I stared at the teen in front of me, and I was sure that there was a deep look of incredulity present on my face.

This teen- his name was Rei, right? - had just spoken English.

Clear and fluent English.

Not Japanese.

English.

What the fuck?

Because, as far as I knew, the only language that existed in this world was Japanese, so how the hell had this "Rei" guy learned English?

I was the only one who knew English in this world, and I hadn't thought much upon it after learning Japanese- this world's official language.

So, that poses the question: how exactly does this guy know English?

Just who was this guy?

And I voiced my question out loud, and I knew I was still in a delirium from having had my first kill, "Who are you?" I cried again.

His lips thinned, and he seemed to be displeased, "I already told you," he murmured, and he inclined his head ever so slightly as he voiced out, "This is getting nowhere. Maybe I should just kill you and be done with it."

I masked my shock- because, really, why should I be shocked? The guy from earlier had said something about this guy killing me, and ohmygod, I had killed someone.

I think I threw up again, but I couldn't really tell with the blood on my face and the lingering bile coated on my lips.

"How pathetic," Rei remarked, and I raised half-lidded eyes to him, "I thought that you would have at least been a challenge after you killed that man. It seems as if I'm wrong."

"You're right," I mumbled, dragging my arm up to wipe the last traces of vomit from my mouth, "I am weak. And," here, I shuddered, my eyes filling with tears, "I killed someone."

"He was weak enough to have been taken down by a little girl," the teen responded, "And I have no use for subordinates who go and get themselves killed for little to no reason. But, I suppose I should have been suspicious of the fact that they went after a little group like yours."

"You… you lead these guys?" I asked, voice filled with the same incredulity from before.

Rei didn't even react, merely piercing me with those eerie looking eyes of his.

I gulped, wondering where I had seen that stare before.

It was really familiar.

"What do you think?" Rei said, voice sharp with sarcasm, and he loomed over me, and that was how young I realised he really was.

He couldn't have been more than fourteen or fifteen years old, and here he was, leading a band of rogues- I mean, they had to be rogues.

I stared up at his face, his pale, sharply defined face. A long fringe of hair cascaded down the left side of his face like a veil, just allowing me to see his creepy, eerie blue-green eyes.

He kind of reminded me of a snake, though not the bad kind like Orochimaru.

Almost like Rin, Hiroshi's father.

And Rei looked to be very thin, his shoulders like sharp points under his shirt, and his cheekbones jutting out sharply.

He wasn't what I would all handsome, either.

But who was I to go saying things like that when I was only seven years old?

I wanted to call him Hebi-san.

It was better than Hebi-teme, at the very least.

I looked at my surroundings, finally realising that I wasn't where I should be.

I was in a misty sort of plain instead of back in the dark, gloomy forest in River Country.

Just where was I?

And I voiced this out loud, too: "Just where the hell am I? Where did you take me?" I demanded, even though my conscience was screaming that I should already know the answer.

"Where do you think?" Rei responded, and there was the slightest amount of smugness in his eyes, though I couldn't really tell due to how narrowed they were.

Rei didn't seem to be the type to get amused often.

I looked around, and when I saw the grass on the ground flicker, my suspicions were confirmed, because grass does not flicker. It may move from the wind, but it does not flicker.

"I'm in a Genjutsu," I answered bluntly.

And with no way out, it seemed.

Genjutsu was my ultimate weakness, along with my arrogance.

I was arrogant enough to assume that the whole world was sunshine and daisies prior to being reborn, and that belief had continued, although waning in the first few years of my life.

That belief shattered when I killed someone.

I now knew that this world could be a dark, cruel place, and nothing anyone or I could do would change that.

There would always be war, and there would always be pain, and suffering, and death.

I was lucky in the aspect that I had been born into a loving family, despite how dysfunctional it could be, and the only person I'd lost in this world had been my father.

I was so lucky.

Others, however, weren't.

For all I knew, I could have been an orphan, or into a loveless family, or even into a situation like Naruto's.

I was so incredibly lucky, and I hadn't seen that.

"How incredibly astute of you," Rei murmured, and his voice was somewhat unfeeling.

Uncaring.

He didn't care if he had to kill a seven year old girl.

He didn't even care if I was a girl.

I was simply another person to him, and whether or not he'd kill me, I would still die anyway. Whether due to sickness or war, I didn't know.

All I knew was that Rei simply didn't care.

I think he would even kill a baby if he had to.

And there was still the question of how he could speak English.

"You're going to kill me, aren't you?" I mumbled, and when his eyes flashed, I met his gaze boldly, even though fear was currently freezing my body from the inside out.

I watched as he pulled a kunai from the depths of his shirt, and he twirled it casually on his finger.

His gaze met mine, his eyes dark with some sort of intent that I had no knowledge of, "What did that man say?" he inquired softly, though there was nothing soft about his voice, "What you say now will determine your fate."

I swallowed, fear swamping down on me like a wave, "He… he said that you'll make me pay," I raised my chin, "That you'll kill me."

"So he did," Rei remarked, and then he smirked, and I stared at the unsettling sight.

It made his pale, angular face look even more like a snake.

"Tell me, girl," he murmured, inclining his neck, his longish hair falling down his face, "How did a child like you kill a fully grown man?"

I stared at him, at his creepy, eerie eyes that seemed to tug on something.

I didn't know what was happening.

My mouth blurted out something before I could control it: "He was already injured, and he was really slow," I babbled on helplessly, "I had a kunai out before he could even react, and I hit his foot with it. He fell on top of me after that, and I stabbed him in the neck."

Rei seemed to be irritated, and I wondered why he hadn't killed me yet.

His smirk faded, and instead, a razor-thin smile curled at his lips, "He was weak if he couldn't dodge something as amateurish as that. He didn't deserve his power if he was killed that easily."

If I could feel shocked in the dazed state that I was in, then I'm sure I would have felt the emotion. Because this guy was professing the notion that he didn't even care if his own men died or not.

Ruthless much.

"Just- just who are you?" I fired, and I heard a hint of craziness mixed in with my voice.

"I thought I told you," Rei responded, voice as soft as ever, "That my name is Rei."

His eyes were cold, I noticed, not an inkling of warmth in them whatsoever.

But they weren't emotionless, either.

That was a far stretch of thought.

No one was truly emotionless, it just wasn't possible. Or at least I didn't think it was.

There was a deep resentment in his eyes, and they were currently fixed on me, though somehow, I knew I wasn't the cause for such anger, such hatred.

He glowered down at me, his form being more than two heads taller than me, though he appeared to be rather short for his age.

"Then- then how do you know this?" And I was aware that we had been conversing in English the entire time.

How had I not realised that?

"I should just kill you," Rei hissed out, his tone cold, his uncaring nature shrouding over him like a cloud, and he raised the kunai in his hand in a threatening manner.

"Then why don't you?" I forced out, "You seem to be very capable of it. And I don't think you'd care enough to take care of my corpse afterwards."

Rei stared at me.

He lowered the kunai.

His arms were shaking, and they looked like thin sticks under the sleeves of his shirt.

Why was he so thin?

I looked down at my own arms.

They were thin like his, though not stick-thin.

I was a child, and I had used the growing excuse. But shouldn't my arms be… I don't, more fuller or something like that?

Something suddenly struck my stomach, and I gasped, kneeling over and clutching my stomach.

I looked up through a fringe of crimson, and uncaring green-blue eyes pierced mine.

And then, just as I was beginning to recover, Rei moved again, striking me in the exact same spot as before.

Saliva was forced from my throat, and I felt it land on my chin, then I made a grave mistake.

I took a breath.

The air immediately got caught in my throat, and I choked on it.

Fucking hell, why does this always happen to me?

I began to cough, and just as I thought I was going to throw up from the force of Rei's punch, I felt something warm expel from my mouth and dribble through my parted lips.

I winced when I felt two fingers grab my chin, forcefully raising my head.

Rei's face was curiously blank, save for the down-turning of his lips in distaste as he beheld the blood on my face.

"You just don't know when to stop, do you?" he murmured, his voice soft, though his fingers were firm in their hold.

I immediately began to struggle, "Fuck you!" I spat, and I discreetly eyed the kunai in my hand, and I knew what I had to die.

I pulled it back, then thrust it forward with all the strength I could muster.

I didn't get very far.

His free hand caught my wrist when he quickly realised my intentions, effectively stopping me.

I flailed uselessly in his grasp, hissing and spitting like an aggravated cat, "Let me go, bastard!" I shouted.

"Pity this is only a Genjutsu," Rei suddenly said, his hand moving from my chin to my throat, "I could do so much more if this were real."

His hand squeezed in warning, and the only thing that seemed to anchor me to reality was the kunai in my hand- the hand that Rei was currently restraining.

The cold metal bit into my palm, and I realised that it could pull me away from whatever hell I was in.

This kunai, which had killed someone, could save me.

I wasn't ready to die.

I raised my only free hand and struck him across the face as hard as I could, and when his hold loosened slightly, I immediately struggled, stabbing the kunai wildly.

I was rewarded when the scenery around me began to flicker slightly, and I knew that Rei was somehow loosening his control over the Genjutsu that had me trapped.

I grinned, but the hope I'd been nurturing for the past few moments disappeared in a whirlwind of colour when the Genjutsu stopped flickering.

I was trapped.

And with no way to get out.

The only weapon that I had was the two limits of my chakra, my Taijutsu, and the kunai in my hand.

Wait a minute…

A kunai!

I had a kunai.

A kunai could inflict pain, and maybe pain from an outside source could free me from this Genjustu.

Because the only other way I knew, besides flaring my chakra (which I obviously couldn't do, even if I wanted to), was the aid of another person's chakra.

If only Sasori, or Yashamaru, or even Kazuki could free me from this.

It would make my whole life easier.

Without hesitation, I raised the kunai into the air and stabbed down.

Then promptly regretted it when fire exploded in my thigh. A shriek escaped my lips, and everything was washed away in a haze of pain.

My vision was tinged with black at the edges when I finally looked down, and I could only stare at what I had done in some dazed stupor.

The kunai was in my thigh, buried to its hilt.

I pulled it out.

The pain was even worse than before, and the yell that ripped through my throat was even worse than before.

I shuddered, resisting the urge to vomit from the horrible pain, and when I looked at the kunai, its tip was dripping with my blood.

But my efforts were rewarded.

I was no longer in Rei's plain.

No longer in his Genjutsu.

I was back in that forest in River Country.

Then I realised the weight on both of my shoulders.

It was a warmth, I noticed, as well as the pressure of fingers, too.

Something warm was flowing into my shoulders, and I looked up, mildly horrified to see the figure of Rei looming above me. His fingers were on my shoulders, bony appendages digging into the skin.

His creepy, eerie eyes gazed straight into mine, and the fact that his hair was a dark shade of blue did nothing to dissuade from the fact that he was as scary as fuck.

"Fuck off!" I spat, managing to find my voice, "Get off me!"

I pulled back my free hand, not even caring that it was shaking like crazy, and drove it into his gut as hard as I could.

Rei didn't seem to react, though I knew better with how close I was. His stomach clenched, and his entire body tensed up.

I pulled my fist back and drove it back in even harder, twisting my fist upon impact and crushing down ruthlessly.

Rei reacted then, and his hand went to the back of head, pulling on the strands of my long hair harshly. I was forced to look up at him, and the dark smile pulling at his lips didn't help anything.

I knew, without a doubt, that something bad would happen.

I cringed when he brought his face close to mine, lips stopping at my ears, and as he spoke, I realised that he was speaking English like he had done in that Genjutsu: "You'll do very well, because I know that you're just like me."

I frowned, and he seemed to take that as an invitation to continue, and his words were mocking, "You didn't understand that? You must be in shock then."

My frown dissolved into a scowl, and when I said my retort, I knew that it was the wrong thing to say: "Bite me."

His grip tightened on my hair to the point that I thought that it would all fall out, and then I felt the grip on the kunai in my hand be pried loose.

Rei tossed his longish hair back from his face, the long fringe that had been obscuring the left part of his face moving away with the rest. There was a mark on his face, and it was something that I hadn't yet seen in this world.

It was a zero.

"The fuck?" I muttered, knowing that struggling now would be futile.

And it was.

Rei's grip held fast, the bloodied kunai in his hand hovering threateningly over my throat.

"Just kill me then," I spat, "Just kill me and be done with it. It's not as if I can do anything to stop you."

Once again, I had said the wrong thing, and I winced when Rei's- no, my kunai was suddenly pressing against the delicate skin of my throat, biting into the skin.

"Shut up or I will kill you," Rei growled, when I shut my mouth obediently, his grip relaxed somewhat, though no less tight than before, "Tell me, girl, do you know what I am?"

"The fact that you can speak English is a clue," I quipped sarcastically. When he only glared at me, I voiced out, "No really, how do you know English? Because, as far as I knew, Japanese is the official language in this place."

I paused, then peered at the mark on his face.

It looked like a scar of some sort, as if it had been etched into the skin, and it hung directly below his eye.

There was no mistaking it either, it really was a zero.

An English zero.

The fuck?

When I voiced this out loud, Rei looked as if he wanted to roll his eyes.

But he didn't.

"Really," he murmured, "I knew that you were weak, but I didn't think you would stupid, too. When I said that you're just like me, I meant it."

I blinked at him dumbly, and I really did feel stupid in that moment, "Uh, what are you saying exactly?"

Rei ignored me, and he continued as if he hadn't been interrupted, "I thought that I was truly alone, that there were no "others" like me. But I was wrong. I found another, and we were happy for a while. But then he had to go and disappear and leave me with nothing but this renegade."

I frowned as he said that, and I mumbled out, "Could he speak English, too?"

"Of course he could," Rei scoffed out, sounding much like what he had earlier, but I could detect a hint of bitterness, too, "But he was very shy and very timid. He didn't like speaking very much."

My frown deepened, because that sounded a lot like someone I knew, "What does he look like?" I interrupted.

Rei only glared at me, and I was completely surprised for when he suddenly shoved me away.

I sprawled out on my back, stunned yet relieved at the same time.

He knelt next to me, casually twirling my kunai in his fingers, and he brought his face close to mine, lips stopping at my ear: "You really want to know?"

I nodded, though yelped when pain flared in my thigh, "Just tell me," I urged.

"I may have to just kill you when I'm finished," he informed me casually, and his voice held a tinge of curiosity.

Huh?

"He's rather small for his age, and very thin," Rei murmured, his voice a whisper, "His hair is long and spiky, covering his face, obscuring his blue eyes. It's orange, too. He tends to be very trusting, as well as naïve. He can get mislead."

I blinked at the overload of information, then I slowly realised something, "He matches the description of a Genin from my village!" I cried.

Rei reacted quickly, "Who?" he inquired darkly.

I shuddered at the dark tone of his voice, because it seemed, despite the uncaring nature that hung over Rei, he seemed to care a lot for this kid.

"This kid named Cho," and at the bemusement on Rei's face, I hastily said, "He has orange hair, too, and it covers most of his face. But there's a slight problem."

"Yes?" he prompted.

"Uh, he kinda, um… hekindoflosthismemory," I said in a rush, looking away when his already narrowed eyes narrowed even more- to the point of slits.

"He lost his memory?" Rei asked softly, though there was nothing soft about his voice.

He pulled away then, swearing softly under his breath, "What the fuck am I supposed to do now? He's lost his memories. He won't remember anything. Won't remember our plans, or even who I am."

"He's safe," I put in, and he barely glanced at me, "And he's happy. Really happy, despite not even knowing his own name."

"Who, pray tell," Rei began, scowling darkly, "deigned to call him such a name as Cho? "Butterfly"? You have got to be joking."

"What's his real name then?" I asked curiously, looking up at him.

Rei hesitated, then said shortly, "Ichi."

"Ichi?" I made a face, "What's up with naming yourself after numbers, anyway?"

"He was the first one I found," Rei answered softly, "And I was number zero, thus I named myself as such."

"But Ichi sounds so plain," I mumbled, "Why not add something to it?"

"Ichi is a fine enough name," Rei answered curtly, then, suddenly, a contemplating look came to his face.

"Why do you have that look on your face?" I asked nervously, because a look like that could only spell trouble.

Trouble led to attention, and attention was never a good thing.

Then, Rei smirked, "If I don't kill you, can I trust you to watch over Ichi?" he suddenly asked, "Can I trust that you'll find some way to return his memories?"

I gave him a weird look, "And how am I supposed to do that?" I asked sarcastically, "Call his real name from the rooftops?"

"If it comes to that," Rei paused and shot a glance at the kunai in his hand, "And now that I think about it, you're the second one I've met. You're my Ni. Cho as I'll deign to call him now, is my Ichi, my one. You're my Ni, my two."

"You're seriously going to call me Ni now?" I sighed, "Okay, you really are serious. Fine, I'll watch over Cho-" I corrected myself when Rei glared, "-Ichi, and keep him safe. Though you should be asking someone else, since I'm not the best person for this job. I can't use chakra very well, only about three times a day. If I use anymore, then I'll die horribly and painfully."

Rei had a look of understanding on his face, "Why do you think my hands are bandaged?" he murmured, at my blank look, he sighed softly and said, quite bluntly, might I add: "We were never supposed to have been born. An "illness" the doctors called it," he laughed sharply and crudely at the end, "I know better, however. This isn't an illness, it's a parasite. Our bodies are rejecting us even now. And there's nothing that can be done to stop it."

I gasped in sudden understanding, then something occurred to me, "Rin, he… does that mean he was like me all along?" I whispered.

"What is it?" his voice was sharp.

"Rei," I mumbled, "I think I know who your San, your three is."

Rei didn't answer, and when I looked up, he was already on his feet, and the world around us suddenly grew clearer.

Clarity dawned upon me.

"Wait, we were in a Genjutsu the entire time?!" I yelped, "But how?!"

Rei glanced at me lazily, "What do you think?" he muttered, resent tinging his voice, "You were so weak that you didn't realise that I captured you in a second Genjutsu?"

"Maybe- huh! Wait a second!" I said, "How can you use your chakra so much? I thought you were the same as me!"

"Practice," he answered simply, "And also larger chakra reserves. You forget, Ni, that I'm older than you."

I fought the urge to scowl, now that I knew he wasn't going to kill me, "Don't call me that," I muttered, "It's not my name."

"Then what is?"

"What's your real name?" I fired back.

Rei was silent for a long while, "Arashi," he finally said, "But I forsook that name a long time ago. It's just Rei now."

"Since you're so keen on calling me Ni," I began, "I have to tell you that my real name is Yū, Yūmaru Kishi."

"Peace, gentleness," Rei murmured to himself, "No, I think I'll just call you Ni for the time being."

If I wasn't already on the ground, I think I would have fallen over from exasperation.

I had to watch over Cho for that?

Seriously?

From the look Rei gave me, I was sure that he was very serious.

Oh, well, I just have to hope that this will benefit me in the long run.