namikaze girl ! k. hatake

six.

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.