my vision was full of white, a vast, never ending void before me. holding my shaking hand in front of my face to ensure i was still alive, i saw the tips of my fingernails before another strong hand grabbed onto my wrist, ripping whatever body i had left towards them. i would have yelled and fought back, but i had no energy inside me.

the bright void before my field of view was quickly taken over by a silhouette i could - and would - never forget. for a moment it felt like a dream; playing with the kids my age before my father would grab onto the ball of energy he called a daughter to take me home.

"dad," a weakened smile came to my face, reminding me of the blood still traveling through my mouth. he smiled back at me, anyways, disregarding the state i was in. i felt warm inside. for once, i was reminded of what true bliss felt like without having to suffer a thousand times over for it. it was never a chore - i didn't have to put up a fight - to see him smile at me.

"hello, sunshine," he gleamed, his other hand coming to my chin, presumably to wipe the blood dripping down it away. when he pulled his hand away again, i didn't see any red stain on the pad of his thumb, though i was alarmingly close to naruto, who had one of his arms in the grasp of minato, too.

"the fourth hokage," naruto seemed to trail off, keeping a concentrated gaze on our father, who finally looked in his direction with a gentle smile. without much thought, my head rested on minato's hand wrapped around my wrist, feeling the calloused texture of his skin once more. nirvana.

"that's right, naruto."

"wha -"

"our dad, naruto," i finished the question he was bound to ask, finally earning naruto's wide-eyed gaze once more. minato nodded in agreement, looking back at me with the same smile.

"we weren't supposed to meet like this for the first time. . . sorry, naruto," minato apologized, gently bowing his head down for forgiveness. naruto's anxious eyes seemed to piece together what unfolded before him; a family.

"what?" naruto's voice was cracking, looking back at minato once more.

"i make an appearance when you need me. both of you," he stated, his head turning to see both of us before ending on naruto once again.

"sorry, dad," even in this euphoric state, i felt the need to search for approval from him - i always hated disappointing him and mom.

"that's alright, sweetheart," he stated, giving me another smile with closed eyes. "unfortunately, the two of you stirred up quite the fuss, here. he'll be spitting you guys back out soon."

uncertain what he meant, the gentle tone of his voice and the soft half-laugh he let out towards the end of his statement lightened my heart. it had been so long since i had willingly trusted a voice; no questions asked.

"naruto. . . i know it's a lot to take in. . . but, you can trust her," minato advised the blond boy, forcing the both of our hands to link together. this was my dream; being forced into a sibling love by our parent. it was never my plan, or intention to hurt so badly and so deeply from afar. naruto looked at me with uncertainty for a moment as his shaking hand shyly connected with mine. minato pulling his hand from my wrist - and, in turn, my cheek - forced my longing gaze to follow him as he smiled down at the two of us.

"dad?" i called out, fearful that our time together was becoming limited, and, not to mention, imaginary. he looked at me with a knowing stare, and the same soft grin.

"it's okay, rei. . . i know," he simply stated, placing a hand on the top of my head. i closed my eyes against the touch, recalling the times he did that out of pride; this is my daughter, he'd gloat to others. a part of me was grateful to have been reminded of the sentiment, but another part of me just wanted it to continue, forever.

unlike how we got here, the travel back to the soft, squishy ground of the forrest was a prolonged, heart wrenching string of seconds. i attempted to count the seconds, but i had no perception of time as the only thing reminding me that i was alive was naruto's hand holding onto mine.

my breathing felt abnormal. i was unsure if it was from the move back, as if only a second had passed since i shoved an angry naruto off of me. either way, i was breathless, and so was he.

"naruto, are you okay?" i managed to whisper, turning my sore neck to see naruto laying beside me. he didn't respond for a moment, catching his breath. if i didn't know any better, i would think we really did die, and simply came back to life.

"yeah," he softly groaned, straining to sit up as he winced. attempting to follow his lead, i was quickly met with the sharp end of a kunai, flying towards my head at an ungodly speed. before i could muster the energy to react quickly enough - i knew i wasn't going to die just after naruto knew the truth - naruto's hand reached over, shielding the stab of the knife with his own flesh.

the blade went straight through his hand, earning a strained gasp from him, along with every vein in his hand to contract in a tight manner. i felt frozen, seeing the blood in his hand pour down his palm, down onto my legs. a shaking breath escaped my lips, having escaped death - not once - but twice, now.

naruto's hand inevitably retracted, his quivering lips and jaw inspecting the fresh wound as he groaned in pain. it was a miracle i was alive, let alone naruto was the reason for it.

still, the sight of naruto's blood dripping down his arm ignited a fire i had never felt within me before. my skin grew hot, and my trembling jaw quickly came to a halt as i clenched every muscle in my body to restrain the overcoming flush of anger.

i had no training in medical ninjutsu. naruto's wounded hand was far from my realm of helping, but i had waited for this very moment nearly my entire life. surged with a new wave of strength, i came to my knees, looking ahead for the culprit behind my impending anger. i didn't recall grabbing one, but a knife rested between my fingertips already.

tobi stood before us, an unreadable demeanor behind the mask i was soon to cave into the dirt. sticking the blade of my kunai into the soft ground beside me, i used the spot as an anchor - able to get back to naruto if need be.

i heard several voices behind me; one was certain to be kakashi. knowing he was shortly behind naruto and i, my feet moved at an unreasonable pace towards tobi, who quickly gasped at my movements. even as exhausted as i had become, i was granted the energy to use a rasengan - something i hardly used unless absolutely necessary - i promised myself the energy to punish tobi in a nearly unrecognizable manner; i would smash that mask along with his head with whatever it took.

pushing the rasengan straight into - or, rather, through - tobi's chest, the masked man dodged my deadliest attack with little to no effort, seemingly becoming formless as my hand simply passed through him. the rasengan landed into the base of a tree, which tobi quickly climbed onto with a sarcastic breath of relief.

"whew! that was a close one!" he exclaimed, though i wasted no time, taking a short breath of air inwards, attempting to build up the energy to use the beast tearing gale palm.

dragon, horse, ram, snake.

a massive, wind-material hand reached through my open palm, directing straight for tobi, who screamed a girlish yelp at the sight. the jutsu felt like a feather in my hand compared to the incredible rage i was experiencing, hoping naruto was safe in a distance behind me. following through with the hand, tobi once more dodged the jutsu with whatever he was capable of; whatever he put naruto and i into. hoping there was a window of opportunity before he could activate it again, i blindly reached out to grab onto the masked man, feeling my heart lurch at the touch of an actual being within my grasp.

i got him. before i could pride myself too harshly against the unknown power of tobi, my body was on top of his in a near instant, holding his back against the branch of the tree as my fist reached up, preparing to make contact with the clay mask covering his face.

the mask cracked within the first punch, though the pieces laid against his face in a teasing manner, not allowing me to see his actual face for a moment before i could hit him again.

though i had spent a majority of naruto's life away, i knew we were the same in many ways, but polar opposites on the other hand. even as i repeatedly beat the clay mask into tiny pieces, i was painfully aware that naruto would never be able to beat someone to death with his bare hands; i was glad i was granted this gift of absolute rage, for once. pure anger sent a wave of heat against my cheeks as blood dripped against the orange tint of the cracking mask. this rage and anger was the thing that would protect naruto and the hidden leaf until the end.

"a rasengan?! a gale palm?!" the headache inducing voice of tobi filled my ears, against my own muffled hearing. angrily looking upwards, my body would have stiffened more if it hadn't reached it's own limit. tobi stood a branch higher, staring down at me as his hands touched the side of his head, seemingly mocking a shocked expression.

looking back at my hand, i had been beating a clone - or, at least something that wasn't tobi's head - the branch i sat on had a growing crater in the wood from my hitting, and the skin on my hands was nearly nonexistent against the beating of the bark.

"what are you?!" i exclaimed, certain there was no opportunity for him to escape my grasp without a single scratch on his skin. still, defensively, i moved back in an instant; i was back at my anchor, now accompanied by kakashi, naruto, and the pink haired girl attempting to mend naruto's wound.

my flushed face quickly grew cold as my eyes never left tobi's position, still starstruck that he managed to escape my explosive rage.

"i just wanted to see the potential of the fastest shinobi alive, is all. i knew you'd want to kill me anyways, right?" tobi seemed unbothered, looking down at me in a taunting manner. i felt like i would implode soon, hearing the word alive. i was only the fastest shinobi because of minato - dad's - death. "i love a family reunion, don't you?!"

"i'll kill you!" i screamed, a split second from taking off towards the masked man again before a strong grip grabbed onto my shoulders. i didn't give much concern as to who held me back, but i was certain it was kakashi.

"ah! keep her down there, will you?!" tobi sarcastically exclaimed, seeming to be frightened by a simple flinch on my end. his body calmed as i was held still, relief taking over his muscles.

"he's getting into your head, rei," kakashi softly and sternly reminded, grounding me back to normal within a few deep breaths. tobi was intentionally getting beneath my skin, and i needed to be careful, or i would die. on top of that, i knew i was only exhausting my energy. my biggest downfall was never knowing how to stop a fight unless i came victorious; i had never backed down from a fight, and nearly died many times because of it, before.

as if to entirely halt my anger and hatred towards tobi, any resistance i had against kakashi's touch was quickly diminished as another being merged from the branch tobi stood upon; a man stuck between two circular pods. his skin blended with the dark brown of the tree branch, finally completed with his body split right down the middle in black and white. he seemed to melt into the branch itself, making me uncertain if i was in a genjutsu or not. feeling kakashi's uneven breath against my neck assured me i was seeing reality.

"sasuke has won the battle. itachi uchiha is dead."

i had never imagined words hurting me so badly. i remembered the day minato and kushina died and i was handed the small, defenseless naruto all wrapped in a thin blanket. my teeth slid against each other as my jaw clenched in an unnatural way; itachi?

i had only encountered the uchiha a few times after leaving konoha. the other day was one of few, but i was quickly flooded with the thought that he never once attempted to harm me. i could practically feel the weight of his akatsuki cloak over my body again, sending a chill down my spine as i knew i would never experience it again.

"what?! i don't believe it!" tobi exclaimed, once more putting a hand to his head to mimic shock. as much as i hated tobi in the moment, i was far more concerned that tears were begging to be released at the news almost immediately. "i'm kidding. . . it's just as i expected."

my knees had locked and i would have collapsed if kakashi wasn't holing onto me. tobi's voice echoed in my mind over and over again - the deep tone was certainly going to haunt my thoughts. still, i found it harder and harder to conceal my oncoming depressive state, biting down on my swollen and bruised lip as my body turned towards kakashi's body without my consent. i didn't know what to do, what to think. was this part of itachi's plan?

unsurprisingly, the group behind me seemed to have a somewhat similar reaction of disbelief that itachi uchiha had just been killed, by his brother, nonetheless. naruto's expression of pain was quickly replaced with uncertainty, and i was glad kakashi covered a majority of his face, fearful that there was still a bruise or scratch beneath his mask from my hands.

my hand was still bleeding profusely; i must have truly lost any rational thoughts while i was punching tobi - or the tree - into pieces. it stung, but i welcomed it with open arms as it matched perfectly to what i felt inside. i've achieved what i wanted, but at what cost?

kakashi looked at me, forcing me to notice that he still had his sharingan revealed. when his gaze met mine, his normal eye gently fluttered open. i wished i could decipher exactly what i felt in order to act as quickly as possible, but i couldn't. i was uncertain if naruto had accepted me entirely, of if he even experienced the same meeting with minato that i had. was i dreaming? being so close to kakashi reminded me of all the pain i caused, and not just from repeatedly punching him in the face. itachi, the only one i could recall ever accepting me - choices and all - was dead by the time i reconciled with naruto.

"rei. . ." kakashi's voice was distant, trailing off into a whisper as his sharingan slowly closed, adding a strange feeling of sentiment to his words as he was once more leading up to begging me to change my path again. i felt the groups eyes on me for a moment, but all i could seem to do was look at kakashi. i was certain the crowd still felt uneasy about me, and there was no possibility of me returning to konoha at this point. i could hardly think straight before pulling another kunai, shaking beneath the cool feel of the blade as i slowly handed it to kakashi, handle first.

kakashi looked uneasy, as if he had just been punched in the stomach. his gaze shifted between the knife and me, though his hand was quick to make a decision and take the knife from me. his hand touched my own, and i couldn't process whether or not he did that on purpose. i couldn't bare to stand before them anymore - not like this. i shouldn't be grieving the death of itachi to begin with, especially considering that he was allied with the very group wishing to take advantage of naruto.

with kakashi's hand on the knife, i quickly pulled my own hand away, using whatever strength i had left to take off. i wasn't sure where i was going, but i needed to get away as soon as possible. i entrusted naruto's safety into kakashi once more, but this time i truly meant it; i wouldn't have left, otherwise. i didn't dare look back as i continued to run off, hoping to find some peace in the midst of the madness. my legs felt weak and my hand, jaw and nose ached with pain.