"People die, but real love is forever."

"P-Please. . ."

"Please, wait. . ."

"You're running too fast!"

Coming to a sudden halt, Itachi looked back at Rin, whose hand he held. She released his grip and stepped back from him. She had unlimited stamina like him, so she wasn't panting, but she looked squarely at him with concern and demanded, "Where are you taking me?"

"If we don't keep moving, Kabuto will find us," replied Itachi, avoiding the subject, "Do you really want to go back to him?"

Her head shot up faster than he'd expected and her eyes begged him not to let him take her back. Itachi had found her after tracking down Kabuto's hideout. Due to the grey coloring of her sclera that matched his, he knew he'd reincarnated her using that technique. He also knew that Obito had to be in the dark about it, for he would've killed Kabuto for reanimating her into another vessel lacking free-will.

Since Itachi had already broken Kabuto's control over him using Kotoamatsukami, the only thing he saw when he saw Rin's reincarnated form was a chance to blackmail Obito for the sake of the Allied Shinobi Forces. For Sasuke and his friend's sake, to get Obito to turn against Madara by forfeiting his master plan in exchange for the woman he had started this all for.

He'd seized the opportunity and, after locking Kabuto in tsukuyomi, ran with her. She'd come willingly and Itachi hadn't bothered at the time to ask 'why'. He hadn't even spoken to her once since they had started fleeing, and couldn't blame her for her confusion.

"Please, I don't want to go back to that man," Rin begged him, grabbing onto his arm in a desperate, but unnecessary, plea, "I just want to know where we are going!"

Considering it, he decided it was better to tell her. He'd even flourish it a little to get her cooperation. "To where the Allied Shinobi Forces are; to where Kakashi and Minato are."

When he received only a look of confusion, Itachi was taken-aback. He was truly blown away when she asked: "Who?"

He knew that Rin had been a member of Minato's team, alongside Kakashi and Obito when they were kids. He knew that she had been in love with Kakashi, and Obito with her. She'd even asked Kakashi to kill her to stop Kirigakure's plan to release Isobu upon Konoha after making her the jinchuriki. That's why he was completely perplexed when she acted like she had no idea what he was talking about.

"Rin. . . How can you not remember Kakashi, and your team lead?"

"Rin. . .," she muttered, releasing his arm and looking up at him, "He called me that, too. Is that really my name?"

Suddenly it hit Itachi like a landslide. For some reason, Rin had either been reincarnated without her memories or Kabuto had removed them. To not even know her name, this was bad. He felt even worse for her to be in such a situation when she was so vulnerable and helpless.

But that couldn't be helped. It didn't matter how she had lost them, but she had, and Itachi had no idea how to help her. He also couldn't discard using her simply because she was clueless: Obito had to be stopped, and she was the key. Furthermore, there wasn't time to sit down and tell her everything from the beginning to end and also have her accept the truth.

"Indeed, that's your name," he told her, "Rin Nohara. Kakashi Hatake was one of your team members, and Minato Namikaze was your team leader. You were in love with Kakashi at one point."

"I. . . I was?" Rin questioned, turning red in the face with embarrassment, "Oh- if that's true, how come I don't remember him? How come I don't remember anything?"

Tilting his head to the side, Itachi sighed and replied, "I really don't know. It might be that that guy back there, Kabuto, took them away from you."

"He did?!" cried Rin, scowling and clenching her fists, "But he was angry at me for not remembering!"

"Then maybe it is something else," Itachi offered, but it didn't seem to comfort her.

"I just want to remember," she lamented, placing her hands over her face as her voice choked and sounded fatigued, "If I remembered, maybe I would understand. . . I would understand these things I keep seeing in my mind."

Hesitating, Itachi leaned closer and asked, "What kind of things?"

"I don't know! I see people and places that I don't know. Sometimes it is like I'm looking through the eyes of someone else; all sorts of different people, and sometimes the things I see are frightening! And worst of all, I don't sleep! I haven't slept for days, and I'm not tired. So I'm seeing these things like dreams even when I'm awake-"

She removed her hands and looked up to meet his gaze, studying his sharingan for the first time. Lifting her hand, she pointed to his eyes and absently mumbled, "I've seen people with these, too. What are those?"

"It's called a 'sharingan'. It's the eye technique for my clan, the Uchiha Clan."

"I see. . .," replied Rin in a mutter, though he could tell she hardly understood. Could it be she was completely useless as a shinobi now?

When the silence prevailed, Itachi turned and took her hand again, ready to leave, but she yanked back, crying, "Wait!"

"What now?" Itachi questioned, not raising his voice but irritation bordering his tone.

". . . You haven't told me who you are," she whispered.

Looking back at her, Itachi studied her briefly before replying, "Itachi. Itachi Uchiha."

After he'd introduced himself, she'd followed along quietly. She was able to keep up with him now, and Itachi ran tirelessly back to where the Alliance was stationed. He didn't stop once because it wasn't necessary, and Rin never needlessly asked him to, either.

It was a relief that she was so complacent. Itachi understood that the reason she trusted him and followed him even when she did not understand the world anymore was because she had nowhere else to go. Kabuto had been the first to have contact with her and Itachi assumed he hadn't been the best to her. Itachi was the first to outstretch his hand that hadn't intended to harm her.

Or did he?

He had an agenda. He'd do whatever necessary to assure Obito complied, even if it meant he had to threaten her life. Itachi glanced over his shoulder. He didn't understand what about the seemingly plain girl had won over both Kakashi and Obito unconditionally. Her shadow haunted them, and had unintentionally given birth to a monster. For Itachi, Rin was just another woman. Just as he was thinking that, Rin caught him staring and Itachi quickly looked forward.

He hoped she wouldn't talk to him now, but his wishes weren't granted. "Itachi. . . What is the Allied Shinobi Forces, and why are we going to where they are?" she inquired.

Continuing to look straight ahead, Itachi shouted over his shoulder, "It's a military coalition comprised of the hidden villages from five great shinobi nations, along with the Land of Iron."

"Military? If there's a military, then is there a war going on?"

"Yes. It is the Fourth Shinobi World War. Since you're going to ask: the alliance is fighting against a man that calls himself Tobi, who wishes to rob humanity of its free will."

"Is that so? So this Tobi. . . How come he wants to do such a thing?"

At this, Itachi wavered. He couldn't tell her the truth. Just the thought of letting her know she was the cause of all this death and suffering made him flinch, and so he replied simply, "Some men are just evil."

She accepted this excuse, and once more was silent.