Perfect Timing
Summary: A highly utilitarian girl from our world gets thrust into the midst of the Third Shinobi World War. All she wants to do now is avoid changing the original story.
It's not as easy as it sounds. OC/Reincarnation.
Chapter 17: Black Night
The time has come, and Reina is less than ready.
'
She turned the corner quickly, slapping away the fabric of the curtain as she stood behind the only occupied stool at Ichiraku.
"Naruto," Reina said darkly.
The boy froze, a large chunk of half-chewed noodles sloshing out of his mouth.
"Oh!" he laughed nervously, unperturbed by the mess running down his front. "Seal lady!"
"I'm pretty sure we had a lesson today," Reina said, eyes narrowing. "so... what are you doing here, eating ramen instead?"
"I-I thought you wouldn't realize I was gone!"
"Why? Because of this?" Reina held out a very malformed yellow-haired doll, complete with garish red stitching and a popped button eye, before grabbing it by the body and using her other hand to rip its head off.
Both Naruto and Teuchi gasped as the cotton stuffing fell and out onto the floor.
"You thought this puppet could somehow trick me into thinking you were home? What was I going to do, teach it seals for an hour and wonder why it never spoke back?!"
"Uh... I was hoping it was worth a shot!"
"I GRADUATED THE ACADEMY AT SIX." Reina roared. "I have been a shinobi for over NINE YEARS. I am not going to be tricked by a PUPPET."
"Eeeehehe... Hey, aren't you supposed to be busy though, with all your chunin missions lately?" Naruto pouted, "That's why we haven't had lessons lately right, lady? I thought I'd save you the trouble of cancelling today!"
"Yes, I do have missions actually, thank you for realizing. But I have to do this or the Hokage'll have my ass," Reina fumed. "he's already nagged me about how many lessons we've missed so far, so it would help if you cooperated. Even just a little; I'm not asking a lot! Just that you be there, instead of this puppet!"
"But I'm not dooone," Naruto whined.
Reina looked down to see Naruto's bowl still spille-over with broth and small bites of bamboo shoot. His chopsticks were completely covered in a thin film of rendered pork fat.
Minato, from what Reina had remembered, had been a bit of neat freak; he'd visibly wince when her towel-drying left streaks on water glasses. How Naruto could look so much like the man, and yet be so far from him personality-wise?
Kushina's genes must've been strong.
"Ugh," Reina sighed, "fine, finish your meal first."
She watched him eat, tapping her foot as she waited impatiently. Thankfully, he was done within a few minutes, burping loudly before jumping off the stool to the floor.
Shortly after, they made their way back to his apartment.
"Hmm," Naruto said once they'd made it past the front door of his home, "I'm hungry. Do you want some ramen?"
"You just had ramen."
"That was ten minutes ago!"
"...Ugh," Reina muttered. "seriously, I'm going to kill you someday."
Naruto skipped off to the kitchen, eager to get started on his instant ramen (second) dinner.
Reina stood, deciding to stretch her legs by walking into the bedroom, because that was the only other room to walk to in his place. Once she'd made it past the doorway, however, her foot immediately met the hem of a shirt he'd thrown down onto the ground. She sighed, wondering if it'd kill him to do a load of laundry once in a while, before glancing at Naruto's bed.
Strange. From here, she could see the gleam of a familiar insignia etched into a small rectangle of metal, surrounded by a blue band. It was a Konoha forehead protecter, just sitting there atop his sheets.
She frowned. There's no way that's his.
"Naruto?" she called. The boy came running up.
"Yeah?"
"What's this?" Reina had gone over to his bed to hold up the forehead protector. "Did you get permission to have this just sitting in your room?"
She's realized, once coming here, how Konoha protectively maintained the integrity of their shinobi's symbol of status. No one was allowed to possess a forehead protector that hadn't graduated the Academy, unless it'd been sanctioned by the village as an heirloom or memorabilia of some sort. It was taboo, and even considered illegal in these parts.
Naruto laughed like she hadn't just found hidden contraband in his room. "Oh. That's just a gift someone gave me."
She didn't buy it. "They don't just give these out willy nilly, Naruto. The Hokage'll have your ass for this, you know."
Clearly Naruto had stolen the forehead protector, which wasn't exactly out of character for the young boy. Reina could only sigh as she held it up closer to her face, examining it for any indicator of its real owner.
"I... It wasn't me! I just found it!"
"Riiiight," Reina said, nodding with little enthusiasm, "you just found it. Look, however you came across it, I would suggest you give it back."
"No! Give it back, it's mine! I got it fair and square!" Naruto yelled, running up to her with tears in his eyes. His tiny hands grabbed at the blue fabric, but not before Reina pulled it away. "Don't touc—"
Well, this was annoying. Unsure as to how to proceed from here, Reina settled for grabbing him by the armpits and lifting him up, if only just to keep his grubby little hands at a distance.
"Wha?!" He blinked, looking shell-shocked, arms falling to his side. It was like he'd never been lifted like that before. Or maybe he hadn't.
"Just calm down, okay? Look, you can keep the stupid thing. Just don't go stealing anymore stuff from now on. Especially not from shinobi. They're like, definitely going to notice."
"...R-Really?" Naruto hiccuped. "I'm allowed to keep it?"
"Probably not, but I won't be the one to take it away." Reina shrugged, dropping the boy back down to the floor, who landed on his feet with a sound slam.
"...I'll return it," Naruto said suddenly, after a passing beat of silence.
"Wait, what?"
"I'll return it." Naruto repeated, "It's not mine."
Wow, his moral compass sure shot straighter than her own. "Well, uh, I already knew that... but... okay then."
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, "are you mad?"
"...No?" The remorse on his face was new to her, almost making her miss his petulant-child act.
Almost.
"Really?" Naruto blinked, as if surprised by her reply. "So... you'll keep coming? You're not going to leave?"
"Yeah. I kind of have to."
"Yay!" Naruto said, eyes lighting up. "You're the best! I don't care what Shikamaru says about your clan! Or that the other kids in the Academy think you have a scary face! Even if everyone else thinks you're creepy, I'll still tell them you're a good friend!"
He really knew how to make a girl feel special. "Wait, what does Shikamaru say about my..." Reina trailed off as Naruto sprinted back to the kitchen to finish eating. "Oh, forget it."
After his meal, Naruto was able to keep focused on seals for all of five minutes before falling asleep at the table. Reina had rolled her eyes before throwing his limp body onto his bed, haphazardly pulling a corner of his sheets over his middle.
"What a kid," Reina muttered, watching as Naruto's leg fell over the side of the bed, kicking the sheet she'd just covered him with onto the floor. His snores reverberated off the walls, impressively loud considering his current size. How could something so small produce such thunderous sound?
"Guess that's what happens when you're the main character. Everything's got to be so excessive with you. Sometimes, even I can't believe what you'll accomplish later on. And I've literally seen it with my own eyes."
Naruto only continued to snore soundly in response. Reina couldn't help but envy him. It'd been a while since she'd gotten a good night's sleep herself.
Most of her recent sleeps had been fitful, knowing that each dawn would bring certain events closer and closer.
'
'
"When I told you we should train together more often before I leave, this is not what I meant," Shisui said, pale. He was watching Gai run laps around the field, in demonstration of what he wanted Reina's next training sprint to look like.
Which would've been fine, had he not been doing the run on his hands.
"Trust me," Reina said glumly, "this was not my idea."
It was the next day, and she'd been planning on training with Shisui alone. Yet somehow, Gai had found her waiting for Shisui at the training grounds; when she'd explained her intentions for being there, Gai had immediately jumped to the conclusion that this would be the perfect chance to help Reina polish up her taijutsu training.
"How're you planning to get out of this one?" Shisui asked, watching Gai as he started to perform vertical pushups on the side of a tree.
"Dunno. I still haven't told him about my ankle," Reina admitted. One of the reasons she'd been avoiding their taijutsu training sessions together (amongst many, many other reasons) was because the exercises had been hurting her ankle. She'd injured it with Zabuza many years ago, but it hadn't been too much of an issue up until now. Not until Gai had tried to incorporate weight training.
Plus, the chunin missions she'd always chosen hadn't exactly been labor-intensive enough to warrant the kind of training Gai encouraged in the first place. She'd really no need for further honing her taijutsu, so long as she kept her chakra usage in check with her genjutsu and ninjutsu. Though of course, it was very difficult to explain this to the village's number one taijutsu proponent.
"How ridiculous!" Gai would exclaim as she tried to use this very logical reasoning to him, "you shouldn't just assume you'll never need taijutsu in battle! Weren't you the one who discovered the limits of your reserves last year?"
Reina looked to Shisui for help, who shrugged.
"He's got a point. Maybe you should try to pick up some more taijutsu now that you're between missions," Shisui said. "you never know when it'll come in handy."
"I've already got a lot on my plate, what with genjutsu training," Reina moaned. More than a year ago, Kurenai had also insisted they pick up their training together as well, despite the prowess Reina'd made since leaving for Kiri (though this was after almost pummeling Reina to death after Kurenai discovered she'd faked her own death, and Reina had to say, she was impressed enough with Kurenai's newfound strength to want to learn more from the girl). Of course, taijutsu made more sense considering her chakra situation, but it was just so much harder for her. "and my ankle..." she didn't really need to lower her volume for that last part, as Gai was already back to doing upside-down squats from a branch.
"It kind of sounds like you're just using that as an excuse, Reina," Shisui said disapprovingly, "I've seen you use that ankle just fine."
"Uh, it's fine when it's not being bogged down with 100-pound weights!" Reina huffed loudly back. It was in moments like this that she remembered how distant she and Shisui had gotten, his lack of compassion towards her injury such a contrast to how he'd treated her growing up. It was probably deserved, but also very annoying.
"We should always strive to push our limits as far as we possibly can, isn't that right, Reina?!" Gai shouted, arms behind his back as he swing himself atop the branch by his ankles.
"No," Reina said, "it's not."
A few moments later, Reina finally relented, only agreeing to a short training session. It barely took a half hour before Reina was covered in sweat and panting, while Gai simply walked off the field to his next appointment with a triumphant grin. Blissfully unaware of all the mental damaged he'd (likely) permanently done her.
"I hate taijutsu," Reina muttered as she walked back towards a laughing Shisui, who had been watching the session while leaned against a post. "Hate it, hate it."
"Alright, I kind of see what you mean," Shisui admitted, "that got a little... extreme. I still can't believe I saw you trying to do push ups with him on your back. Did you ever manage to get even the one done?"
"No," Reina said, "and if you ever speak of it again, I will cut out your tongue. Now—wait, what's that?"
Shisui turned to follow Reina's finger as she pointed to a pillar of smoke ascending into the sky. Shisui paled, recognizing the location it was coming from the same moment Reina did. A second hadn't even passed before suddenly, he was gone.
"What—wait!" Reina moaned, before running after him. Damn him and his stupid shunshin. "Shouldn't we be running away from the fire?!"
They reached the outskirts of the village a moment later, Shisui making a swift appearance at the entrance of the Uchiha compound with Reina following shortly after. A familiar shop near the front of the compound was engulfed in a thick cloud of seemingly sourceless smoke, with several Uchihas running out of the building and wheezing shakily. One of them was an older woman wearing an apron, looking haggard with soot streaking her face.
"Aunt Uruchi!" Shisui yelled, running over to her. "Are you alright?"
Uruchi looked up with glistening eyes, tears fighting to wash to out the dust that'd collected in them.
"Shisui," she coughed, taking one of his outstretched arms, "I'm fine. Get out of here, this smoke's not good for you."
Strange, Reina thought, smoke but no fire? The density too, reminded her of one of her favorite shinobi tools, but there was no way they'd get away with using that within the compound walls... Right? Not here, right in the home of the Police Force itself?
"What? Of course I'm not leaving! I'm here to help you!" Shisui exclaimed.
"What happened?" Reina asked, looking around.
"Some damned lowlifes threw a smoke bomb into our shop, that's what happened," a man who Reina remembered as Teyaki said, coming up behind them with an ash-dusted face. He too, was coughing into a dampened cloth, before continuing, "look what they've done to our shop! They could've killed me and my wife!"
"No way," Shisui said, shoulders tensing, "someone threw a smoke bomb into your store? While you were both in there?! But everyone knows you two run this shop, who would do that?!"
Reina frowned. True, it was hard to believe anyone would have something against two such kindly elders. Civilian elders, no less. "Was it a villager?"
"Damn right it was," Teyaki continued, breathing short, "I saw them with my own eyes, running off snickering after throwing that thing through our window."
"Shisui!" A voice called behind them. Reina felt herself snapping to attention when she saw the stony face of one Fugaku Uchiha. Her breath stopped in her chest as he approached them, a few other Police Force members trailing behind him, "You can clear the area now. We'll take it from here." his eyes fell on Reina before he snapped with ample bite, "Who let this outsider here? This is a private matter, girl. Run along."
"I...! Sorry, I'm going," Reina said, turning on her heel. She wanted to say something about the 'girl' comment, but Fugaku somehow looked even sourer than usual right now. Shisui following suit, throwing one last furtive glance towards Aunt Uruchi. The older woman simply waved him off with a light cough.
"I should go back," Shisui muttered once they were at the exit of the compound, a thicket of forest at their backs, "I should make sure she's really okay..."
"I think Fugaku, out of anyone, would have that covered," Reina said. "but seriously, who would do something like that? What happened?"
"I... I don't know," Shisui said, walking a few paces ahead of Reina, who would have been struggling to keep up with his hurried strides had she not been a shinobi herself. Actually, she was still struggling. He was much faster than her. "things have been bad lately, but this... this is really bad."
"I mean, yeah, it's a dumb prank—"
"It's not just a prank," Shisui mumbled quietly, "it's a statement. We're losing respect, status, power... But the civilians shouldn't have to be blame for any of it..."
"Um, well," Reina said quickly, "power, status, that stuff doesn't really matter anyways, does it? And I'm sure with time, things will die down. Everyone'll forget why they were so mad at the Uchihas in the first place."
"It's been years since the Kyuubi attack. Nobody's forgotten, and a lot of people are still blaming us. Probably always will."
"But still..."
"I'm not saying our clan was always in the right either. I just don't like that people are pushing things further past what they need to be. We just need a little more time, and then I..." Shisui suddenly stopped in his tracks, shaking his head. "Nevermind. Look, either way, it doesn't involve you."
Reina reeled back a little at that.
"I mean, just because I'm not an Uchiha, doesn't mean I can't hel—"
"I have to go." Shisui ignored her, turning towards the forest, "I have a big day tomorrow. I need to rest."
Reina froze.
"What? What are you doing tomorrow?"
"It's not... It's not important. It'll just take a while, so I don't know when I'll be free."
A familiar knot started to twist in Reina's stomach.
"What're you doing, Shisui?" Reina repeated.
Her question was only met with silence. She pressed again, this time almost yelling. "Look, just tell me! Stop being so secretive!"
"Whoa, Reina, lowering the volume. We're not that far outside the compound." he said, surprised. "What's gotten into you?"
She could feel it. She didn't know why, but this time, she could feel it coming. It was time.
She would never get used to it. The surprise of it. To know that they would be here one day, only to never be seen starting the next. There was always so little time to mentally prepare.
And the fact that she knew before they themselves did somehow made it all much, much worse.
"Look, whatever it is you're doing," she suggested, "why can't you just do it next week, or the week after? Or even better, never."
Oh wait, not never, she thought suddenly. He... he has to die. For the sake of the original story.
But did it have to be this soon?
A part of her wasn't ready to say goodbye yet. But if tomorrow was the day he ran into Danzo, then...
That's that.
Shisui huffed. "You've always been a little off, Reina, but this is a lot. Even for you. It's not my job to tell you everything I do, you know. Anyways, I'll see you sometime later, okay? Maybe... next week. If things go well," he muttered that last part, mostly to himself, before turning to leave.
Nope, Reina thought as she watched his figure disappear into the forest, though she was a little unsure of why she was doing what she was about to do. Screw next week. I'll be seeing you tomorrow.
'
'
She trailed Shisui the next morning as he left the compound on the path towards the nearest training ground. Ideally she would've followed him starting from his house, but entering the Uchiha's territory was now nearly impossible for her after the events of the day before.
Trust her, she tried.
"Here, kitty kitty," Reina muttered, waiting for Nora to come back. She'd sent her summons off to scout Shisui's route, allowing Reina to keep a safe distance from him yet still be aware of the direction he was headed. He was a seasoned shinobi, after all. She'd need all the tricks in the book to get one past her. Lucky for her, she was pretty experience with tracking, after over 7 years of training with Zabuza...
"Reina."
She froze, almost falling off a tiled ledge as she saw Shisui look up to glare at her. He had called her name from more than three stories below her, as she'd been following his path from the rooftops of nearby apartments. "I know you're there."
Goddammit! What was all that training with Zabuza even for?! "Uh, I can explain."
Shisui suddenly shunshin'd before her. "Are you following me?"
"Uh. 'Following' is a strong word."
"...Is it the right word?"
"Maybe."
He sighed, putting a hand to his face. "Reina, look, I'm really not doing anything that important today. Just training with Itachi, but he asked me not to advertise it because of everything that's happening with the clan lately. That's it."
She blinked in surprise. Oh.
He was just training with Itachi today? She'd assumed today would be the day he'd attempt to use his Kotoamatsukai on the clan's leaders, only to be stopped by Danzo's attack. The one that ultimately led to the end of his life. Of course, she wasn't really sure what was going on behind the scenes, so she didn't have a clear timeline. Honestly, it was possible he hadn't even approached the Council about this yet, for all she knew.
A part of her resented the wave of the relief that'd washed over her chest at knowing that, at least for now, Shisui would live another day more.
Wait, Reina thought, why is Shisui suddenly willing to tell me about this training session today? He was being so sketchy about it just yesterday. He wasn't usually wasn't secretive about stuff like that in general, but it did make sense that they'd wanted to stay under the radar after recent events.
Still... Something seemed fishy about this.
"Well, I have nothing against you Uchihas, though a lot of you are pretty snobby," Reina joked. "so you won't mind if I tag along, right?" That would be the only way to see what he was up to, after all.
"No, I think it's better if you didn't," Shisui said, turning to leave. "maybe next time, Reina."
Great, now she'd have to do this the hard way.
Five minutes later they arrived at the training grounds, where Itachi was already waiting.
"Shisui," Itachi said, looking exasperated as he watched Shisui and Reina approaching, "I did not know you were bringing company."
"Sorry Itachi," came Shisui's dejected mumblings, "she insisted on tagging along today for some reason... started yelling and grabbing onto my leg as when I tried to leave, never seen her act like this..."
"I see," Itachi said, "After what happened with Aunt Uruchi and Uncle Teyaki yesterday, there were some things I was hoping we would have a chance to speak about afterwards... in private."
Reina pretended not to notice how his eyes darted to her for just a fraction of a second when he'd said that last part. Even more annoyingly, she was aware he had trained enough as a shinobi to know how to avoid such telling body language.
He wanted her to know she wasn't welcome to this conversation.
Prick.
Still, she simply hmmphed in reply, planting herself in a seat on the floor in front of a shady tree. Sunset was nearing, so Itachi and Shisui hurried to get into their training stances to allow themselves the full hour.
Clnnk. Claank.
The sound of kunais meeting midair filled the field. It was hard to tell who was fighting who at times, both Itachi and Shisui moving far faster than she'd cared to follow. It'd been a while since she'd seen Shisui in action, and well, she'd never seen Itachi fight outside the series up until now. She'd only sparred with him a bit during training, and he'd certainly held back during those sessions.
But what was most surprising was how brightly the two were smiling each time she'd caught a glimpse of their faces. Their exhilaration was clear in their expressions, far from any emotion Reina'd ever experienced when she herself trained. Shisui was a big smiler in general, but Reina couldn't recall him grinning that widely anytime recently. He'd been much tenser, as of late. And Itachi, well... she'd just assumed his m4outh didn't go in that direction; unless he was around Sasuke, of course. But these two just seemed happy to be fighting with equals, and held evident mutual respect for each other as shinobi.
They truly were the best of friends.
Caaw! CAAAAW!
What was that? Reina thought, squinting into the sun. Wait. Isn't that...?
Itachi's head snapped up as he too, caught sight of the flying figure as it soared past them through the sky.
Shisui's crow.
"Wait, what?" Reina blinked, glancing over to Shisui. Her jaw dropped in disbelief as, right in that moment, the boy poof 'd into a cloud a smoke. "Oh my god, you assholes!"
"I apologize," Itachi said, "but Shisui knew you would follow him today, so he took preventative measures."
"A shadow clone, though?!" Reina exclaimed. "How did I even fall for that? Ugh!"
"Shisui is very adept at that jutsu," Itachi said, "and I knew it was unlikely you'd suspect this of him as well. He is not deceptive by nature."
"So then what is he doing that's so important he went to all this trouble?" Reina asked, heart rate rising rapidly, "I... where is he right now?"
"I do not know," Itachi said, shaking his head, "he only asked that I assist him with this ruse. He would not divulge details, and for the sake of his privacy, I did not press further."
You idiot, Reina thought. You should definitely have pressed further!
A part of her knew this wasn't Itachi's fault, though. He thought he was just helping a friend. He didn't know what she knew.
"But his shadow clone disappeared," Reina paled, "doesn't that mean he's in trouble?"
"It could just be that he requires his reserves for another task," Itachi said, "that is not something inherently troubling."
Another task. Another task, as in fighting Danzo?!
She was about to press him further when Shisui's crow appeared before them, flapping its wings wildly as it landed on Itachi's shoulder.
Itachi's eyes widened.
"Still think there isn't something inherently troubling happening?" Reina asked dryly.
'
'
Itachi had left without her, as Shisui's summon had been instructed to call him over; and him alone. Itachi, ever loyal to his friend's intentions, made a point of not allowing Reina to follow despite her protests. It didn't matter, though. Reina had taking the necessary precautions for this.
She took out her scroll to summon something small, black and furry, that immediately went barreling into her feet once it'd poof'd into the area. Reina lifted her leg in surprise as she looked down into the gleaming eyes of her summon.
"Nora! Were you able to find him?"
She'd sent the summon to the Naka river to wait for Shisui's arrival, on the off chance Itachi had been called away to play out that pivotal scene in the series. It was a shot in the dark, but thankfully, her instincts had been right. And from what Nora was relaying to her nonverbally with his simple nods of yes or no, Shisui had only just made it to the waterfall when she'd summoned him back.
"Perfect," Reina breathed, breaking off into a run, "I might still have some time."
Time for what? Reina thought to herself as she continued to sprint towards the forest's cliff.
What was she trying to do, here? Get there just in time, to watch him die?
She'd never wanted that before. When Obito had left, and Rin, Kushina, and Minato had passed, she'd done her best to avoid witnessing it. So why did she feel so obligated now, to watch Shisui meet his demise? After their friendship had distanced, after years of writing off Konoha for a life in Kiri?
She couldn't explain it. None of it made sense, but she could feel it. That overwhelming need to be there.
She was a terrible friend to him in life, but she would at least be there for him at the end.
Night had already fallen by the time she'd made it to the foot of the cliff, barely able to make out two shadowy figures standing at its apex. She was several stories down, closer to the water than any of them. Despite having taking all the precautions to go undetected this time, she still wanted to keep her distance. Just in case.
"This is it," she whispered to Nora, who had followed quietly behind her, "it's time."
It was a clear night. There were sparse clouds, the moon swelling and full in the sky above. Yet not a single star shone; instead they stayed hidden away, as if they, too, wanted to look away from the scene that was about to unfold.
Her breath caught in her chest as she watched it happen, as if in slow motion. She watched, as the figure took a step back towards the edge.
She would wonder for the rest of her life, what the feeling was like at that moment. What thoughts were running through his mind as he prepared himself to jump? He was doing something she never could, giving his own life for his clan. Ending his own short life for something he didn't need to be involved in, not really. He could've just run instead. Run from it all, the Uchihas, Konoha, Danzo.
She would've. But that was the difference between Shisui and herself.
For him, the thought had probably never even crossed his mind.
Nora looked up to her with questioning eyes, sharp green orbs gleaming in the moonlight.
"No," she said quietly, putting a foot down in front of the summon, "we're just here to watch."
Itachi's tenseness could be felt from afar, if not heard in his voice as other boy stepped back towards the choppy waters below. He was about to give himself to the mercy of the air, and it would prove unforgiving. He would fall, and fall quickly. She watched as he stood at the edge.
Strangely, that was the moment the realization struck her.
It was her first time watching someone die.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. THUMP. Reina's heart started to slam against her chest with every beat, each sound crescendoing as every second passed; Shisui only a few feet away, rapidly approaching his fate in the river below. For the first time, she wasn't exaggerating. She was truly worried her heart would burst from her chest, as the beating only grew louder. And louder.
And louder.
THUMP. THUMP.
The sound was thrumming so rapidly in her ears, it was actually affecting her ability to see. There was white in the corners of her vision, her hands flying up to rub at her eyes in an attempt to return them to normal.
"Reina," her eyes widened at the sound as she lowered her hands. It was familiar, but also strangely not; it had more of an echo of likeness to something she once knew.
Her gaze rose to see a kind-looking, brown-eyed girl smiling back at her, "Hi, Reina."
Rin.
"It's okay, Reina," Rin said, raising her palm ups. "everything'll be okay."
"Whaa...?" Her breath had gone shallow, shaky, unable to finish forming her question. "What?! What the HELL?"
"You've grown up so much," another soft voice, a flurry of red hair falling around the shoulders of a familiar woman as she appeared in front of Reina, kneeling; to her right was a blonde man, blue eyes swimming gently compassion.
THUMP. THUMP. THUMP.
"What's happening?!" Reina wheezed, falling on her hands, her face so close to the grass her nose was practically rubbing in dirt. She'd rub it further in, though, if it meant not facing the figures before her. "You guys are dead! This can't be real!"
Reina clasped her head between her hands.
"It's okay, Reina," Kushina smiled, repeating Rin's words. "It's okay. You can do what your heart is telling you to do."
"I don't know what you're talking about! How are you guys here, you can't—" she paused, terror-stricken as the realization struck her. "...It's the same as then, isn't it? Back when I used to see Naruto... You're all just hallucinations."
"We might not be real," Minato said, "but that doesn't mean you can't to hear what we have to say."
"Your friend is different from us," Kushina said, "you can find a way to save him, and keep this world's happy ending. I know you can do it, Reina, you just have to believe in yourself. The way I've always believed in you."
"No," Reina said, "I can't. I can't. I'm not like Naruto, nothing works out for me like it does for him... I can't just take that risk, it's not worth it..."
"I don't think you truly think that," Minato said softly. "if you did, you wouldn't be seeing us right now. Your heart would've have called on us for help."
THUMP. THUMP! THUUMP!
"My heart? Calling on you...? Oh come on, stop with this storybook bullshit! This isn't a story anymore, this is my real life, now, and possibly the last one I'll get! So unlike you I've been taking it seriously!" Reina snapped, finally sitting up and throwing her hands to her sides.
"We took it seriously too," Rin said in her soft, bell-like voice, "that's why we fought until the end, Reina. I know deep inside, you want to do the same. Remember what Obito said, that day at the festival?"
"No!"
Hadn't the universe played enough cruel jokes on her? It couldn't have picked a worse world to drop her in; one in the midst of war, where she had been orphaned and alone, with only the faint backstory of a crazed clan to call her own. She'd let three people die, and bore that burden of guilt through years of suffering in Kiri. She'd done it because she was doing what she'd thought she was supposed to do. She was going to keep doing that too, even with Shisui.
She'd thought that was what the universe wanted from her. Stay in her lane, sit back quietly and observe. The message had seemed clear at the time.
It was clearer now, that the universe was actually just toying with her.
She'd had enough of it.
"'The last thing you should be is afraid to fight, even when it comes to something like destiny'," Rin continued, "that's what Obito said to us that time. You pretend you didn't believe in those things, but deep down, you heard him. His words must have reached you, even just a little bit."
"Stop!" Reina shouted, clasping her head in her hands again.
"Reina," came Kushina's voice again, "you'll regret it for the rest of your life if you don't at least try."
"And like you said," she didn't even need to look up to know this soft whisper belonged to Minato, "this one might be your last."
"BE QUIET!" she screamed, fingers digging into her temples so hard she thought they would break. "JUST BE QUIET!"
Suddenly, there a was shout; Itachi's pained cry filled the night, the sound splitting the moon in half as just a few feet away, Shisui took the plummet towards his death.
Then the world went black and white.
.
..
...
What have you done, Reina?
'
'
A purely physical reaction, she told herself five minutes later, when the fog had lifted, and she'd finally begun to come to to terms with had happened. This doesn't mean anything. This doesn't change anything.
It was just a coincidence, that her Tomeru had activated itself only seconds before the crown of Shisui's head was to make contact with the river.
"Nope," she said, voice toneless, as she stared down at Shisui's body, held loosely in her gloved hands, "this totally... doesn't... change anything."
Shisui's prone form was now black and white, thanks to the greyscale of her Kekkei Genkai. Since she'd yet to make any direct skin contact with him, he hadn't been removed from the jutsu yet. Thanks to that, he was still somewhat suspended midair, like a puppet in a show; there were no strings to be seen, though. Also, he was no longer anywhere near the cliff, instead, they were in a cave a half mile off. Why? Because she'd brought him here. Like an idiot. "no, this doesn't... change... anything."
It probably had to do with her strange genes, her clan's proclivity for psychosis. The emotional stress had gotten the better of her. The Tomeru had simply reacted to that. She'd moved and taken him to this cave, without thinking. It didn't change anything. She could just... put him back.
Right?
She stared out across the water, falling to her knees in defeat.
She'd really done it. She'd really, actually, done it.
She had saved Shisui.
By God, you're an idiot, she thought to herself.
No. No, you can still undo this, Reina. Put him back right now, and nobody'll be the wiser, it'll be like you were never here—
But then she looked down.
"God, are you serious," she whispered, horrified. She hadn't seen his face up close yet, having been busy with the task of saving him from a waterlogged doom. Blood streamed from his eyes in long rivulets, scarlet red now an inky black thanks to her Tomeru. His fists had been balled tightly at his sides, as if he'd been willing them not to move, not to lash out on instinct—as any human would—and try to grab onto something to delay his fall.
It was his smile that got to her, though.
The smile. He was about to die, but he was still smiling. The freak.
And the worst part was that it was his smile. Such a very Shisui smile. That same stupid, goofy grin he'd worn since childhood.
Nothing about him had changed since then, not really, in terms of personality at least. Even as the years went by, as he lost family and friends to war and battles, nothing had even remotely managed to squander his ideals. That steadiness was the same trait that would define Naruto later on too, as well as the great hero he would grow up to be.
Life could throw anything at them, the most terrible things imaginable, and they would face it head on. With a smile.
These were the thoughts occupying her head as she lifted up one of her arms, almost on instinct, in preparation for a set of hand seals.
You wouldn't have had a choice soon, anyways, she tried to tell herself, just do this for now, and you can figure the rest out later. From the markings on her wrist, she could tell her time was almost up. With her reserves, she couldn't risk pushing past her limits this time. She didn't know what the consequences would be now.
Slowly, ever so slowly, she deactivated her Tomeru.
Oh shit, she realized, eyes widening, as a sudden, familiar feeling flooded her senses; the quick pulse of chakra in a concentrated area, right at Shisui's stomach as his body fell to the floor of the cave.
The faint indicator of a seal.
She'd made a terrible oversight. A part of her knew she should've wondered more on how Kabuto was never able to find Shisui's corpse in the series, even though it should've washed up on shore sometime after his fall in the river. Now she knew why, as brushed her fingers over his shirt—her nails immediately dragging on the edges of the small paper outlined on his middle.
"Fuck!" Reina realized, as the cave burst into chaos. Shisui started to flail, no longer under the influence of the Tomeru; his panicked voice filled their damp surroundings as he shouted his confusion. She ignored him, instead pulling up his shirt to grab the time-delayed explosive he'd planted on himself. It was seconds away from detonation, so she quickly crumpled it in her hand before throwing it out towards the cave's entrance—
But she hadn't made it in time.
'
'
A/N: Finallllly
Sorry for the late updates/review replies guys! It was mostly because I was busy with work these last few months, and partly because even though this chapter was already mostly written, I needed to do more research to make sure I got these scenes/timelines right (nobody pointed this out, but there was this one mistake in a canon character's storyline a while back, and I thought it was a bummer). Tbh I'm still unsure about some of this stuff, but I'm tired of rewriting so I'm calling it. I'd rather go back and edit later than end up never finishing this story lol.
Planning to upload the next chapter on time, hopefully, just check on my profile for updates on any delays. I was technically almost on time for this one, just a bit late...