The burden of brothers part two

The chapter needed to be cut in half because it was 23k words long.

And just a heads-up, Naruto is currently in a very bad state of mind because he almost got killed and is on edge from B and Yugito being in the village. Take that into consideration in the last half of the chapter.

Anyway, here's part two.

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Rin slipped a kunai from the seal in her sleeve and flung it at Kankuro, making a hand seal as she did so.

Kunai Kage bunshin no Jutsu.

One kunai became several and Kankuro used his puppet to deflect them, retreating back as he used chakra strings to manipulate the construct.

Using the temporary opening, Rin made several bunshin and had them charge Kankuro, a few making hand seals and sinking into the ground when she dropped a smoke bomb to hide them.

Sakura had the proper chakra control to move through solid ground at a fast speed, but Rin would have struggled if the tiles weren't already broken from Naruto and Lee smashing them apart.

Under the tiles was regular dirt, which was fortunate for her.

This was pretty much the only one of two Doton jutsu she could do, the Mud Wall being the only other. But Kakashi-sensei's was much better. She basically bullrushed her clones to train it somewhat so she could manage a basic earth jutsu, and that was it.

Rin let her bunshin fight Kankuro so she could get a read on his fighting style, which wasn't as exploitable as she hoped.

He wised up to the bunshin being solid when they clashed with his puppet, which he was maneuvering as he ran to avoid her bunshin that pursued him.

Spotting a lull in the fighting, Rin blurred through hand seals and aimed a wind jutsu at the puppet.

Futon: Daitoppa. (Great Breakthrough).

A compressed gust of wind shot towards the puppet, popping a couple bunshin accidentally, but it did blast the puppet away, causing the near invisible strings to break, judging by it going limp.

Kankuro's eyes widened at his puppet being wrenched from his control and pulled out a kunai as he rushed towards it.

Rin saw him mouth, "I need to get Karasu back" as he raced towards the puppet, but she was already dashing towards him.

She closed the distance and jumped, swinging a kick at his head.

He ducked under it barely and struck out with his kunai as he reached his other hand out to pull at his puppet.

Rin leaned in and checked his attack by blocking his forearm, driving a kick towards his chest with her right leg.

He made an 'oof' sound as he got the wind knocked from him, falling to the ground from the hit. She saw the puppet get dragged along, meaning he reconnected the strings.

She shouted as loud as she could for her bunshin underneath to jump up and try and stop the puppet.

The bunshin jumped up, but didn't stop it in time.

Kankuro got it back within his reach and tried to catch his breath, the two not moving.

As of now, Kankuro hadn't used any tricks with the puppet, which wasn't good because she didn't know the scope of its abilities.

Kankuro grinned and twitched his hand seconds later, Karasu charging straight at her.

She ordered her bunshin to attack while staying back and drawing her tanto, pushing wind chakra through it in preparation.

Karasu sprouted a blade from its torso, impaling one bunshin, while its four arms were managing to hold off several others.

Rin lost patience and rushed towards Kankuro, wanting to end it.

She got the memories back of her bunshin getting killed, but she didn't care. She yelled as she sprinted towards Kankuro, who hadn't moved at all.

Next thing she knew, a smoke bomb went off and her vision was obscured for a fraction of a second.

She ran through it and swung down with her wind blade, hearing a clang.

Kankuro had switched with the puppet, shocking her for a moment.

Karasu sprouted several blades on its arms and started swinging at her in a rapid motion of attacks.

Her eyes widened at the speed as she backed away, diverting the attacks as best as she could.

A stab at her face nicked her cheek, which started burning immediately. Two slashes from the two right arms were caught by her wind blade, the force from it causing her to grit her teeth.

The other two arms swung at their blade lock and caused her to pull back, her grip on her blade almost coming loose.

She gritted her teeth at the cut, which wasn't healing.

'Poison.' She realized, the burning feeling making sense now. A cut from Anko didn't heal as fast because the toxins or poisons used impeded her healing speed.

"Give up and I'll give you the antidote for the poison," Kankuro offered, looking triumphant, "You'll be a drooling mess in 5 minutes."

Rin growled in anger and raised her blade up, her other hand flipping him off.

"Bring it!" She shouted, twitching her left hand to deposit a kunai in her left, crossing the two.

Karasu moved to be in front of Kankuro in a defensive position.

Rin ran towards the puppet, blades raised. The four arms started flailing out in a certain pattern, the blades striking against the ground with a shower of sparks.

She stopped the flailing by simply stabbing forward with her wind blade, the screech of all four impacting her one. The four arms pulled back and stabbed at her, which she avoided by leaping over it.

She touched the ground with her feet, raising her blade and kunai to defend against the slashes, which she knew she couldn't be hit by. She was sure she could last a lot longer than the five minutes Kankuro expected her to, but any more poison might actually overwhelm her body's ability to flush it out.

Doing something Naruto did in a spar, right as two arms slashed horizontally at her neck, she stopped channeling chakra into her tanto, the blade vanishing right as she ducked.

A third arm was stopped in its tracks by her kunai, her knees now touching the ground from ducking, while she spiked wind chakra back into her primary weapon and swung diagonally at the out of position arms, taking one of the puppet's arms off at mid forearm level.

Kankuro was shocked, based on the fact that the puppet paused its movements, which gave her the chance to kick it away, twisting her legs around to stand up, breathing heavily from managing to destroy an arm.

"You bitch." He growled, looking at the severed limb, "I'll make you pay for that."

Rin made a decision after she was called a bitch. She was going to trash that puppet with extreme prejudice.

She sheathed her tanto, resealed the kunai, and pulsed chakra into her hands, making hand seals as fast as she could.

Futon: Juha Sho. (Beast Tearing Palm).

She slashed horizontally across her body, a blade of wind chakra tearing through the air with a near deafening howl.

Kankuro looked like he yelled, but it was drowned out by the sound of the Jutsu. The ground got torn up and debris was picked up by it as it came crashing towards him.

In an act of desperation, Kankuro made a couple hand seals and Shunshined away, avoiding the Jutsu by the skin of his teeth, the puppet getting dragged with him.

Kankuro ended up hitting the ground from being unable to slow down and staggered while trying to get up.

Rin, being enraged at being called a bitch by the same boy that was on the team with a dangerous Jinchuriki who had murdered people in the forest, ignored what Naruto said, made a bunshin and had it Henge into a kunai.

She flung it at the puppet, aiming high. Kankuro thought it was a miss and didn't evade it.

Big mistake.

The clone dropped the Henge midair and formed a Rasengan in its hand, smashing it into the puppet and shattering a large portion of its chest, tearing two of its arms off.

She didn't let Kankuro recover from his shock and used a quick step Shunshin to get within a few yards of him, running the rest of the distance.

She punched at Kankuro's face, who got his arm up in time and stopped from getting KO'd in one hit, but he cringed when her fist struck his arm.

She punched twice more, followed by a high kick that turned into a back flip, a kunai dropping into her hand as she did it, the knife getting thrown before her feet hit the ground.

The kunai cut into his chest, tearing his shirt open and a visible flash of red being seen as he started bleeding.

She dashed back at him and kicked at his arm, the boy trying to stop it. He groaned as her kick broke through his guard and she thought she heard a pop sound emanating from his arm. The limb went limp and she capitalized on it, a flurry of punches aimed at his ribs and face.

He wasn't able to block them one handed and several struck his chest, one smashing into his face.

He fell backwards and she dove on top of him, grabbing his collar as he was dazed. After unsheathing her tanto and holding it to his throat, she pulled him closer and growled at him.

"You give up!" Her face was starting to feel a little numb, but it wasn't getting any worse.

Kankuro groaned and tried to grab at her with his good arm, but she planted her knee onto his elbow, his cries of pain echoing out.

"Give up!" She shouted, her eyes flashing in anger.

Kankuro grimaced and muttered his surrender, the proctor announcing her as the winner.

She jumped off him and whooped at winning, hearing the Konoha genin applaud her.

She grinned towards her team, Hinata smiling and Sasuke grinning. But when she saw Naruto, her twin's expression had her feeling cold all of a sudden.

He was pale and his eyes were flicking towards the Kumo team. Rin looked at them and saw Karui and Kaito giving her a speculative look, a look that had her wondering why.

She quietly walked back to her team, Kakashi giving her a congratulations, with Asuma saying something similar, Ino and Shikamaru also doing so.

Rin got to Naruto, who wasn't looking at her.

"Naruto." She whispered, but he still wasn't looking at her.

"We will talk at home." He said quietly, gazing off at nothing in particular.

She slumped and stepped away from him, her eyes downcast.

Was he really that angry with her for using a Rasengan to damage the puppet and win? She couldn't understand why though. It was just another jutsu that Kakashi learned from his Sensei and taught the two of them.

She had an unpleasant feeling that she wasn't going to like the talk she was going to have.

////////////

I barely paid attention to when Hinata's name was called to fight Karui, who kept glancing towards Rin and me, specifically after Rin used a Rasengan.

Blonde hair, used seals to beat them in the forest, uses the Rasengan, and has Hatake Kakashi as her Jonin Sensei.

Rin, whether she wanted to believe it or not, was learning about our father today. It was time. Holding off now would only make it worse.

My head wasn't in it when the two began fighting, with Hinata having a clear advantage with her clan's taijutsu form.

I got to hand it to Karui, she didn't have an ounce of quit in her, having been hit multiple times by Hinata and still pushing on.

A quick flurry of punches and a Vacuum Palm at point blank knocked Karui on her ass, the girl now obviously on her last legs.

Hinata rushed towards her and kicked at her chest, the hit being stopped by Karui's visibly shaking arm, but Hinata pushed through with her momentum bending her leg so she could wrap the other around Karui's head, the momentum carrying the two to the ground.

Hinata had Karui's head now trapped between her knees, slowly squeezing on her neck to force her to submit.

Karui kept driving her fist into Hinata's leg, but it wasn't enough. Her punches got progressively weaker as her face started to darken, her eyes starting to go out of focus from oxygen deprivation.

Hinata grabbed her arm and had her other hand resting above Karui's face in warning, the red haired girl getting the message.

She managed to choke something out, tapping Hinata's thigh in surrender. Hinata let her go and rolled away, standing up with a grimace from her leg being punched repeatedly.

I managed to force a smile as Hinata was announced as the winner, even if my heart wasn't in it.

Hiruzen signaled for all of the winners to come to the center, giving us all a congratulatory smile.

He instructed everyone to pick a number out of a box, each of us grabbing a piece of paper.

I barely payed attention to the numbers themselves. I only cared about who was fighting against Gaara.

Shikamaru against Shino.

Different.

Ino against Temari.

Different.

Neji against Hinata.

Same, but a round later.

Rin against Sasuke.

'Thank you, God.'

None of them would be fighting Gaara... because I was selected to fight Gaara.

The aforementioned Jinchuriki looked at me the way a starving man looks at a steak, anticipating us fighting.

'Wait, there's an odd number.'

Almost as if Hiruzen read my thoughts, he started speaking again.

"As there is an odd number, those who were eliminated will have the opportunity to fight in 3 days to receive a spot in the finals.

A bit unfair that they'll have a few days less to prepare for the finals, but they did already lose.

We were told the finals would be in a month, giving us time to train and prepare.

I was the first to leave when we were dismissed, Rin trying to keep up with me.

//////////////////

Rin followed her brother, who was walking towards Kakashi's apartment, for reasons unknown.

He turned around and told her to stay put while he went inside. She just stood on the street, ignoring some of the angry looks given by the civilians. They'd thankfully diminished a great deal, but there were still several.

Naruto exited the building, a picture frame in hand. He didn't say anything and walked towards the direction of their apartment, still remaining silent.

Her hands were cold and she was almost shivering from anxiousness at how he was acting, being distant and cold.

If anything, she would have preferred him being openly angry and wrathful. This almost felt like he was treating her like a stranger.

'I don't know you.'

He pushed out the key to their apartment and she noticed his hand was shaking as he opened the door.

He walked in and stood in the center of the room, finally turning towards her.

They looked at each other for several seconds, not saying a thing.

"Why did you not listen to me?" He asked quietly, his voice sounding small.

She saw how tense he was and she might have mistaken it for anger if his voice didn't sound so unsure and weak.

"Why did you use a Rasengan?" He asked more firmly, his eyes darting to hers.

"I needed to win." Rin replied, confused why that would be why he was upset.

"I told you not to, Rin," He said, his voice bordering on harsh now, "Why did you not listen to me?"

Her expression shifted to one of irritation at the harshness in his voice.

How dare he judge her when he was the paranoid and crazy one of the two of them that would keep secrets, run off and sing weird songs in the winter, and not be honest.

"I wanted to win, Naruto," She bit out, leaning towards him in challenge, "It's okay for you to do things I hate seeing you do, but the moment your little, baby sister does it, it's oh so bad." She finished mockingly, grinning viciously as his eyes seemed to flash with anger.

"You have no idea what the fuck you did." He said harshly, his tone and language combined making her flinch, while he looked at her like she was a child, "You used the Rasengan in front of Kumo genin whose Jonin Sensei is Killer B."

"So what!" She shouted, "You can beat Lee, but I can't beat some jerk who called me a bitch?!"

"We are being hunted for who we are!" Naruto shouted, switching to their personal language, "And you've painted a fucking target on your back after I shattered my bones and broke my body over and over again to protect us from everybody!"

"I didn't ask for it!" She screamed at him, her face starting to flush in anger, "I didn't ask you to be that for me! I didn't ask for you to protect me!"

"Orochimaru would have targeted you three if I wasn't ther-" He started saying, but she cut him off.

"You're doing it again," She accused, her teeth clenched, "You don't tell me anything. Why would he come after us? How did you know he was there? Just tell me!"

"I'm not going t-" She interrupted him again and stomped towards him.

She was tired of it all. Not telling her they were Jinchuriki for almost 5 years, his progress, anything he did on his own.

"I've had enough," She stood just a foot away from him, jabbing him in the chest with her fingers, "I'm tired of you keeping secrets from me, Naruto. You didn't tell me about the fox until I was eleven! And don't think Kakashi is the only one who knows about your little secret training in the woods and whatever you do with the tree on December."

Naruto's eyes widened at her proclamations, his face paling.

"H-how did you..." He tried to say, his voice trailing off.

"You're not as good at barrier Fuinjutsu as you think." She kept looking straight into his blue eyes, refusing to look away.

Whether Naruto really was annoyed, or was trying to divert the subject, he glared at her.

"You have no right to spy on me, Rin."

"Don't," She nearly snarled, refusing to let him manipulate her, "Change. The subject. Why are keeping secrets from me? Didn't we say no secrets?"

Again, Naruto tried to change the subject, but his eyes were avoiding hers now and his fingers were twitching.

He was nervous or ashamed.

"You kept a secret from me when you told Jiji about my dreams." He accused lightly.

...

She wanted to slap him. How dare he bring that up? That wasn't applicable at all.

"You didn't recognize me," She saw him twitch as she started speaking in their own language, his eyes still not looking at hers, "Look me in the eye, Uzumaki Naruto." She grabbed his hand, but he jerked it away. His eyes did look at hers though.

"Don't think I don't know why you're bringing it up, nii-san," She said that intentionally because she knew Sasuke called Itachi that constantly, "You're ashamed because you know you're wrong and don't want to own up to it."

Naruto turned away, pacing around as he was wringing his hands.

"I don't care what excuse you convinced yourself with, but you have to stop," Rin said fiercely, her eyes tracking Naruto as he seemed to try and wear a hole in the floor, "You are hurting me."

Naruto abruptly stopped, his head jerking towards her.

"I am protecting you."

Rin was almost ready to leave the apartment, she was that mad. She wasn't going to deal with this any longer.

"You are not protecting me, Naruto. You are protecting yourself. Are you so selfish that you would hurt me? Abandon me?" She asked, Naruto's reaction being so noticeable that she could've shut her eyes and seen it.

Whether it was the part about hurting her or abandoning her, Naruto started looking at the corners of the room, his breathing accelerating.

"Naruto." Rin said his name, "Tell me."

"You will die without me." Naruto walked towards her, the two just a foot away, "You will have the Kyuubi ripped out of you and you will die screaming if I didn't fucking fight Orochimaru." He didn't have to raise his voice to scare her, the venom in his tone was more than enough.

Rin flinched and backed away from him, horrified at what he said.

"What are you talking about?" She asked, breathing erratically at the fire that seemed to be dancing in her twin's eyes. It made him look almost manic.

Naruto started pacing and grabbing at his hair, groaning as he tried to steady his own breathing.

"You wanna hear it all?" He asked her strangely, sounding both scared and angry. "You wanna know why I'm always secretive and don't want you knowing everything?"

"Orochimaru was part of a group of S-rank criminals who plan on collecting all the Bijuu," He said, shaking visibly, "Whether they are sealed or not."

Rin was trying to make sense of what was just said, not believing it.

"He's lying." She said quietly, assuming Naruto was being paranoid again.

"Then why did Kakashi and the Hokage confirm that the Akatsuki exist?" Naruto raised a brow, his voice cutting deep.

Rin swallowed and found it harder to breathe, the room seeming to crush her.

"But why have you been doing this before now?" She asked, knowing Naruto couldn't have known about this group for the years he'd been training.

"They're number three on the list of enemies that want us dead," He said harshly, his grip on the picture frame tightening, "And you've tipped off another."

"Will you stop being elusive and just tell me?!" She demanded, stomping her foot, "I'm not a child!"

She saw his eyes flash to a violet colour, his chakra making his hair shift.

"Yes, you are."

"You're only 3 minutes older than me," She stomped towards him, glaring at him, "You think you're so high and mighty cause you're taller and a little older?" She jabbed his chest with her finger.

He grabbed her hand and leaned towards her, his face hard.

She tried to pull her hand away, but he wasn't letting go.

"I stopped being a child the day we were born," Naruto whispered, his eyes having a faraway look, "There is only one person who could understand how I feel, and it isn't Sasuke."

He loosened his grip and she pulled her hand away.

"I screamed when they took you away from me," He whispered, tears starting to form in his eyes, "Every second of that day was me screaming."

She had never been told in explicit detail what happened. Naruto had never been able to bring himself to tell her.

"That Genjutsu was worse because I already know what your eyes would look like if you died," He choked out, his fist clenching, "Your eyes are exactly like kaasan's."

She was silent as her brother was explaining probably the worst memory he'd ever experienced.

"Everything was death and screaming. The only light I knew was taken from me and I felt like I was burning on the inside when the Yin half was sealed in me."

He swallowed and spoke again, his eyes lowering.

"Kaasan loved us so much, and so did tousan." Her twin whispered, his fingers threading through his hair shakily.

He then looked up at her.

"The Akatsuki evidently want us because of the Kyuubi," He said, pressing his hand to her stomach, "While half the Shinobi villages want us dead because of this." He pulled his hand away and grabbed at his hair.

"But that doesn't even include our father." He whispered, wiping his eyes. He then went over to a chair and sat down, trying to calm down.

Whatever motivated Naruto to keep secrets, it was obviously hurting him to keep it in.

"I shouldn't have yelled," He said, looking ashamed, "But it's too much. The entire world is trying to crush me and I feel like I'm drowning. I wake up in a cold sweat at night, unable to breathe. I feel like I have glass in my lungs everytime I try to breathe, the taste of blood on my tongue."

She never knew that.

"I didn't know you had nightmares." She said quietly, seeing how isolated Naruto felt.

"They weren't an issue until we started sleeping in separate rooms," Naruto mumbled, wiping his nose with his sleeve, "Your chakra kept me rooted. It feels safe. Only a couple people are close enough to me to do that."

Rin walked to him and pulled him into a hug, feeling his body shudder as he relaxed the tenseness in his body.

"I'm sorry for yelling too," she whispered, knowing she shouldn't have lashed out, "And for not trusting that you meant well. But please, stop trying to keep secrets."

She gently grabbed ahold of his hand, interlocking their fingers.

"I love you, Naruto," She pressed herself against him, hearing his heartbeat thundering in his chest, "We've always been together, thirteen years. Don't think you have to be alone with this."

Naruto hugged her tighter, before kissing the top of her head.

"Okay," He mumbled, his fingers digging into her slightly as he held her tightly, "I'll tell you.

"You need to know," He continued quietly, sounding terrified, "It's why I freaked out."

She leaned away from him and looked into his bright blue eyes, the luster in them muted.

"Why?" She asked gently, knowing this was the reason he was terrified and paranoid about the future.

He stood up, the picture frame from Kakashi's still in his grip.

"You have blonde hair," He began, looking uncertain about continuing, "Are good at Fuinjutsu, you have a wind affinity, can use the Rasengan, and you have Hatake Kakashi as your Sensei. How would that sound to someone who has either fought or hates the Yondaime?"

Rin then saw Naruto's face tighten.

"Who does it sound like is our father?"

Rin connected the dots after a second and scoffed.

"They're idiots if they think he is our father." She said flatly, not finding it funny at all.

Namikaze being their father? A disgusting and cruel joke.

Naruto slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the hand with the picture frame raising to eye level, his hand shaking.

"Look at it." His voice was barely a whisper.

She took it with no small amount of trepidation and flipped it around, tilting her head at it.

It was a picture of Kakashi's genin team, also called Team 7. She saw Kakashi, who had both eyes and looked bored, a boy who reminded her of a very cheerful Sasuke, and a brown haired girl who was smiling and had purple marks on her cheeks.

Nohara Rin.

"Obito was crushed by a rock when he and Kakashi went to save Rin," Naruto said quietly, the way he said Obito's name being strange, "Kakashi had just lost an eye, and Obito tore his own eye out and gave it to Kakashi, the eye being implanted by the teammate they rescued, Rin."

Her fingers ghosted over the face of the girl she shared a name with.

"She was later abducted by Kiri nin on a separate mission and they sealed the Sanbi in her, the seal an improper one so it would break out when she got back to Konoha. They wanted to kill thousands of people."

'It would have been like what happened the day the Kyuubi was unleashed.'

"Rin couldn't bear the thought of being the cause of thousands of innocent people dying," Naruto said sadly, looking almost lost, "So she begged Kakashi to kill her so the Sanbi would die as well."

Rin's eyes widened as she heard the reason why Kakashi supposedly killed her.

'He always said it was an accident and wouldn't go into detail. Is he really a friend killer?'

"He refused to, but she thought differently and jumped in front of him as he tried to fight their way out of an encirclement, a Chidori being driven through her heart."

Rin could almost imagine how painful it would have been. She saw what a Chidori did when it struck something, the only thing coming close was a Rasengan.

"She decided to die at the hands of someone she loved," Naruto went on, his voice almost sounding monotone, "To protect the Hidden Leaf."

Rin blinked tears out of her eyes, imagining how much it would break Naruto or Sasuke if she were killed.

But Naruto was the only one other than Kakashi that used the Chidori. She didn't want to imagine what he'd become if he accidentally killed her, remembering what he said about not surviving losing her.

She thought she heard Naruto mutter something about an imposter, but she couldn't tell.

"Look at Kakashi's Sensei." He requested, his tongue brushing over his lip as he seemed to prepare for something.

She looked down at the picture and saw the face of the man that she hated, the man who sentenced them to hell, made them outcasts.

The one that almost took her nii-san from her.

If he hadn't sealed the Kyuubi in them, Naruto wouldn't have been almost killed, he wouldn't have nightmares of choking on blood, he wouldn't be hurting himself to be strong enough to fight the whole world.

She could almost be fooled into thinking that Namikaze Minato was a good man, that charming smile and carefree look being more than just disarming.

But weren't she and Naruto called demons that hid behind false smiles? Yes, they were. Some adults even said it to them face to face, knowing nothing could be done because they could claim it was a figure of speech.

Their hero was the very thing that they accused the two of them of being.

Only a demon would seal something like the Kyuubi into two screaming newborns, one of them looking directly at him as it happened.

That frozen smile in the photograph, the light dancing in his blue eyes, it seemed to torture her by reminding her of all the things that made Naruto seem so cheerful and bright.

After several seconds, Naruto spoke.

"Rin," He said, "Please look at me."

She looked up at him, seeing her twin brother.

Red hair, whisker marks, and blue eyes.

"I'm going to put on a Henge to hide my whiskers," He said, putting his right hand up in a half seal, "And I'm going to Henge my hair to look like yours."

She watched intently as he let out a breath that seemed to fill the room. His whiskers disappeared, the skin now smooth and matching the colour of his face. His hair then shimmered and shifted to a golden blonde identical to hers.

He then opened his beautiful blue eyes.

"Look at the picture." He whispered.

Rin looked at Namikaze, then to Naruto.

She didn't know what the breaking sound was. Whether it was the framed photograph slipping from her fingers, or if it was a part of her soul, she didn't know.

The cracked glass didn't hide that smile from her. It didn't hide the hair that was the same as hers. It didn't hide the eyes.

They were staring straight into hers.

"No." She moaned, her voice almost non-existent.

Everything was blurring, the room out of focus. She was trying to gasp for air as she felt like she was choking.

It was a lie. A trick. He wasn't their father. Touchan loved them. Kaasan married a kind and good man, not a selfish and terrible one like the Yondaime.

"No." She mumbled louder, trying to stagger away from the lie in front of her. "Stop it. It's not funny. Stop."

It couldn't be. It's not true. It's impossible.

"He's not..." She tried to choke out, her tongue not seeming to work.

"He is." Naruto looked like he was made of glass from causing pain. "I'm so sorry."

Rin shook her head, this moment being a lie. Why was her brother hurting her? Why did he hate her? Why?

"Rin." Naruto reached out to her desperately, but she fell back and tried to crawl away.

"No," She started crying, backing away from the ghost that was haunting her, "I don't know you. You're not my oniichan." She started shaking and hugging herself.

It wasn't Naruto's blue eyes looking at her, it wasn't his face, it wasn't him.

It was him.

Naruto reached for her and held her as she started wailing, everything falling apart.

"I hate you!" She screamed, punching him with as much hatred as she could muster, "You lied to me!"

The memory of what Naruto said before he ran away years ago was replaying in her mind.

"You lied to me. You said no secrets. You said no secrets."

Naruto lied. He knew. He knew and he didn't tell her.

She kicked him away and punched Namikaze in the face.

"WHY!?" She screamed, seeing her hatred seem to reflect off those horrible and cruel blue eyes.

Naruto spat blood out of his mouth and didn't react at getting kicked or punched.

"I didn't want you burdened with it." He whispered, looking back at her with shame.

She punched him again, but he grabbed her hand and pulled her towards him.

She started screaming and began punching and elbowing him to try and force him to let go, but he wrapped his arms around her and pushed his legs between hers, locking her in place as he pushed her face down into the carpet.

"Let me go!" She screamed, her voice muffled by his body weight forcing her down, "Get off me!" She started shouting, trying to wriggle free.

She was crying in anger as she tried to break loose, but couldn't.

He was just like his father!

She growled and grabbed at her chakra with all the hatred she had for the village, her brother, and her father and screamed.

She felt and saw a red chakra halo form around her, Naruto groaning in pain.

She felt her teeth elongate and she bit Naruto's arm, trying to make him let go.

Naruto growled back at her and his own chakra flared, her whole back feeling like she was being electrocuted.

"I'm not letting you go," He snarled in her ear, his grip tightening to the point of it hurting her, "I'm not letting you run like I did."

She heard her own voice, a high pitched and childish version.

'Would you still love me if I kept a secret from you?'

Rin was breathing heavily and couldn't move anymore, but her rage wasn't getting any lower.

"Do I have to put a seal or twenty on you?" Naruto demanded, "I will close your seal off and drop you at the Tower and you can talk to the Hokage about why you had a temper tantrum like a toddler that didn't get a cookie."

Rin knew he wasn't lying about putting a dozen seals on her to basically tie her up.

"I hate you." she growled, spitting out the blood she drew when she bit him.

"I love you too." He said, slowly lifting his left hand off her head, his grip on her arms and legs loosening.

She tried to get away, but he clamped back down, smashing her into the ground, causing her to whimper.

He rifled through his pockets and pulled out a tag, pulling up her shirt and pressing it onto her stomach.

She felt her chakra fly out of her control and most of the strength she got from the Kyuubi's chakra left her, leaving her at Naruto's mercy.

He didn't stop there and pressed his hand against both her arms, concentrating lightning chakra in his fingers as he jabbed her.

Rin bit down a curse as her arms jerked involuntarily.

"I hate you." She growled, her arms going numb for a few seconds from the lightning.

His breath was right next her ear, the sound faint.

"I love you too." He repeated himself, using another tag to stick her arms together.

He then got off her and lifted her up gently, carrying her slowly to the couch. He set her down with a practiced ease and shifted her to face the chair, which he sat down in.

"You ready to talk without biting me?" He asked, lifting his arm up to show that she bit pretty deep.

"I hate all of you." She bared her teeth, "Everyone who knows. You, Kakashi, Jiji. You all lied to me."

Kakashi had to have known. It was his sensei after all.

Her brother slowly forced his breathing to calm down, his hands clenched at his sides.

"I told the two of them that I would be the one to tell you," Naruto sighed, looking at the bite mark, "This might have hurt, but Orochimaru's was worse."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She refused to accept any excuse, "I had a right to know."

"I didn't tell you because I knew it would hurt for you to know." Naruto said, the statement predictably angering her.

"And it wouldn't later?" She bit out, seeing her traitorous brother pinch the bridge of his nose.

"I was already trying to come to terms with everything, alright?" He said, frowning at her, "You try watching your parents die in front of you. You're not a damn sensor. No words can describe what it feels like to sense your mother die and your father's soul get dragged into a bottomless pit devoid of anything."

Rin just shook her head, refusing to give their father sympathy.

"Do you love me?" Naruto asked abruptly, sounding completely serious.

Rin really wanted to say no, but she knew she'd be lying because she was hurting right now.

She sighed and nodded her head.

"Yes." She whispered, not looking at him.

"I would have done the exact same thing as tousan did."

Her head jerked up and she glared at him, daring him to say it again.

"Kaasan was going to die no matter what," Naruto said flatly, "The only reason she lived as long as she did was because an Uzumaki can survive after a Bijuu is removed for a short time. If it was ripped out of her weeks afterwards, she could have survived having it resealed. But she was already fatigued from giving birth to us." He gestured to the two of them, sounding almost monotone.

"How can you be so clinical about it?" Rin asked, disgusted by how detached he sounded, "Do you even care about her?"

She realized that was a bad thing to say by Naruto's reaction. His chakra and presence felt hostile and her breath hitched.

"Don't you ever accuse me of not caring, Uzumaki Rin," Her brother snarled, his eyes flashing violet in his anger, "You never felt her chakra before you ever saw the light of day, you never heard her voice, you didn't hear her tell you to be a good child and for us to love and look out for each other, you didn't hear tousan beg me to protect you because he couldn't. You felt nothing as they died, you were busy screaming and shitting all over yourself!" Naruto was starting to cry at the end.

Her brother was starting to scare her. What changed? He never acted this way, not even after he lost control of the Kyuubi's chakra and executed the Iwa nin brutally.

She thought she heard an echo of a voice, almost sounding like a hiss and a light burning feeling creeping up her neck.

Naruto seemed to relax completely seconds later, his breathing less erratic. His chakra then seemed to stop feeling so predatory.

"I wanted you to not know until you were older," He said quietly, "It broke Sasuke to see his clan and family killed, something in Kakashi died when his father killed himself."

"And something broke in me when I saw them die." He sat down, his eyes foggy.

Naruto then scooted the chair forward some.

"Tousan loved us more than anything," He kept going, "He put chakra in our seals in case either of our seals started to break. Orochimaru's mark would have probably broken my seal and unleashed the Yin half if Tousan didn't fix it." He swallowed and looked towards her, standing up and carrying the chair to sit next to her.

'Was he that close to dying?: Rin wondered fearfully, squishing it down.

"I talked to him," Naruto said quietly, "The chakra is like a Kage bunshin, manifesting as him in our mindscapes."

Rin, despite wanting to still keep hating, was slowly calming down and was paying close attention to her brother.

"I yelled at him," Naruto winced, looking ashamed, "I blamed him for everything. Jiji getting old, Kakashi being broken, us being made Jinchuriki, the hatred of the villagers, Hinata almost being abducted. I laid every hardship at his feet. And you know what he did?" He asked.

Rin shook her head.

"He cried."

Rin blinked, tilting her head in surprise.

"I made Namikaze Minato, one of the strongest men in history, cry. I broke him with just words. I confirmed every fear he ever held. A prodigy that saved his soulmate from Kumo nin when he was twelve, but wasn't fast enough to save her from being killed by the Kyuubi. He was the fastest and smartest of his generation, but he couldn't save his students."

With every word said, their father started to sound more and more like Naruto.

"What good is it being the fastest if you're never fast enough to save those that matter?"

Rin lowered her head in shame, realizing she was a terrible sister for forcing a confrontation and an even worse daughter for hating him.

"Why didn't Kakashi or Jiji help us?" She asked, swallowing the lump in her throat.

"Kakashi was only a year older than we are now at the time," Naruto replied, his tone a sad one, "I wouldn't be able to take care of two newborns that were a living reminder of what I'd lost. Kakashi was still borderline trying to kill himself in combat up until he started training me."

He then explained Jiji.

"Iwa and Kumo would have started the war again if it was discovered that the Yellow Flash had twins that were Jinchuriki and had an Uzumaki mother," He said, "Not to mention being descendants of the Uzukage." He added.

"Any children, especially a blonde one, that got massive amounts of attention would cause scrutiny that could have gotten us killed."

Everyone wanted to kill them, either because of them being Uzumaki, or now because of who their father was.

"Why did he seal the Kyuubi in us?" She asked, needing to know this above all else.

"He barely defeated the person who opened up kaasan's seal," Naruto replied, "He almost lost and he knew that the village would be too vulnerable if it lost its Jinchuriki."

"How could he almost lose?" It seemed too out there for the Yondaime to almost lose, being one of the strongest alive.

Naruto explained the entire conversation he had with their father, including the stuff on the Hiraishin. He then went on to talk about what he kept secret from her, specifically the threats that they faced.

"So the three groups that want us dead," Rin said quietly, trying to think things through, "Are the Akatsuki, because we're Jinchuriki, half of the villages because we're Uzumaki, and Iwa because of tousan."

Naruto nodded.

"A mess, isn't it?" Naruto looked grim.

No wonder he was so secretive about it. Constant training to prepare for several different parties out to kill them and diverting of touchy subjects because she might figure something out made sense.

But it didn't excuse it.

Rin sighed and sank into the couch.

"Can you take the tags off me?" She asked sadly, squirming some.

The tag on her stomach was starting to tickle and she didn't like it.

"Yeah," her brother nodded, scooting towards her, "I'll do that now."

He leaned over her and pulsed his chakra into the tag that restrained her arms, setting them free.

"Now hold still," his hands ghosted over her stomach, "I don't want to accidentally shock you."

Rin pulled up her shirt some to reveal her stomach, the seal visible from the suppression tag on it.

She shivered from his hands being cold as he touched her, and the small pulse of chakra to deactivate the tag ended up making her squeak from the feeling.

"Sorry." He said, pulling the tag off of her, before tossing to the side.

Rin lowered her shirt and shifted away from Naruto, not looking at him.

"I'm sorry for hurting you," Rin eventually said, hating herself for getting angry at him, "I shouldn't have gotten angry."

"No," Naruto replied, "I lied and kept a secret from you. Don't be sorry for being angry. You shouldn't have bit me." He agreed on the last part. "But you never deserved to be left in the dark."

They were quiet for a few minutes, not saying anything at all.

Rin took a deep breath and turned to face her brother, trying to muster up the courage to ask.

"What's he like?" She finally asked, forcing herself to make eye contact.

Naruto smiled softly and sagged in relief.

The next couple hours was him explaining what their father was like, how he and kaasan met, what he loved to do, his small mannerisms that she did as well, like the furrowing of her brows when she was focusing on painting a seal.

When he got to the part about their grandfather being a pervert, she started giggling.

"You sure you're not like him?" She laughed, seeing Naruto roll his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up," He laughed sarcastically, "You should have seen tousan's face when I told him about when I ended up in the hot springs."

"You didn't give context, did you?" She deadpanned, knowing her twin's idea of a joke.

"Nope." He grinned, looking pleased with himself.

"Actually," He said suddenly, "If you want, you can do a joke like that on him and say your favourite book is Jiraiya's, and don't give any detail on what book it is."

Rin almost collapsed in a fit of laughter, the image being ridiculous.

"The Tale of the Gutsy Shinobi?" She asked, laughing harder when Naruto nodded.

"Touchan, I like Jiraiya-sama's book! I want to be just like the princess when I grow up!"

She knew another book by Jiraiya had a princess in it, but she most definitely did not want to be like that princess judging by how Kakashi would blush and giggle as he read that particular book.

Naruto was snickering and his eyes were watering from keeping it together.

"He would murder Jiraiya," Naruto said seriously, a smirk cracking his visage, "I'm serious. He'd come back from the grave and murder Jiraiya for corrupting his baby girl."

The two held each other as they laughed at the imagery, the anger and screaming a distant memory.

After some time, Naruto coughed and cleared his throat, wiping his eyes.

"I need to take the picture back," He said, pointing at the broken frame, "I'll need to get a new frame though."

Rin grimaced at the reminder that she broke it, knowing it was important to Kakashi.

Naruto stood up and made a hand seal, a bunshin puffing into existence.

"Buy a new frame just like it and put it in there." Naruto commanded it, the bunshin doing so. It picked up the frame and left the apartment, the door closing behind it.

Naruto sat back down next to her, but the growling of her stomach stopped him from saying something.

Rin felt her face redden in embarrassment, but Naruto just snorted.

"You want ramen?" He asked, reaching into his pocket to pull out the scroll that had his money in it.

Rin nodded her head, smiling at the idea of some ramen.

Naruto fished out some money and stood up, pocketing the scroll.

"Okay then," He reached out his hand, "Ready to go on an adventure?"

Rin took his hand and stood up from the couch, smiling at her twin.

"I love you, Naruto."

He leaned forward and planted a kiss on her forehead, pulling her close.

The fact that she had not been told who their father was hurt, but she understood why Naruto didn't want her to know for some time. It hurt him to tell her, almost as much as it hurt her to know.

"I know." He whispered, breaking away from her and walking towards the door, the two heading to Ichiraku's.

/////////////////

Almost like Deja Vu, I was drinking to numb the guilt I felt, the only difference being that I was walking the street now instead of being in my apartment.

I didn't want to feel Rin's chakra and I didn't want to try and fall asleep, only to wake up, choking on air as remembered my head getting cut off and that snake's voice in my ear.

I hated myself for letting it get to this point. I should've been more forthcoming.

It was so much worse than I imagined when I told Rin all the secrets I could give, save for a couple I prayed never saw the light of day.

My knowledge, and everything pertaining to it, and Orochimaru taking my head off.

'I choose you.'

With supreme force of will, I stopped the urge to start looking around to check the shadows, the stupid things at least not whispering anymore.

It wasn't as bad after a few days and a healthy distance from the Forest of Death, but the memory of being so totally helpless and at the mercy of a monster made every part of my sense of Self recoil in both fear and self-hatred at that fear.

Rin had been hurt deeply by me keeping so many secrets. She hid it well, but I know it hurt her after I told her so much.

But what else do you expect from an older brother in this world? Itachi hurt Sasuke, even if what he did was worse.

I wonder if I would've done worse if the curse mark stayed and started rotting my mind. Would I have tortured her in a twisted attempt to prepare her for what was on the horizon, just like Itachi?

Her face appeared in my mind, violet eyes wide in shock as she coughed up blood.

"You promised. We promised."

I took another gulp of alcohol, trying to dull my senses. Maybe I could make myself blackout. This was definitely better whiskey I'd stolen and I didn't want to visualize myself hurting her after what happened.

Orochimaru already made me antsy about that, especially when I broke Hinata's arm.

Spotting an alley cat as I started to walk a little more unsteadily, I made a half seal to shoot a water senbon near it to spook it.

I ended up botching it by hiccuping and causing water to spray out of my mouth, covering me completely.

"Fucking fuck fuck." I hissed under my breath in English, knowing there was supposed to be a noise threshold you weren't supposed to cross, double that for Shinobi.

I started trying to clean myself off and heard a faint chuckle from my right, causing me to turn.

An old man, a cane in his hand, was leaning against the wall, looking amused by what just happened.

"Having fun?" He asked, his weight shifted towards the cane. "Eloquent choice of expression."

He looked like he was in his sixties, probably around Hiruzen's age, and had shoulder length white hair. His clothing was rather boring, looking like your average civilian.

"Mind your business." I scoffed, ignoring him after that and taking another drink.

I took my eye off him for maybe two seconds, but it was enough for him to move to be in front of me, a disappointed look on his face.

"You're far too young to be drinking, boy." He scolded me, reaching for the bottle.

Without thinking, I forced chakra through my fingers and pointed a chakra blade at his face, my vision a bit funky.

"Don't." I warned, the blade looking discoloured. "I'm not in the mood to listen to a lecture from some shriveled old prune."

I lowered my hand, expecting him to walk away from me after threatening him.

He didn't.

"My point stands. You're what, twelve or thirteen?"

"Thirteen and a half." I muttered petulantly, trying to keep myself steady as the world wanted to shift a bit. "If you're one of those kinds of people, I'd fuck off right now if I were you before they find you hanging from a tree."

The man scoffed, looking unimpressed.

"A boy." He remarked, peering at me with a typical stern look from an elder. "And I've killed plenty of those creatures as well. But my point still stands."

I scoffed. "You see this," I pointed at my Hitai-ate, silently thanking myself for putting it on as a habit, "This piece of steel means I'm an adult to Konoha. I can drink, smoke, own property, and pick and choose whatever willing female at the brothel I want."

That last part was just for shock value. I wouldn't hire a hooker for company, and any that would be willing to have me at my age was something to steer far away from. I had more important stuff to spend money on, like paper and ink for explosives.

"Yes, and I also had one." The old man shook his head, "But being a trained killer doesn't mean you should drink, especially a Jinchuriki."

That last part had me on guard. I looked at him appraisingly, suddenly realizing that I could hardly read his chakra.

His fingers then shifted into an ANBU code sign meaning 'Hello'.

I rolled my eyes as I kept walking.

"Just my luck that I come across a retired spook." I shook my head irritably. "I don't need your breed around me right now."

Basically the crayon eaters of this world, the ANBU were. A great deal of ANBU were sub-bricks outside of conflict situations, but that isn't surprising when the majority were orphans... most growing up with substandard funding from the conflicts raging necessitating the different allocation of funds to war.

Who would've thought subpar care resulted in emotionally stunted children that were thrown into the threshing machine of war, breaking them further?

Kakashi had no idea what to even say when I called him a crayon eater after he told me stuff about the ANBU.

'God, my mind's in a dark place.' I thought grimly, still eying the old man.

All I did was blink. One moment, the bottle was in my hand, the next, it was in the old man's.

"What the..." My eyes widened, shock overwhelming me.

The old man sniffed it, snorting derisively.

"Lightweight." He looked directly into my eyes in challenge and straight up chugged the entire thing, gulping it all down.

I stole that damned alcohol, and it was expensive.

The shock and awe at this old fart just doing that made my mind reboot.

"You going to keep gaping like a fool, or are you going to break the Genjutsu I put on you?" He asked politely.

At the word Genjutsu, I flexed my chakra violently, my vision cracking and my vision corrected slightly.

This man just put a Genjutsu on me, without me even realizing it.

"Game's over, old man," I readied a chakra blade, pointing it at his throat, "Tell me why you're here or I'm going to strangle you with your own colon." I spiked my Killing Intent at the end.

The old man shrugged and flipped the empty bottle in the air, swinging his cane like a bat and smacking the bottle down the alleyway, the sound of glass breaking and the yowling of a cat being heard.

"Bullseye," He laughed, twirling his cane in a familiar pattern, "Still got it."

He then turned to me, glancing at the blade still pointed at him.

"I was asked to babysit a brooding gaki as a favour," He said casually, "Not my idea of a beautiful evening."

'Of course Hiruzen would be tailing me.'

"Does the Sandaime spy on me?" I asked, suddenly feeling disconcerted by the thought.

That was when a memory hit me, something I hadn't thought of in years.

The orb.

"Goddamn anime palantir." I muttered in English, secretly horrified at the realization that I might have never had true privacy in training.

The old ANBU looked at me intently, letting out a snort.

"If you would kindly stop speaking gibberish, I can go back home without feeling guilty about leaving a special child on its own." He tapped his cane against the ground.

I didn't dignify that with a response, simply turning and walking away, mindful of my steps as the alcohol hit me.

The clack of a cane had me turning my head and glaring at the man walking next to me.

"I'm walking you back home," He said firmly, brokering no nonsense, "You're swaying."

"I'll be fine in a half hour." I muttered, keeping my eyes forward.

"What has you so obstinate about this?" The old ANBU asked, still matching my place as I headed home, "It's unnatural for a boy to seek the comfort of the bottle."

Better to drink instead of the nightmares that kept me awake.

"The village we live in is unnatural," I scoffed, my sandals scuffing against the ground, "Nature is cruel and brutal, but we impose our will on nature itself, bending it to our will. We civilize it."

"Drunk philosophy, huh?" The man grunted amusedly, "Haven't heard that since the Second War."

"I don't care." I kept looking ahead, knowing Hiruzen probably picked this guy for a reason.

Neither of us spoke for a few minutes as we walked. I definitely wasn't going to bring anything up.

Just as I suspected, my chaperone started talking.

"There's four main coping measures a Shinobi takes when they have experienced horrific events," He kept his eyes ahead, seeming to navigate without any thought. I could tell he was a sensor when his head twitched in the direction of a small flare of chakra, probably from a genin training some type of jutsu in their room.

"Family," The man broke through my thoughts, "Faith, Fraternity, and Fermentation." He looked at me distastefully at the last word.

Such a cutesy way to describe coping mechanisms for broken people.

"Well," I decided to humour him, "My family is mostly dead, there's no temple here for my god, my close friends don't understand me... and you drunk my alcohol."

I couldn't talk with Rin about this because her being hurt by me is what caused me to walk on my lonesome. Fat chance I'd ever find a church in this universe. Sasuke already saw me when I was in the forest, the feeling unpleasant, but I couldn't let him know the truth.

Even if it took me longer to compartmentalize what happened on my own, I'd rather do that instead of burdening them.

The man snorted, smacking my leg lightly with his cane.

"You're family isn't dead yet," He remarked, "Your clan lives on through you and your sister."

At my raised brow, he laughed quietly.

"I knew your clan," He said, glancing at my head, "I fought in that region during the Second War and your name stands out, not to mention that mane of yours."

Is that why Hiruzen asked this guy to watch me tonight?

"Yes," He abruptly stated, seeming to read my thoughts, "There's a reason I'm the one speaking to you."

I kept thinking of what good it was. It didn't matter to me. I needed space, not a sympathetic ear.

"Give me your sagely advice," I relented, stifling the urge to scowl, "And let me walk home afterwards."

The ANBU grunted an affirmative, smacking a pebble with his cane.

"I'm not clairvoyant, but you underwent recent trauma."

I looked at him skeptically, still not knowing who he was.

The old man sighed. "Combat Iryo-nin that served as an impromptu shrink when needed. I had a way with people. And some skill in Genjutsu." He added absent-mindedly.

He could obviously tell he wasn't welcome still, so he got to the point.

"A retiree gets selected to babysit because all the other ANBU are occupied running security. That only happens when we've been infiltrated. The only individuals I can think of that have the interior knowledge of Konoha and skills are Uchiha Itachi and Orochimaru."

I wasn't able to hide my reaction to Orochimaru's name, my body betraying me.

"Ah," He smiled pleasantly, tapping his fingers against his cane handle, "So it's Orochimaru who has snuck into the village. A pity, I hoped I was going senile."

Whoever the bastard was, he manipulated me on purpose to get information he wasn't privy to.

"I can assume all the commotion during the first round of exams involved you encountering Konoha's wayward child, or at least one of them?" He asked me, suddenly sounding rather melancholic.

I slowly nodded my head, nearly halfway back home.

"Terrifying." I said truthfully, slowly closing my eyes as I remembered it.

A Genjutsu user and somebody who fought in a war made a little bit more sense, but I would've preferred Kakashi.

"You don't have to speak," He seemed to point out, "I just know that it might help."

To be fair, this guy didn't deserve ridicule and only responded sarcastically after I started it.

Why did I even give him a rash of shit?

"I," I paused, looking up at the stars as we walked, "I can talk a bit."

I gave vague details, but did share the Genjutsu aspect and my hatred for illusions.

"I can't even think of pleasant memories of me being in the woods without..." My fingers brushed against my neck, remembering the feeling of cold steel passing clean through my spine like nothing.

The ANBU listened quietly, an expression of sympathy on his face.

"Are any of your friends aware of how it effected you?" He asked kindly, the two of us finally reaching my apartment.

I shook my head.

"They don't deserve to have that on their minds," I mumbled, fishing out the key to the front door, "And I don't want my sister worrying."

"Uzumaki Naruto," The man said my name softly, his tone exceedingly quiet and kind, "Do not forsake your only family when you need them."

I backed away from him, suddenly uncomfortable with the tenderness.

'This man must know me more than he's admitting. Kakashi? Hiruzen?'

"When the walls come tumbling down, when you lose everything you have," He continued to smile, but it now held a deep sadness to it, "you always have family."

I closed my eyes and felt Rin's chakra signature blazing like a beacon from her room, the brightness meaning she was still awake.

'I'm going to hug her and tell her how much I love her.' I promised myself, looking at the old man in front of me.

"Thank you for... staying with me." I managed to say, almost certain it was Hiruzen or Kakashi in front of me under disguise. "Tomorrow will be here soon enough, and there is much to do."

I was going to start training to fight Gaara, and it was going to be rough.

"I hope you have a wonderful night, Uzumaki," The ANBU turned to leave, "And good luck with the finals." He then disappeared in a puff of smoke, meaning I was talking to a clone the whole time.

'Yep... Kakashi.'

I unlocked the door and walked straight towards Rin's room, not even knocking as I opened it.

"Narut-" She started to say, looking a bit vexed by me barging in.

I ignored her and scooped her up into my arms, hearing her squeak in surprise as I held on to her.

"I'm sorry for hurting you," I whispered in her ear, "I'll always love you."

It didn't matter how much I was struggling right now. Rin would set my priorities straight, no matter how many times I fell.

My little sister melted into my embrace and held me tight as well.

"I love you too, Naruto." She mumbled into my shoulder.

We just held each other for some time, not caring about anything in that moment.

'I will never stop loving you.'

/////////////////

Itachi POV:

An unscheduled meeting was called by Pein, about which he did not know.

The last several years had not been pleasant, to put it mildly. He was reviled and hated by the village he loved and the brother he would have fought a one man war for, a brother he hadn't seen in years.

He opened his eyes and he saw multiple astral forms of the other Akatsuki members, each one looking just as surprised at being called.

"Why was a meeting called for all of us?" Kakuzu asked, sounding aggravated.

"The better question is why you sound like you got your panties in a twist." Hidan laughed.

"Don't think I won't rip your head off, idiot."

"Fucking heretic." Hidan responded, "And have fun stitching my head back on when you're told to."

"Why were we summoned?" Sasori asked with a degree of deference, ignoring the two immortals arguing.

All of them turned to Pein, who hadn't spoken yet.

The supposed leader of the Akatsuki started speaking when he had their complete attention.

"An unforseen stroke of good fortune has made itself known in Konoha," Pein began, looking at all of them, "The Ichibi, the Nibi, the Hachibi, and Kyuubi Jinchurikis are all there for the Chunin exams occurring."

You could hear a pen drop from how quiet it was.

"Why would there be that many there?" Itachi asked, his mind running through possible scenarios, "This is unusual for the Raikage to send both Jinchuriki, including his brother, to Konoha for something as simple as a few genin competing."

Itachi kept thinking of reasons for doing that, but each theory was unlikely at best.

'It would be easier to send several Jonin as chaperones to have a show of force instead of both Jinchuriki. Arrogance? Unlikely. The Raikage values his brother more than his ego.'

"Is a reason known for why Kumo sent both?" Itachi asked, trying to scope out any information.

He didn't usually ask this number of questions, but it could be explained away by it being the village he came from being the object of interest.

"No," Pein shook his head, "It was unexpected, but not undesired."

Pein looked straight at him, the purple ringed eyes boring into his.

"A possible solution would be to attack the village with all of you partaking," Pein didn't take his eyes off of him, "But the odds would be difficult to determine. Orochimaru has been detected in the village, possibly planning an attack of his own."

Itachi showed no outward emotion, but his thoughts were racing.

Orochimaru had an interest in the Uchiha clan's dojutsu, and only one Uchiha was in Konoha.

"Too many variables to account for," Sasori said in a gravelly voice, "The slippery bastard would be difficult enough to counter when he doesn't want to be cornered, and that doesn't even include the security around the village in preparation for the exams."

"Indeed," Pein intoned, keeping his gaze on Itachi, "With the likelihood of Orochimaru planning an attack, a possible window to capture a Jinchuriki is open to us. The disappearance of one can be explained by a catastrophic surprise attack by an S-rank nin that wished to harm Konoha's reputation."

The Akatsuki was still laying low for now, not targeting the Bijuu actively, but an opening such as this will never happen again. Orochimaru may have unintentionally given the organization he betrayed an opportunity to get a Bijuu.

"Out of all of you present, only one has experience in infiltrating a village with the Hyuga clan acting as security."

All eyes turned to Itachi.

Itachi dreaded what was about to be said, but he kept an impassive expression.

Of course the belief that he killed his clan singlehandedly at 13 would cause even more problems than he could think of on a bad day.

"Itachi," Pein addressed him, "You will scout the village with Kisame, and if an opportunity arises where you can capture one of the Jinchuriki and escape without it being known, you shall do so."

Itachi nodded his understanding, blinking slowly.

"I shall do as I am commanded." He replied, turning to his partner, Kisame.

"If Orochimaru is in a position of weakness," Pain continued, "kill him. He is a potential impediment to our goals." Pein then turned to look at Kisame, "Itachi will have overall command for this operation. You will follow everything he says. You are to make your way there today."

Pein added one more thing.

"Being covert is of paramount importance. Do not attempt to take one if you cannot avoid being identified. Preferably, have it appear that Konoha was responsible."

Kisame shrugged his shoulders. "I'm not complaining. I've always wanted to see Konoha up close."

Pein glanced towards the other members.

"A meeting will occur at the conclusion of the exams to see if Itachi and Kisame are successful with their mission. This meeting is now over." The connection then ended, the world reverting back to its normal state.

Itachi turned to Kisame, the taller man displaying a wide grin that would frighten some people.

"So," Kisame said, looking rather upbeat, "Looking forward to seeing Konoha again?"

Itachi didn't make any physical expressions, only flicking his eyes towards Kisame's.

"It is simply another mission, nothing more."

Kisame huffed and shifted Samehada around, smiling softly as his hand caressed the handle of his sword.

"I really hope I get to see what truly made you into such a dangerous Shinobi. Your former village always has made some of the strongest Shinobi while being so much softer than the rest."

Itachi didn't reply to him and simply turned towards the south, an excellent path for them to take for a quick journey to Konoha on foot.

"Come," Itachi said, pushing chakra into his legs, "We mustn't delay."

Kisame saw he wasn't feeling talkative, even less than he usually was, and prepared to match his pace.

The two disappeared in a blur of red and black, making haste towards Konohagakure.

//////////////////

End Chapter:

Bow before me, mortals! Gaze upon the Majesty of a Shatterpoint caused by LARPing. This is a lesson to all you nerds (Ignore my hypocrisy, thank you very much) playing dress up: You will be hunted by S-rank terrorists as a punishment if you do it.

I'm just dicking around. This chapter was fun to write, even with the emotional rollercoaster that was involved with writing Rin's perspective about learning about Minato being her dad.

But the finals will be longer, and almost all the fights are different. Naruto gets to taste the delicious elixir known as Youth!

As an added bonus, I'll let you in on a secret: The servant of the Secret Fire, wielder of the Flame of Lechers, the Gallant Jiraiya the White shall make his grand and beautiful appearance next chapter. And by God, I'm going to have a fucking blast writing him and Naruto interact, they'll be like gasoline and fire.

Anyway, here's your chapter, you mangy sea rats. Have a fantastic day!

Raging.