A/N: This chapter changes gears from the last couple. Enjoy.

000

Chapter 26

000

Strange as it was actual sleep had become a disorienting experience for Rei and one she wasn't sure she liked all that much anymore. She woke up and instantly realized she was in an unfamiliar bed. Rei had a brief moment of panic before forcing herself to calm down. Opening her eyes she methodically took stock of her surroundings.

The walls were painted a very pale lime color. There was a small dresser, a chair, and the twin sized bed she was tucked into. Rei breathed a sigh of relief and let herself relax into her pillow when she recognized the room she was in. It was the guest bedroom of her aunt Yua's house.

She was back at the compound. Safe. Then she frowned at that thought and felt a flash of fear and anger go through her.

At least for now at any rate.

A feeling of pressure in her right arm drew her attention. There was an IV in her arm hooked up to a pole with a half empty bag of clear liquid. Looking out the window Rei could see it was late afternoon. What day was it? Rei had completely lost track of time. How long had she been out?

Everything about her situation suddenly felt extremely disorienting. Rei shuddered as the memories of her time spent at T&I came back to her. It had been the worst experience of her life. Maybe. Objectively maybe everything she had gone through with the Rats had been worse. But no matter how intense that had gotten she had never felt that out of control in The Factory. She hadn't felt so utterly and completely helpless. That was the part that terrified her. If she could fight back and… died in the process that was one thing. To be cut off from her Chakra, to have no more power than a newborn baby as others could and would and did hurt her?

Rei shook her head viciously, blonde ringlets flying. Never again. Not again. They'll have to drag me in kicking and screaming.

Training. Training is what she needed. More training. But would it be enough? Not for years. She felt a sense of panic until she remembered something.

The Rats. They can teach me how to hide right? The Factory isn't my first choice of a place to live but it's better than the alternative… right?

A more clinical detached part of her mind knew she was being unreasonable. Panicky. She needed to look at this calmly and rationally. Rei sat up and forced herself to breathe deeply and focus on only that for a few minutes. It helped. She was Rei fucking Yamanaka. She had been through worse. She had allies now. She wasn't going to let something like this break her.

For all she knew it was all over. She had passed through the eye of the storm. Now it might just be a matter of not overtly pissing anyone off until she was ready to say 'fuck you' of this medieval shithole. Then she would blow the Third's stupid face off the mountain on her way out.

How many explosive tags would she need for something like that?

There was a soft knock on the door before it opened. Rei saw her aunt Yua come in with a concerned look and a genuine smile on her face.

"Glad to see you're back among the living," the woman said injecting a bit of humor into it.

Rei just nodded, swallowing a few times before speaking. "How did you know I was awake?"

Yua gave her an amused look. "Sensor remember? That's one of my skills that hasn't rusted from disuse."

Yua had always been the go-to person when she and Ino had been younger and needed babysitting. The woman was plump, middle aged and blonde like pretty much all Yamanaka. She was also a trained sensor like many of the higher trained Yamanaka and one of the clan's medics which Rei guessed was why she found herself waking up in her house. Rei eyed her carefully. She liked Yua well enough.

"You can use your sensor skills to tell if someone is awake or not?" asked Rei, curiosity getting the better of her.

"Some people can if they're sensitive enough," replied Yua. "How are you feeling?"

Rei considered that taking a moment to take stock. Overall not too bad all things considered. Her left arm was wrapped tightly and was in what looked like a new sling. Her shoulder ached a bit but it didn't feel too bad, maybe a bit swollen. As for the infection she still had it wasn't nearly as bad as it had been back… back in T&I. Instead of feeling like she was dying she just felt very achy, like she had the flu or a very bad cold. It was a dramatic improvement.

She was also wearing one of her own sets of pajamas instead of the ratty hospital clothes. Rei had a moment of embarrassment as she wondered who had changed her while she had been out cold.

"I feel ok, all things considered," she said glancing over at the tubing taped to her arm. "You gave me IV drugs?"

"Yeah," said Yua, taking the time to drag the chair over and taking a seat next to Rei. "The antibiotics you needed come in pill and IV. Since giving pills to someone who isn't conscious isn't a good idea so IV it was. You were also moderately dehydrated so you needed the fluids."

The girl nodded absently, taking it all in. "How long was I out?"

"Oh you've been asleep for a good twenty hours," Yua informed her casually, "it may sound like a lot but your rate of healing is actually quite good. Thankfully it doesn't look like the blood infection managed to get a good foothold on you again."

Again Rei nodded distractedly. Rei swallowed a lump in her throat. There was one more question she was dreading but she had to ask. "Do I have to-? I mean am I going to…-?" she asked nervously.

Yua picked up on what she was saying. "You won't be going back to T&I Rei," she said firmly. "There has been enough of that nonsense. I honestly don't know what the Hokage was thinking."

"A-are you sure?"

"Positive," said Yua with conviction. "Your father was quite adamant about it when he brought you here. Shikaku-san as well. Whatever they wanted with you is over now. You don't need to worry about being dragged back to that horrid place."

Rei breathed out a sigh of relief and allowed herself to fall back into the pillow. "That's good to hear," she said as her muscles unclenched and relaxed. Rei hadn't realized she'd been so tense to being with.

Yua smiled reassuring at her before changing the subject. "I made some soup earlier. I'm going to heat some up and bring it for you to eat."

"I'm not really hungry," Rei protested.

"Too bad," said Yua, "you need to eat in order to heal and regain your strength. Doctor's orders. Just stay still and rest. You're going to get spoiled with a meal in bed."

Rei didn't feel like eating but really didn't have the energy to argue about it so she just nodded. With a smile Yua got up and left to do what she said.

Ten minutes later Yua came back in with a tray and a bowl of what smelled like hearty vegetable soup. As soon as the smell hit Rei she realized she was famished. Yua put the tray down in front of her and Rei ended up tearing into it with gusto much to the older woman's amusement. Rei ended up consuming three bowls before she was satisfied.

"Good," said Yua, "a healthy appetite means you're on the mend."

Rei made a sound of agreement, feeling pleasantly stuffed with warm soup in her belly. She felt both more energized and like she could go right back to sleep despite having just woken up from sleeping for an entire day. However going back to sleep was the last thing she wanted to do right now.

"Did anyone come by?" asked Rei.

"Well well-wishers have been coming by all day but I didn't let any of them in. Your mother has been in and out regularly and your father came by once as well but it sounded like he was busy with some important business," Yua said.

Rei hummed in acknowledgement wondering if this 'important business' had anything to do with her situation. She also noticed one name was conspicuously absent from the list.

"What about Ino?" Rei asked.

Yua gave Rei a sympathetic look that set off alarm bells in her head. "She hasn't been by dear," she said gently.

Okay. Enough was enough. People had been hinting to her – if not outright saying – that Ino was majorly upset with her since she had first woken up at the hospital. Fine. Rei could understand why her sister would be mad. If Ino disappeared for two weeks without a word Rei would be furious. But not coming by to see her when she was just a handful of houses down the street?

That hurt.

"Thank you for taking care of me auntie," Rei said using a formal tone to hide her bubbling emotions, "but I think I'll be heading home now."

Yua gave her a look that was both concerned and chiding. "You really would be better off staying here at least another night where I can keep a close eye on you child. In fact I insist."

Yeah that's not going to happen. "I'm going to head home now auntie," said Rei in a firm tone that strained the boundaries of rudeness. "The only way you're going to keep me here is if you tie me to the bed."

Rei locked eyes with the woman, making sure she understood her stubbornness and resolve. After a few moments of that Yua sighed and broke eye contact. "As you wish Rei-sama. It doesn't look like I can stop you. However I will be coming over in the morning to check up on you and give you your medicine."

Rei nodded, hiding her surprise at Yua calling her Rei-sama. To her aunt she had always been Rei or Rei-chan. It was unexpected... and kind of weird. Well whatever. No big deal. People in the clan that I don't know very well have been calling me Rei-sama for years.

Yua unhooked her from the IV and gave her a robe she could put over her pajamas for her walk back to her house. Rei sincerely thanked her and gave her a smile to apologize for her earlier bit of rudeness. Then putting on a spare pair of sandals she walked out the door and began to make her way home.

Night had fallen and the street was lit intermittently with lamps. It wasn't like in her old world where streetlights were meant to chase away the darkness. Instead the lamps were really just enough to keep you on the road as you made your way to your destination. A few other clan members were about in the early evening but it was too dark for any of them to recognize her at a distance. For this Rei was grateful. She didn't know how much the clan had heard about her situation but Yua's mention of 'well-wishers' coming by told her that the clan at large knew something had happened to her. Rei really wasn't in the mood to entertain questions or polite conversation.

She was on a mission and if there was one thing Rei was good at it was focusing on a goal.

After just a few minutes of walking Rei arrived at her house. The lights were all on inside though that was hardly unexpected at this hour. Making sure to keep her footsteps silent Rei let herself inside.

Rei suspected only her mother and Ino would be home but she saw no one as she entered the house. If her guess was correct her mother would be somewhere downstairs even though she couldn't hear anyone moving about. Rei wanted to talk to/confront Ino and seeing her mother first would inevitably mean getting fussed over for far too long. As quietly as she was able Rei left her borrowed sandals by the door and made her way upstairs.

So far so good. Rei made it all the way to the top of the stairs without anyone noticing. She walked a little further and turned to face the door to the room she shared with her sister. Ino was most likely in their room at this hour.

Nervousness churned in her stomach but she pushed it down with a healthy dose of determination. She wasn't going to be mad. She was going to make this right. She was going to apologize – grovel a little if she had to – and then everything would be fine. It might take a few days but eventually her sister would forgive her and things would go back to the way they had always been. With a firm nod to herself Rei turned the doorknob and opened the door.

She was not prepared for what she saw.

Her sister was not in the bedroom. On the right side of the room sat her things in pretty much the same condition she remembered leaving in them several weeks ago. Her bed, her trunk, her dresser, her tiny desk. Superficially it all looked untouched and in perfect order. On the left side of the room though…

Ino's things were gone. Her dresser with the small potted plant she'd taken to keeping on it recently. Her trunk that for some reason was bigger than Rei's. Her bed with that overstuffed comforter patterned with purple and pink flowers. All her things were gone. Rei could still see the discoloration and slight indents on the floor where her furniture had sat unmoved for years.

Rei just stared, not quite comprehending what she was seeing. She prided herself on her quick mind but in that moment everything in her head ground to a halt. Rei felt a gaping unpleasant hole open up in her chest as she just stared at where her sister's things used to be.

What-?

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way," a soft voice said behind her.

Rei jumped at the voice, having been so distracted she never noticed another person walking up behind her. She turned around only to see her mother standing there, looking at her with sympathetic and understanding eyes.

"Mom?" asked Rei, "What-? Where's Ino?"

Her mother sighed, seeming a little frustrated by the situation. "She kept insisting and I didn't see any good reason to deny her. We always expected that when you got older you girls would want your own separate rooms. This was just a little… earlier than we anticipated."

That hole in her chest just got bigger. Rei understood what had happened now. They had always had an extra bedroom that had only been used to store some boxes and stuff. Her sister suddenly didn't want to share a room with her anymore.

"When… when did she ask to move?" asked Rei, fighting to keep her voice steady.

Emiko hesitated, seeming to debate whether or not to tell her daughter. Eventually she seemed to come to a decision and spoke. "The day after you reappeared."

That hole kept getting bigger.

"While I was still in the hospital unconscious?" said Rei, her voice disbelieving and high pitched. It wasn't really a question.

Her mother just nodded in answer, her expression making her seem sad about the situation.

Rejected. That is how Rei felt in that moment. It was something she hadn't felt so bitterly since her last life and it hurt.

Ino… Ino was her life. Or more accurately her heart. She did care about other people but in the end no one held a candle to her little sister. If she didn't have that…

If she didn't have that Rei might end up turning into someone sane people would want to run away from.

"I've tried to talk to her but Ino has been… difficult," her mother began in soft soothing tones. "But I think once she gets used to having you around and in one piece again all of this will blow over."

Rei barely heard her. She turned her head and looked down the hall to where the other bedroom was. Now that she was paying attention she thought she could see light coming from the crack at the bottom of the door.

Her sister was in there.

Without really thinking about it Rei turned on her heel and started walking towards the bedroom. Her mother's hand on her shoulder stopped her before she'd gotten more than a single step.

"Rei…" Emiko began sounding unsure of herself, "she doesn't know that you're back. It might not be a good idea to surprise her. It might be best if you let me tell her so she can get used to the idea and then you can see her in the morning."

Annoyance flared up in Rei at her mother's words. Everyone seemed to be treating Ino as an unstable bomb with Rei as her trigger. For some things Rei could manage to be quite patient. This right here? This was not going to be one of those things.

"It'll be fine," Rei said looking over her shoulder at her mother, "this is something we're going to have to hash out between the two of us. No sense putting it off any longer. Better just to rip the bandage off."

Emiko scrutinized Rei for a few long pregnant moments before reluctantly letting her go. The woman gave her a small smile but it looked a little helpless and resigned. "You might be right. Just… if she says anything take it with a grain of salt alright? You really scared her. I think she just doesn't know how to deal with it."

Rei nodded, wondering if what her mother said was true. Emiko let her go and watched her walk away with concern etched deep in her face.

000

Rei stood in front of the door to Ino's new room. New room. It felt like a betrayal somehow. Weren't they closer than this? The timing didn't leave any doubt in Rei's mind that this was some kind of effort to get away from her.

Feeling hurt and angry Rei decided to say 'screw it' to politeness. With her good hand Rei threw open the door a little harder than she'd meant to and let herself inside.

Ino had been sitting on her bed writing something in a notebook when Rei barged inside. When the younger girl saw her older sister her eyes went wide and her mouth opened in an almost comical expression of surprise. After a few moments however Ino seemed to gather her wits. Her brow scrunched into a frown and her lips flattened in displeasure.

"What are you doing here?" she snapped, crossing her arms protectively across her chest.

Rei examined her sister carefully. Ino was glaring at her, trying to come across as closed off and angry. She wasn't doing a very good job of it though. Rei could see her little sister's body trembling slightly from what she could only guess was overwhelming emotion. Her lips quivered noticeably and her eyes began to swim with moisture and emotion. Ino also looked to be curling in on herself a little as if she were trying to get away from her. Rei couldn't decide right then if her sister wanted to yell at her, put some distance between them or burst into tears. That or some combination of all three.

Kami thought Rei to herself. Any anger she had been feeling towards her little sister flooded away at seeing her like that.

I really did hurt her very badly Rei realized. The older blonde felt a lump grow in her throat. That was the last, last thing she had wanted to do.

Ino didn't look like she was going to say anything else for the moment. Rei realized that she was the adult in this conversation, kinda. If anything was going to get solved between them she was going to have to take the lead.

Deliberately she closed the door behind her so there was less chance they would be heard. Rei felt more than saw Ino stiffen when she did that. The older blonde did her best to ignore that as she turned back to face her sister.

"Ino I'm-" Rei said, floundering a bit as she tried to find the words, "I thought I would only be gone for one or two days at most. I didn't think I'd be gone for two whole weeks. I'm sorry."

For some reason instead of calming her down her words seemed to make Ino even more angry and upset.

"You knew," Ino said low and accusingly, almost like a curse.

Rei was a little taken aback by the vehemence of her words. "I knew what?"

"You knew it was dangerous," she said angrily, "you knew there was a good chance you would die."

The older girl felt a little unbalanced by Ino's unexpected words and attitude. She felt oddly like she was being raked over the coals and began to feel a little bit defensive. "Well, I wouldn't exactly say I knew there was a good chance I would di-"

"I'm not stupid you know," said Ino cutting her off, her voice rising, "I hear more than people think. You were this close to dying Rei. I heard the doctors tell mom that if they'd found you half a day later they might not have been able to save you."

"That's not-"

"You used me," said Ino and the venom in her voice made Rei stop talking. Angry tears started falling down Ino's face. "I remember Shikamaru's birthday party. I remember because that was the only time you've ever needed my help for anything. You used me to figure out how to do that jutsu and it killed you. I thought you were dead Rei. I thought you were dead and it was all my fault!" she yelled.

Rei's face contorted in pain and her heart broke at seeing her sister like this. Oh Ino.

"And then you were back, and, and," Ino, now hyperventilating and losing the last semblance of her composure. She uncrossed her arms and buried her red and tear streaked face in her hands.

"H-How could you just leave like that?" she asked as her shoulders shook and she hid her face from view.

Rei could read between the lines. How could you just leave melike that.

The older sister had no idea that Ino would feel responsible for her disappearance. Guilt ate away at her as she watched her sister cry, for once unsure if her first instinct to go wrap her little sister in a hug would welcomed or rejected. It was an indescribably awful feeling to watch her sister weep knowing that she was responsible.

Self-recrimination invaded Rei's mind. I shouldn't have had her help me. I shouldn't have gotten so hurt to the point where I was massively sick. I should have been better prepared so this didn't happen. I should have told her what I was doing and made sure she knew I was coming back no matter what.

She was supposed to protect Ino not… not this. Not hurting her. If she could have broken both her arms and legs in that moment to make her sister stop hurting she would have done it in second. As it was she wasn't sure what was the right thing to do or say.

In the end there was really only one thing she knew to do when Ino was upset. Rei walked over to the bed and sat down on it. The older girl leaned over and tried to wrap her sister in a hug with her good arm.

This turned out to be a miscalculation on her part.

"Don't touch me!" screamed shrilly, her cacophony of different emotions consolidating into anger. Ino brought her arms forward and pushed Rei as hard as she could. Rei was forced off the bed and would have fallen on her ass had it not been for her many years of training. As it was she managed to get her feet underneath her and instinctively backed away from the bed before standing up.

Ino's face was enraged. She reached over to her night table and picked up a ceramic cup filled with brushes and pens. With a mighty heave Ino hurled the cup at Rei as hard as she could. Rei was so shocked by this she almost didn't move her head out of the way in time. The cup crashed and shattered on the wall behind her, sending pens and brushes and bristles flying in all directions.

"I hate you!" Ino yelled at her, fury in her eyes. Those words made Rei feel like she had been kicked in the stomach by a horse.

"Get out!" she yelled again, this time picking up the notebook on her bed and hurling it at Rei. The older girl ducked under it as it flew overhead and crashed against the door.

"Get out!"

Rei realized she didn't really have a choice right now. Feeling worse than she could ever remember feeling, Rei turned and quickly fled from Ino's new room.

000

That night Rei just lay in her bed and stared at the ceiling, her mind far too disturbed to even attempt her regular resting technique. Her tears had stopped falling hours ago but she still felt hollow inside, empty. Their (now her) room felt much too large and empty without Ino's bed and other things just a few feet away. Rei could say with a hundred percent certainty that she didn't like it. Not even a tiny bit.

Did it make her a terrible person that she regretted hurting her sister but didn't regret going through with her plan? She could have planned it better but still. Rei didn't regret it even with the negative consequences. What did that say about her?

What she did regret though was… well, not really taking into account how Ino would be affected. Adults could cope. Ino… wasn't an adult. Rei honestly couldn't imagine her being deployed as a ninja right now at eight years old. She was growing up but… she wasn't there yet.

Rei sighed miserably. Things probably would get better, with time. But had she permanently damaged the relationship she had with her sister? Rei didn't like the thought that they wouldn't be as close as they had been all their lives over this. Just the fact they were no longer sharing a room was already contributing to putting distance between them.

Rei knew she had the potential to become something rather ugly. She'd had a taste of it years before and that memory always stuck with her. She had the potential to be cruel, to treat people who didn't factor into her plans as less than human, to be domineering, to enjoy inflicting violence on others. Ino had always been one of the things that kept her grounded, helped her remember why it was important to care about other people even if they were part of a world she wanted no part of. Would that moral compass suffer if her relationship with her sister suffered?

Maybe other people would help keep her level but she didn't share the same kind of intimacy with them as she did with her sister. Tenten was someone she had taken under her wing and enjoyed teaching and nurturing in her own way. Neji what a whetstone she could sharpen herself against, a person who truly understood and shared her utter devotion to her art. He was someone she could relate to and identify with as neither truly a child nor truly an adult, someone stuck in a middle limbo just like she was.

Ino? Ino was the only person she allowed herself to truly love. Because they were sisters, because she knew Ino loved her, because she was the only person in this craptastic world that she allowed herself to be that vulnerable with because she trusted her…trusted her with her heart. That and a hundred thousand other reasons, big and small, that she probably couldn't even name.

Maybe it was unhealthy or even a little bit unfair to put all that on a little girl. But what could she do? And now she was facing the possible consequences. Of course it was a possibility that siblings would drift further apart. How would she handle it if it came to that, if it got bad enough between the two of them?

Without someone like that and with all the pressures she felt in Konoha every day something would have to give before too long. Maybe she should start thinking about how to minimize the damage instead of avoiding it all together. There were plenty of unstable but perfectly functional ninja in Konoha after all. Maybe she would be forced to learn a thing or two from their example.

Rei was distracted from her reverie when out of the corner of her eye she saw a shadow pass underneath her door. Whoever it was stayed in front of her door for several long moments doing nothing. Then slowly, almost timidly, the doorknob turned and the door swung open.

Rei turned her head only enough to watch, otherwise remaining perfectly still. Her sister stood in her doorway, the hallway light illuminating her pajama clad form from behind. She was looking at the floor, playing with the hem of her shirt and biting her lip. Ino looked nervous and vulnerable, completely at odds with how she had been just hours before.

Ino looked up to look at her sister, hardly daring to meet her gaze before looking away again. "Can I come in?" she mumbled, her voice so low that Rei almost missed it. Ino sounded years younger. Heart starting to beat faster but staying perfectly still Rei gave her sister a small nod.

Ino entered the room awkwardly and closed the door behind her. The room was dark but Rei could make out the outline of her sister well enough. The girl walked over and hesitantly lifted the covers. She crawled in on her sister's good side and snuggled in next to her, tucking her head under Rei's chin and laying it on her chest.

Slowly Rei wrapped her good arm around her sister as she felt that horrible knot that had been living in her chest all night begin to loosen up.

They stayed like that for a few minutes, neither of them saying anything, Rei getting reacquainted with the comforting feeling of sharing a bed with her sister. Ino's breathing evened out and for a minute Rei thought she had fallen asleep. However the girl surprised her when she suddenly muttered into her chest.

"I'm sorry," she said, sounding so regretful and miserable it almost brought tears to Rei's eyes. Instead the older sister just held her a little tighter.

"It's ok," reassured Rei as she started to run her fingers though Ino's hair.

"I don't hate you."

"I know," said Rei in a soothing tone, moving enough to give the top of her sister's head a kiss. "I know you don't."

"You won't do it again right?" Ino said sounding a little desperate. Her fingers tightened around the collar of Rei's night shirt.

"Do what again?" asked Rei a little confused.

Ino buried her head deeper into the crook of her sister's neck. "Leave me," she said in an embarrassed and pain filled whisper.

Oh my Kami. This isn't happening. Had she just given her sister abandonment issues? Fuck me. Fuck me. Fuck me sideways. Fuck me six ways to Sunday, this isn't happening.

What the hell was she going to tell her? She didn't exactly have time to debate her whole life's plan and too much hesitation would probably only spark Ino's fear of her leaving. Rei wanted to reassure her sister but she didn't want to lie. She also couldn't tell her the truth. Thinking fast Rei came up with an alternative.

"You know when I become a ninja I'm going to have to be gone on missions for a long time right?" she asked her sister, a hint of teasing in her voice.

Ino slapped her chest lightly. "You know that's not what I mean," she said sounding annoyed and grumpy.

"Well if I'm ever going to leave for more than a day for anything, anything at all… be it missions, an errand, or whatever, I'll always, always tell you before I go. Does that work for you?" Rei asked playfully.

Ino seemed to think about. "Promise?" she asked in a small voice. She sounded so damn young.

"Yes Ino," Rei said as she ran her fingers through her hair, "I promise."

Ino audibly breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay," she said before burrowing deeper into her sister-shaped pillow.

Goddamnit, thought Rei as she held her most precious person in the world.

I'm going straight to hell.