhat cocky smirk of danzo, my bloodshot eyes narrowed towards the unbothered old man with a fierce i had definitely inherited from my mother.

"minato understood what he was doing; whether you do or not doesn't concern me. . . but, since you don't seem to take initiative to protect him, then i will."

"you're abandoning orders?" his question was short and simple, but only infuriated me more as the old man cowered from the inevitable evil to come from this; lock naruto in the village to protect his precious weapon was too uncomfortable for me to bare.

"no. . . being a ninja isn't all about orders," i stated, glaring across at the blank expression on his face as my hand inched towards the samurai on my back, wanting nothing more than to dispose of the problems directly effecting my own blood. "you wouldn't understand what it's about."

"so, you wish to kill me, is that it?" he asked, returning a glare towards me after eyeing my movements. my hand stopped, millimeters from the handle of the sword as i knew killing him would only encourage more hatred to the uzumaki name. i was unsure, but i assumed that so little as threatening to kill him was enough to be labeled as rogue.

"no. . . not yet," i stated, standing up straight as my hand fell back to my side, taking the short moment to try and memorize the details of the hokage's office i stood inside, uncertain if i would ever do so again. "if you so much as touch him, or attempt to carry out these ridiculous plots, then i will. . . i don't care what's underneath those bandages; i will kill you."

"for being so concerned about your family, you don't seem so hesitant in bringing dishonor to the name."

i felt heat rise against my skin, anger threatening my eyes as tears began spilling once more, rolling down my cheeks and onto the table before me. as much as i dreamt of danzo eating his words, my own doubts questioned my choices; my only solution in this strange situation was to leave, to protect naruto and reclaim what our father hoped for. even with him being an uzumaki whilst i carried the namikaze legacy, we shared the same blood, the same in all aspects. i only had to hold him once to know that what i was doing was right; father had more in store for him - for both of us - than what i had expected. i would kill and die for him, anytime and any place. the strong, natural bond brought about the message in such a clear, yet indescribable fashion. the only hatred in my heart stood for danzo, seemingly growing impatient as i had yet to leave.

years would pass without the faintest idea of naruto's wellbeing; jiraiya had refused to kill me, much less treat me as a rogue ninja, though he still managed to draw a line when it came to naruto within the boy's first few years of life. if i had dared to get close, lord jiraiya promised to kill me - it took him years to notice my intent. . . i hated that the old man watched me be the daughter of the yellow flash to a rogue ninja, wandering the land of fire with no purpose other than to be strong, to protect naruto from danzo, and others alike.

i had almost forgotten what his little face looked like before a battle broke out, just outside the walls of konoha.

i had been living in small towns within the surrounding area, never doing much other than exploration of the woods, rivers, falls; leaving a trail of kunai in my path as the cold breeze forced me to face towards the woods once more. remnants of battle forced traumatic memories of the shinobi world war into my head again; blood, knives, the eery silence afterwards. my skin went cold as i nearly stumbled over a bloody kunai, barely shimmering in the light.

a nearby explosion broke the deafening silence as my eyes flickered forward, catching sight of a cloud of smoke, not too far within the woods. still as a statue, my fingertips tightly gripped the handle of my own knife, staring within the gray smoke. i saw iruka's face, the familiar scar draped over the bridge of his nose as he glanced back, seemingly looking right into my eyes when i finally saw a familiar blond head leaning over his back. my baby brother had fainted, entirely unconscious as iruka fearfully ran with him on his back. if only naruto would have opened his eyes, an exact mirror of my own.

still, the sight of his head alone brought my frozen body to a burning sprint, throwing the kunai in my hand straight ahead, forcing my eyes to close against the long lost sight of naruto as i moved with the knife, landing directly in front of a group of three ninja.

my back against iruka, i glared through my lashes towards the ninja, another kunai ready in hand.

"ah. . . he's brought backup," the middle stated, a grin on her face. my angry hands moved against my own will, throwing another kunai beside her head, barely missing as the blade stuck to the tree behind her. teleporting with it, i found myself pulling her jaw upwards from behind, my fingers beneath her top teeth as i used every ounce of strength within me to rip at the flesh of her cheeks. with little progress, my quick hand grabbed another knife to cut her throat, pushing her now lifeless body forward and away from me.

the flash of blue came from our left, moving at the speed of sound as kakashi pushed a chidori through the skin of the other two ninja with ease. their bodies dropped in unison, reminding me of how quickly the copy ninja moved in battle, especially with the sharingan unveiled.

his body turned, looking directly at me with a bloody eye, covered in a scar. uncertainty washed over me, uncertain if kakashi, the mission hard shinobi, intended to kill me as ordered by konoha.

"you shouldn't be here," his voice was deeper, now, as he seemingly glared at me with the sharingan as i stood my ground, ignoring the fresh pile of bodies the two of us had created. he was unmoving, simply staring at me over his shoulder; yet, the sharingan kept it's entire attention on me. does he think i'm going to hurt him? "don't think konoha has forgotten. . . the rogue daughter of the fourth hokage."

an irritated groan escaped my lips, hating the sound of his words as my hand reached upwards, pulling wind towards me at such a force that brought kakashi's body flying, moving in a straight line towards me. grabbing the masked shinobi by the neck, i forced his body downwards, onto the hard ground as he continued to stare at me through a pained eye.

his eyebrows were furrowed in a mixture of anger and confusion, annoyed by me altogether; if i didn't know the shinobi so well i would think he looked hurt, emotionally bruised as soon as he saw me.

the ground cracked open beneath him, reminding me of the guilt as i didn't exactly intend to hurt him so much. i wanted to apologize, but that wasn't something rogue ninja did very often. he had little idea of why i had changed so harshly since childhood; i supposed losing both parents whilst delivering your monster-infested kid brother was enough for him to be irritated by my presence alone. i was silent, only attempting to recollect the faint glimpse i caught of naruto, who, unsurprisingly, resembled dad like me, too.

"i don't want to hurt you. . . just leave," kakashi strained to say beneath my loose grip around his neck; still, he didn't move from under me, but continued to glare up at me. i noticed the sharingan blink, as if preparing to fight.

"you couldn't kill me if you tried," i brutally returned, feeling guilty once more though my anger quickly poked holes within that guilt.

at times such as this i always wondered if minato would be proud of me. was i doing the right thing? betraying the village to protect naruto with my full, unbound limits? or was i just that: a simple traitor who had become so delusional after everything happened so suddenly? this confusion and internal conflict brought me back to silence, feeling childish for being so naive of my own feelings.

although my memory of the day i left konoha was blurry, i distinctly recalled taking the time necessary to plead kakashi to take care of naruto, fearful i wouldn't have lasted a day outside.

but, here i was. years later and i had never imagined being so cold towards kakashi, whom i had seemingly entrusted my life with - and, by that i mean naruto's life. i had survived years alone, getting stronger with each passing moment with nobody to thank or blame but myself. i wasn't sure how strong kakashi had become since childhood, though i knew i could kill him if i pleased. i couldn't bring myself to that, though, no matter how much he has grown to despise me. what they told him was all wrong - i wanted to tell him myself, or instruct him to ask danzo for the truth, but i couldn't. i've caused enough trouble for my name.

"why do you care, rei? he doesn't even know you exist. . ." kakashi asked with sincerity, confirming my fear that naruto had no recollection of me whatsoever. still, kakashi didn't move as my hand held his neck still, staring down at him for so long that i suspected tears would soon drop to his face. a part of me felt betrayed.

"does he. . ." my voice didn't sound so strong as before, crumbling apart as kakashi stared up at me with bored, half-open eyes. i couldn't bring the words i wanted to say to the surface.

"no," kakashi answered already, seemingly reading my mind as an all too familiar warmth flooded behind my eyes. it made me finally let go of kakashi, who's eyes followed my every move as i took a step away from him. i found myself staring at the ground instead of him, uncertain how to depart without crying first. i wanted to grab kakashi and shake him, forcing the truth within him; i'm not evil, i'm no traitor. i wanted to tell him of the sinister plot danzo kept over naruto's head, above my family's name.

"the woods; they're cleared. . ." i managed to whisper before turning away from the shinobi, squeezing my eyes shut as naruto's face flashed within my mind. he wouldn't believe me, anyways. in an instant, i was back where i started, standing outside of the woods. if i wasn't so accustomed to the feeling of teleportation, i would wonder if the encounter even happened at all. i knew it did, though, because i had to wipe the stream of tears rolling down my hot cheeks.