Title: Fragile Illusions

Rating: PG-13

Warnings: Character Death, Supernatural Elements, General Angst, Headcanon

Pairings: N/A

Disclaimer: Yeah, I don't own anything except for the plot really, and those character's that I've made to fill in the blanks.

Notes: I took my sweet time really. I really have no excuses for why this took so long, I really don't. It's just not something that I'm going to be able to justify at all. I mean I had the inspiration and the ideas, it's just, I couldn't really get it down. Although these early chapters are more or less just filler, with baby fluffiness they are kind of important, to the point of setting up possible futures and everything. Not that there's much substance to them or anything. Also again I am really sorry and I have no excuses for how long this took.

Also as a side note, I find myself doing more on simple headcanon compared to actually writing. So there's that, and another thing. This world/timeline was AU before Tomoko was even born, and some of those things will be appearing in this chapter albeit subtly.

Quick Key:

"Talking English"[Reversed in Dreams]

'Thoughts Twin Link'


It's the set up for an interesting life, that's for certain. But it's not the set up for a life that Tomoko would enjoy and the understanding that she's in a fictional reality, one that her younger siblings always gushed over and adored is more than enough to send her reeling. To cause her to retreat into her own mind and more or less block out most of reality. I reject your reality, in full effect as she pretends.

She blocks out any and all thought of mythical ninja and the little that she knows of the Naruto franchise and then proceeds to plaster a gummy grin to her face. Any whispers of war, any whispers of it being the second and just now nearing it's conclusion. She ignores them, or otherwise pretends that it's against something familiar. After all it could just be a civil war right? Right?

Hints of the truth keep showing up, but she rejects them off hand. A rubber kunai, it may be her favourite teething object but it's nothing more than a rubber item in her mind. People leaping from rooftop to rooftop, they're stuntmen, and stuntwomen, not ninja. Everyone around her is a cosplayer. Of course her denials become even more outrageous and far fetching the longer she tries to insist to herself that it's all just normal and that it's not the Naruto world that she's now in. Contact lenses, the heat, seeing things, just a coincidence that she has so many relatives that it's near impossible to clearly remember each and every single one of them.

Obito whines and pokes and prods her trying to get her to interact with him once more but she simply stares blankly. Their connection is still there and she doesn't mess with it. It's the only thing that she thinks might be normal here, that she allows herself to keep. After all twins are always connected right? Right?

There's a twist in her gut and she is well aware that something wrong is coming. She just isn't quite ready to drop her denial, to allow herself to admit that this is reality now. She's not ready to live as an Uchiha. She's not yet ready to live this life, unfortunately there's a part of her that's fully aware, that she has to get ready, and soon.

There's something coming, it's a feeling in the air. A feeling that she has even when laying in bed and resting by her twin. A feeling that's always there and it makes her worry.


The day dawns bright, and just a touch cold. Their birthday falls near the end of winter after all and she squirms a bit beneath her blankets before opening her eyes wide. Yawning she smiles and squirms managing to kick away the blankets. Her hands stretch up and she rolls over before pushing herself up and sitting up in her wooden prison of a crib. The air is still just a bit musty and contained, dust glittering in the early morning's light.

She's easily able to push those things away though and instead focuses on slipping into something of a mediative trance to sort her thoughts out. She files away her dreams from the night before, goes over a few pieces of information from her last life that just feel important and then once she's sure that all that's finished, she sends a mental poke in her brother's direction. It's small, it's subtle, but it works and he squirms from his spot in the crib opposite her before opening his dark eyes and fixing them on her.

She grins at him before shifting a bit and moving her hands to the bars of the crib. She opens her mouth and is about to commence plan wail when there's a chill. Everything freezes in place, even seemingly the dust in the air. Obito whimpers a bit and he shifts eyes darting around the room and seeking something. All she can feel though is the chill, and something is wrong. Beyond the cold in the room when the window is definitely shut, beyond that little chill there is something else that's screaming at her senses.

Stretching them out she knows that their parents are still in the house. She can easily find and feel them. Both their mother and their father, sleeping peacefully in their room down the hall. And Obito's right across from her and aware that something is wrong as well. But there's still something that's just not right, it's in or around the house and it's not right, she can't pin-point it but she knows it's there. Obito whimpers again and he's looking at the window. Her eyes slowly follow his to the window and she stares out.

There's nothing there. But, but there is and her eyes narrow and focus. A slight twitch in the breeze, a glimpse of something, or someone. But it's gone before she can actually determine or figure out what it is. It's chilling really and she shivers, curling in a bit and hugging her arms to her body. The sky seems to darken, clouds drifting over the sun and lengthening the shadows of the room. It's cold, and she whimpers a bit alongside Obito. Her eyes slide shut and she tries to block out the feeling of wrong, she tries to ignore it but it just seems to strengthen. To rise up all the more and make her feel a bit queasy in the stomach.

They're being watched, something is watching them, she can feel the prickle at the back of her neck. Feel her hair standing on end, and feel Obito's own mounting confusion and fear. Her eyes snap open once more and are instantly drawn to the window and there's a shadow against the pane. A trail of water over the glass, small, barely there but something that her eyes pick out in an instant. And, her head turns to face the sliding paper door. She can hear footsteps, even as she knows that their parents are still fast asleep in the room down the hall.

Obito's watching her, eyes wide and confused and she is aware of that. She's aware of her brother's confusion, his need to understand what's going on, his want to understand. But this no longer feels wrong, it no longer feels bad, it simply feels strange, different and important. Her head tilts and she watches as the door slides open catching Obito's attention and he faces it along with her. It's only a shadow in the doorway, but it's achingly familiar in a way and she feels her breath catch in her throat and her heart beat echoes in her ears.

It's her father in the door. Her old father, messy blond hair, dark grey eyes that glint silver as the dust and light of the morning catches in them. It feels right, but it's wrong and she simply stares, even as she wants to reach for them, reach out to her previous lifetime's father. But, but Obito's still right there and her awareness of him keeps her grounded, keeps her simply watching as the man in the door scans the room before his eyes settle on them. The man frowns, mouth a thin line and eyes narrowing before they open their mouth.

"Heather?" hearing her old name is almost a shock and Obito makes a strange sound before babbling a bit in what she mentally calls toddler. "Heather, be careful. Dreams are fine while you're sleeping, but you need to remember to wake up!" and with that eerily cryptic statement done the figure steps back out of the room and slides the door shut once more. She blinks and Obito looks over to her. The chill in the air is mostly gone, but she can still feel something that's there. That's fringing on the edge of her senses.

"W'at dat?" hearing her brother speak, and in almost English her head snaps around to stare at him. They're only just barely one after all. The fact that he spoke, and in the moments just after their strange visitor make her gut twist just slightly. Something is brewing and she's not sure whether she's going to be prepared to face it.


The rest of the day passes without any incidents though and the feeling slowly goes away. Simply enjoying the wind-down of the evening she rests happily on their mother's lap. The scent of lilies, and a spring breeze around her, comforting her and making her feel at home. It's nice really and she simply sits there and breaths it in basking in the presence of her family. Across the room her father is holding a sleeping Obito and it's peaceful. After the chaos of the afternoon, after meeting some of the other members of their family, simply being just here, just in the presence of their immediate family is fantastic.

It's calm, and even though the evening is cool, she feels comfortable. Her mother, Kyoko is humming a light and warm tune as she gently rocks her. It's calming, and her eyes droop closer to closed with her head resting on Kyoko's chest. The steady thump-thump beat also works to help calm her, to make her mind drift. To make her sleepy, to make her feel ready to simply drift back into the grip of unconsciousness. Yet she can't quite drift off fully, because every time she does, the words from earlier ring out in her head.

You need to remember to wake up. And her eyes fly back open as she squirms a bit before relaxing once more. Except that it's not really relaxing as much as it is trying to ignore the voice whispering in her head. She doesn't like thinking about waking up, or thinking about dreams. There's just something sinister about both things. So she squirms just that little bit more in her mother's arms before relaxing once more. It's comfortable, even with the niggling sensation of something just being slightly off.

Even here wrapped in her mother's arms and listening to the steady beat can't completely erase the feeling. Can't prevent the warning and words from earlier ringing out in her head. Therefore she simply rests in Kyoko's arms, breathing in the familiar scent and committing it to memory. It's a comforting memory really, and she squirms a bit more before finally finding a position to settle in. A familiar memory that brings to mind faded fields of flowers and a blurred smiling face.

She blinks and the moment is over, the flowers fading away and the face forgotten. Except that it feels important, the memory feels important. Even as it evaporates into smoke and slips from her grasping fingers. And when did she reach out to try and grab it? Her head is spinning and she whimpers, tears welling up at the edges of her eyes before Kyoko lifts her up and draws her into a hug. She closes her eyes and allows the tears to fall as she buries her face in her new mother's chest.

At that exact moment though there's a stutter, the beat falters for a single moment before continuing steadily. It's more than enough though and Tomoko feels the seeping cold in her body. She feels the fear, and the pain, the weight of just knowing that the stutter meant the beginning of the end of their peaceful family life. She just knows it, instinctively she knows that the stutter is a bad thing. It reminds her painfully of her younger sibling in her last life, of their asthma.

Of breathing problems, of choking. Her hands fist bunching up the material of her mother's shirt beneath them. She's choking again, the food caught in her throat, vision darkening at the edges and a slight fog of white leaking in. And then, it's over and she's back to normal. Blinking and fisting her mother's shirt, but normal. A hand is rubbing soothing circles on her back and she slowly tilts her head back to look up into her mother's face.

Wisps of soft brown hair that frame a delicately rounded face. Brown eyes that meet her black ones, tinted with worry that makes her own stomach curl. It hurts to know that she's worried her newest parents, it hurts even though she really couldn't help it. She doesn't want to hurt her new family, ever. But, that stutter worries her, the faltering of a heartbeat. It's never a good sign, no matter how healthy a person may seem to be on the outside. It worries her, especially as something whispers in her mind orphan.

It fades though, she pushes it away and slowly relaxes, resting her head back against her mother's chest. The beat remains steady and lulls her back into a state of mostly relaxation. Before there's a faint poke in her mind. Her eyes snap back open and they slide over to her brother who's giving her a look of confusion, questioning. She doesn't respond with anything other than a faint echo of comfort, of calm, of safety. It's enough and he resettles into their fathers arms eyes closing once more.

It's peaceful, calm and she yawns a bit fisting the cotton in her hands. It's soft and comforting, the feeling of love of acceptance of home. That's when something else brushes up against her senses, and she slowly raises her head.

"That would have to be Toriko!" Netsu grins as he shifts Obito who screws up their face before peering up at him. Tomoko's head tilts before she faces vaguely in the direction of the front of the house. And here she'd thought that they had already met everyone of importance, or at least those who actually cared to meet them. So lifting her head she watches as the doors opened and a lady who looks incredibly like Kyoko steps in.

She assumes that this would be Toriko, trailing after the familiar stranger are several other strangers. One with silver hair sticking up in a fashion that reminds her vaguely of the thorny weeds she sometimes used to pull from the garden, one with blue(BLUE!) hair and two little brats with red hair. They're only a bit older than her and Obito really, but still brats. She watches, her eyes narrowing slightly as they crowd in.

"Eri is busy with her own new family" it's an apology along with the rest of the statement "Nawaki had a mission." definitely an apology.

"So that's why Masayoshi wasn't here earlier. I had wondered..." she ends up tuning them out instead focusing on the brats. Both are around four years old, really only a bit older in comparison to her and her brother. Both of them have bright, bright red hair, like flames really. She kind of wants to reach out and grip it, see if it's as warm as it looks. See if it will burn her hands. The one on the right though has dark brown eyes compared to the left one's blue eyes. It's an almost eerie difference between the two of them, because otherwise they're identical.

She shivers slightly as those eyes focus on her in return. Observing her in the same way that she's observing them. She sinks down into Kyoko's arms a little bit, trying to avoid the duel gazes on her. It doesn't really work much but it does make her feel a little bit better. It's only a little bit better but its enough and she settles in her place listening idly to the chatter that's going on over her head. It's easy enough for her to slip back into the role of cute and somewhat oblivious normal toddler really and she rests in her mother's arms relaxing.

Until the beat falters again, and Kyoko's cut off in the middle of a sentence. It's only for a moment, but it's enough to capture the attention of all the adults. It's also enough to completely freak Tomoko out, because it's too familiar. Tears burn at the edges of her eyes before rolling down her cheeks and she clings. Too familiar in the context of asthma and breathing problems and choking. She refuses to let go of her mother's shirt, even as Toriko gently pries her fingers apart before removing her from the room along with Obito.

And the eerie twins, the blue haired man remains with them. He tries to keep them calm, to offer comfort or at least attempting to. It's not working very well, especially because Tomoko knows, she knows death and she knows that falter. She knows exactly how terrifying it can be to see someone else suffer with trouble breathing. She knows how it feels to be unable to breath as well, remembers choking and wanting desperately for air.

The burning aching feeling, a hollowness and desperation to just breath. Something sharp maybe, with a faint buzz in the head and darkness edging in. And then the way that it felt almost relaxing to stop trying. Her hands are shaking, her whole body is shaking, and tears are trailing silently down her cheeks before dripping down onto the mats beneath them. Obito's not really that much better, he can tell that something's wrong simply from her own reaction. Which has led to him more or less screaming and generally being difficult to settle down.

She wonders distantly if she should feel sorry for her mother's cousin but dismisses the thought off hand. She doesn't want to feel sorry for him, she doesn't want to. What she wants is for her mother to be fine. For Kyoko to be fine, because they're a normal family! A normal family, except the edges of that picture are cracking. They have been cracking the whole time, and seeing how quickly everyone's reacting to this. Feeling the energy in the air swirl and spike, understanding exactly how everyone is moving so fast.

It's almost too much. But in the end when Kyoko can't be saved it's still perfectly normal. People die of heart failure all the time after all.


"Wake up! Damn it, you need to wake up!"

"I don't want to..."

"Please, please wake up! You can't spend your whole life in a dream!"

"But it hurts less... I don't... I can't!"

"Please! Please stop hurting us! Please wake up! Please... Don't ignore the warning..."

"Warning?"


The months pass in a state of mourning that just doesn't seem to end. The house is strangely silent, and everything kind of aches without her mother there to brighten up the mornings with a smile. Their father is rather subdued, where before he was all energy and love of life, different from the rest of the family he's now incredibly serious. Sombre really, yet whenever they're alone with him he's still the same.

With them he's still the same and that relives her. It's a small comfort, but it's a comfort nonetheless. Because as long as he's able to interact with them in an almost normal way then it's okay, it's nice and it's safe. Except that beyond his smiles Tomoko can see something dark, something that's just wrong. It scares her, but she plasters on her now toothy smiles and simply pretends that everything's going to be okay in the future.

Even as they're both left more and more often with one of their very, very distant relatives. It's worrying, but she pushes it away. Ignores it hoping desperately that things will eventually straighten out and return to some semblance of normalcy. Until he doesn't come back.

It's a hot day, with the sun shining brightly overhead and generally making Tomoko wish that they had an air conditioner that she could simply sit down in front of. Netsu's been gone for a few days, sent away by their relative to see one of his friends and hopefully stop moping. Apparently though said relative found that it would be too dangerous for either her or Obito to join him on his trip. Honestly Tomoko finds that she could really care less about that, as long as their father comes home anyway.

She does wonder what kind of things he'll bring back with him though. Considering even now, while he's moping around he always brings back little trinkets and other things from his trips outside of the village. Since from what she's heard he's going to a rather colorful seaside village she's hoping that he'll bring back some decorative wind chimes or charms to hang at the door. There is a rather large part of her though that's simply annoyed with the whole situation. She wonders why it was supposedly too dangerous for her and Obito to join him on his trip.

If Netsu was just visiting friends then why couldn't they go and meet them as well? She snorts and rolls over a bit facing up at the roof and stubbornly ignoring their relatives. She's also stubbornly ignoring Obito, because she has the feeling that if she looks over to him right at this moment it will probably lead to maniacally laughing. Again, because she's currently being ridiculous like that. Ignoring that she reaches out with her arms and begins to pull some silly faces up at the roof. It's something to occupy herself with, that won't make her overheat.

It's also a way to prolong learning to crawl everywhere. Since she's lazy, except that she's already talking. Babbling away in a mixture of English and Japanese, or whatever the language of the Elemental Nations is. It seems like Japanese, but what does she even know. A smile comes to her face when she remembers saying her first word, not the usual Yes, No, Mum or Dad but rather her brother's name.

"'bito!" well, almost her brother's name. For some reason she can't quite begin it correctly. She likes to say it though, and then begins to laugh. Her next few words were of course more normal with no quickly becoming a favourite word to use. She rolls again before pushing herself up into a sitting position, bored of making faces. It's more entertaining when there is someone to watch react to them anyway. "'bito?" she calls warily unable to spot him in the immediate vicinity. Which is worrying. For a one and six months old toddler he is more than apt at getting into trouble.

Chaos, disaster, hilarity. Even though she's lazy, even though she's not inclined to crawl at all. She at least knows how to roll and navigate herself around. But she doesn't want to move that much, it's summer. Nearing the end of summer, but still summer and the day's hot. She's a winter child, so's Obito, but he seems to thrive no matter what. She prefers the cool though, and this place is not cold. There's a crash and she's brought back to focusing on reality. Especially when the sound of cursing fills the air. Probably Masayoshi, by the variety of it.

She's really not sure what to think of that particular relative. Masayoshi is kind of a nut, but it's a familiar type of nuttiness. Usually Nawaki is also there, to stop the seventeen year old from doing anything too ridiculous and stupid... Well apart from the cursing. No one can stop the effeminate Masayoshi from cursing. And seriously when she describes him as effeminate she means it. The first time that they had met him, she mistook him for a girl. Especially with his long hair held up in a ponytail, and the clothing that he was wearing at the time.

She has the feeling that he's swearing is going to be catchy though. She perks up and peers over towards the open sliding door watching as Masayoshi comes back into the room. Held out in front of him and laughing is Obito. She blinks and peers at them, there's something red splattered on the front of Masayoshi's grey shirt. She vaguely hopes that it's simply jam, or tomato paste, before simply decides that it is such consumables.

"'bito? 'sa'oshi?" she stumbles a bit over Masayoshi's name but it's still enough to capture his attention. The seventeen year old's onyx eyes meet hers and she offers an innocent smile. It probably looks devious, or otherwise mischievous because all Masayoshi does is narrow his eyes at her and hum. Even just the small single word statements are usually enough to attract attention around here. But then again growth in this place is weird, she's seen a couple of two year olds already learning stretches, and three year olds doing similar.

She wonders vaguely if they're all training for gymnastics or something similar, before shaking her head. It's not all that important, not at this moment and she refocuses on Masayoshi who's scowling at Obito. Which actually isn't all that different from the way that the elder boy treats them normally. She still offers a smile though, mainly because that seems to make the older boy scowl even more. It's a lot of fun really, the only thing annoying about it is the reliance on those around her.

"'Sa'oshi?" she prompts again causing him to spin around and face her, eyes narrowing into a glare. Before he can open his mouth to actually say anything though the front door opens. "'ou'aiko!" she shouts spinning around to face the other, slipping down onto all fours as if she were going to crawl. "Chichi 'ome?" she asks a hopeful look on her face. He's due to be back any day now, that's a certainty. But, the face that their current watcher is wearing. The smile and hope filled look slides away to be replaced with confusion. There's a twist in her stomach, a niggling feeling of wrongness that's somehow also right. "'ou'aiko, Chichi come, 'ome?"

The lady pauses before kneeling down and looking at her. There are shining stains on both cheeks. Tomoko raises a hand automatically to touch the stains, wet. That's bad, but she continues to hope, to pray. It can't be true, it can't, they can't be... It's only when she finds herself snuggling into Shouraiko's arms that she realizes that there are wet trails being left on her own cheeks. The she notices Obito staring in confusion, and maybe a little bit of fear. Everything's cold.

It's cold and all she wants is to see Netsu come in through that door. She wants to see her father, Obito's father. Their father. "Chichi come 'ome? Where Chichi?" her lips trembling as she talks in broken sentences. Before it slips straight into a mixture. English and Elemental "Chichi! Father! Father! Where's Father? Where's Daddy? Is Chichi 'ome?" things just spill out as she begins to break down, as every wall begins to collapse. Half-remembered and half-forgotten information on a manga series, of a world long passed. Of this world and time that she's being born into.

She's in the Naruto series... Her father's dead. They're orphans. She'll forget him, and Uzushio has being destroyed.


Notes: Oh God damn it. I had so much trouble with the last little bit of the fic. I knew exactly what I wanted to happen, how it was supposed to happen, but it was so freaking hard. I've had the first half of this chapter, up to around Toriko's introduction written for the better part of the last month and a bit. It was just writing the latter parts that were so hard...

I'm not entirely happy with this... But well, it's done and I'm done with it. At least it makes sense, and she's finally going to stop denying things... Mostly.