i kept my eyes ahead, staring into the deep forrest as a bead of sweat travelled down the side of my face; it was hot with the cloak covering my body, and i hated the idea that i was in it. tobi - who's name i had memorized rather quickly from his rambling - was finally silent as he stood beside me.

i could hear my own breath through the silence, and a quickened heartbeat thumping beneath my chest. any moment, if all was according to plan, naruto would be coming this way, and soon.

"he's your brother?" tobi asked, his voice breaking the deafening silence as i blinked quickly. attempting to pull my focus from the far end of the forrest was a hard task, working up the energy to listen to tobi.

"yes," i finally breathed, glancing over to the orange mask, once more becoming aware of our matching attire. the akatsuki - is what they called themselves. guilt had consumed me for days prior, attempting to figure out if i was going along with said plan in order to do what was right, or if i was only acting on my own selfish desires.

minato, is it time?

my eyes went forward again, finally catching sight of a masked man, one eye covered by his leaf headband with a head or unruly silver hair. my heart skipped a beat, and i attempted to ignore it as my eyes scanned further, funding naruto within a group of people, quickly moving closer to us.

tobi seemed to stand up straight, as if to look more intimidating than he came off as, but i held still, stuck to the branch we stood upon, partially hoping i would have worn a mask, too.

"little brother?" tobi cautiously asked once more, earning no response from me as my eyes locked into naruto's gaze. if there was a single part of my body with the strength to move, it was quickly shot down. each shinobi wore the long, white cloaks, swaying back and forth as the line came to an abrupt halt, staring up at tobi and i.

naruto's eyes went back and forth between tobi and i, and i could feel kakashi's stare burn into my skull. i remained focus on naruto entirely, kneeling down into a crouching position, as if to grow closer to the estranged mirror of genetics.

"rei. . ." kakashi's voice hardly broke me from concentration, though he sounded defeated and disappointed once more.

"and, tobi!" tobi's squeaking voice exclaimed, poking his gloved hands through the cloak.

"out of the way!" naruto yelled, forcing my breath to come uneven, finally experiencing the boy speaking directly to me. i hadn't been so close, physically, since his birth. i was always a step behind, staying within the shadows, and now - now - he stared up at me. he spoke to me.

"well," tobi stretched the word, as if feeling sorry for what he was about to say, "we've been given direct orders to not let anyone pass."

i felt all eyes on me as i leaped down, feeling as though i could no longer go on without him knowing - knowing the truth. knowing me. i dropped down in front of him, a large piece of me hoping he would see our similarities instead of our differences.

"naruto!" kakashi's voice was stern and protective as he quickly moved to stand in front of my brother, defending him as my wicked, wide eyes burned into him. kakashi forced my gaze upwards, revealing his sharingan slowly as his free hand grabbed the handle of a kunai.

looking into his eyes, they looked haunted. kakashi was trembling, and i wouldn't have been able to tell if we weren't so close. i could tell he wasn't going to let me pass without a fight; i wondered if he honestly suspected i would cause harm to him.

"a sharingan!" tobi's voice was loud and dripping with surprise. slowly revealing an empty, open hand through the fabric of the cloak, kakashi's furrowed brow glared over at me as i slowly moved to unzip the red and black cloak; a final attempt to show kakashi that i meant no harm.

kakashi, i don't want to hurt you again; move.

"yamato," kakashi swiftly called, earning a knowing nod from yamato, the shinobi from the foundation, and the only one alive with wood-style jutsu. "naruto, stay close."

the cloak dropped to the ground in a wrinkled mess, revealing the slick and skin-tight black shirt i wore beneath, accompanied by the black cargos and boots; it was my regular attire, especially from the days of konoha.

"who are you?" naruto glared, instinctively poking his head around kakashi's stiff body. the power and depth of their gazes combined made my skin crawl, and i almost couldn't speak; he spoke to me again.

"rei namikaze," i stated, staring into naruto's eyes, earning no response. i heard the pink haired girl suck in a breath, and kakashi shifted ever so slightly.

"the rogue daughter of the fourth hokage. . ." her lips quivered, looking frozen in fear or shock, i wasn't sure which.

"naruto," i calmly stated, earning his undivided attention once more. the small grin on his face was full of mischief, plotting an attack.

"rei, don't."

"i'm your elder sister," i finished, afraid kakashi may attempt to cut me off again. the grin on naruto's face faded, and his eyes widened. he slowly looked up at kakashi, who continued to stare at me with mismatched eyes. my heart fluttered, knowing naruto was now going through what i had on a near daily basis; his brain turned to mush, uncertain what was real and fake, what was a lie and what was the truth.

his eyes were full of fear and uncertainty when he looked at me again, and i felt my heart crack. this wasn't how i had planned, it was supposed to be a joyous reunion. naruto was supposed to -

fuck.

blood escaped my mouth immediately upon naruto's fist making contact to my stomach. my body went backwards, involuntarily halting me from performing any jutsu as i landed directly on my back. i felt like i couldn't breathe, quickly becoming a hyperventilating mess even as naruto climbed on top of me, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt.

my hands moved in a knee-jerk reaction to do something in response, but i quickly shot the idea down. i couldn't hurt him, even if it killed me.

"i don't believe that for a second! i don't have a family!" naruto shouted, moving my body back and forth through his shaking and strong grip on my clothes. his eyes were full with red as a slight reflection of light told me he was beginning to get emotional.

"you're name is naruto uzumaki; you posses the nine-tailed beast, and you trained with lord jiraiya for three years -" i struggled to speak clearly through my uneven breaths, though i quickly earned another punch to the face from naruto as he held me down. blood stained my teeth, filling my taste buds with a metallic delicacy.

"shut up!"

"naruto!" i was uncertain how much time had passed, nor was i sure how far we had moved from the group. kakashi's arms quickly wrapped around naruto's shoulders, pealing his body from mine. angrily, he flailed under kakashi's restraint, attempting to hit me once more.

"it isn't true, kakashi sensei! i'm not related to a rogue nobody!" naruto exclaimed, attempting to move out if kakashi's grip as i slowly sat up, feeling blood travel through my nose at a rapid rate.

"naruto. .  ." the pink haired girl softly spoke. my eyes moved upwards, toward tobi, who laid on his stomach in the same branch i came from. swinging his feet back and forth, he watched like a curious child as i coughed up blood.

"i mean, you do look a lot alike," tobi pondered, pointing a finger at me. my eyes went back to naruto, attempting to ignore kakashi's stares at all cost.

"happy birthday, naruto. . ." i breathed, feeling my eyes begin to burn as naruto's tears came. he seemed to grow weaker in kakashi's grip, and his blue eyes were back to normal.

"i don't care who you are! you're in our way, so move it!" naruto shouted, rigorously pulling his arm out of kakashi's grip. his sky blue eyes teased a dark red, as if blood was beginning to cone through his eyes.

"i think it's time to take this elsewhere," tobi's voice was colder and more demanding, staring down at the two of us with a strange sense of control. in a mere instant, i found myself on my knees before naruto, who seemed just as lost and confused as i was.

the floor was cut into large tiles, each varying in height in an endless plane of darkness. it was cold, and the only light had illuminated around us, though i couldn't find a source to save my life.

"a rogue nobody. . ." my mind replayed naruto's words like a broken record, torturing me with each syllable. even in this place - wherever we were - it was all i could think about.

"where are we?!" naruto took his frustration out on me, who was none the wiser. immediately pulling a knife, i used my left hand to throw another knife to my left side, quickly moving out of the way with it as naruto approached me at an eager pace.

i would have denied the accusations of me having anything to do with where we ended up, but my little brother continued to chase me, leaping on top of me once more.

"get off of me!" i yelled, now becoming irritated with his never ending attitude; i didn't want to hurt him, but he was giving me a headache. pushing against one another, we had an equal amount of natural strength, giving us no end in sight for this tug of war.

using all of my might, i manipulated the little air flow in this strange room to push naruto's body away from me, sending him backwards about five meters, gracefully landing on his feet.

"let me out of here!" naruto shouted once more, though hardly gave me a moment to breathe as he summoned a shadow clone, quickly manipulating a rasengan in his right hand.

i had no choice. if i didn't do something, i would die, and i feared that, wherever we were, it was under tobi's control. naruto could never fight that man alone, not yet, at least.

quickly making a rasengan of my own as i came to my feet, naruto and i ran towards one another with strained expressions. i was uncertain if i saw a tear escape his eye, but i chalked that up as my own reflection staring back at me. two rasengan's making contact at such a high speed brought a sphere of white light around us, encasing us in sheer chakra energy, but i still felt so, so tired.

was i dead?