True to his word, Itachi stayed with me during the time that it took for Obito to realize that not only had I tried to make an escape, but the entire base knew there was a strange female being held captive.

I had put all the clothes and books back and was currently sitting in the chair in front of the broken desk reading a medical text.

Itachi had remained standing in front of the doorway quietly and patiently. A few Akatsuki members had meandered past to get a peek into the room, but passed on quickly when they noticed Itachi was blocking most of the frame of the door and that I gave them no response.

However, it was not long before Obito appeared in the room with a whirl of spirals. His mask was on and I could see he was simmering with anger. I could feel my muscles tense at the ominous feeling that rolled off of him.

I glanced up at him and bit my lip fearfully.

Quickly, but moving like he wasn't in a hurry either, Itachi made his way to Obito's side.

"Madara," Itachi acknowledged in his usual murmur. Obito didn't look away from me, but he appeared to be listening with half an ear to Itachi. "I found her trying to escape in the throes of a flashback with Iwa Shinobi under the belief she was kidnapped and being held for interrogation and torture. When I was able to awaken her from the flashback, she allowed me to escort her back to the room."

It was said simply and it put into Obito's head that I was not in the right frame of mind when I left and when I came to, I was willing to come back.

"Good, Itachi," Obito responded in his Madara voice. "You may leave now."

As Itachi made to move, Obito continued in a threatening tone: "You will be sure to keep this to yourself." It wasn't a request, but Itachi didn't respond and kept walking out the doorway and into the corridor.

I stared at Obito with fearful eyes and said as sincerely as I could manage, "I'm sorry." The words tasted like dirt in my mouth. I wanted to take them back as soon as they left my lips and the simple words were hard to say.

He stared at me simply. His mask was still on, which unnerved me, but I knew since the door was broken that he did not have the luxury of taking it off.

Finally, he spoke. "Come with me."

I held back the nervous gulp and set the book down carefully on the vanity with the page I was on still open. My steps toward him were unsteady and biting back the initial reluctance, I reached a hand out to him to request to hold his hand. I didn't want to, and I was very aware of the danger that lurked beneath the surface of that unassuming funny mask and cloak of red clouds.

I could see his eyes minutely shift down to my offered hand. The seconds in which he stared at the hand before making a decision were nail-biting, but a few seconds later he grasped my hand in his.

I locked eyes with him then and gave him my most apologetic and remorseful face.

Nothing changed in his posture or his eyes that told me he was feeling anything different than the anger and rage he felt when he came into the room originally, but I didn't expect that he would calm down immediately with my act.

Obito, from what I could remember, had a temper at times, roiling just beneath the surface of his skin. He was a great actor, but I could remember his rampage upon the death of my past self through the anime and manga. Hearing that I'd almost escaped probably triggered a response within him that was a reminder of his initial loss of my past self.

Rather than pull me through the doorway and down the hallway, I felt the coiling, spiral feeling and saw the world rippling around us. The feeling was like having your stomach leave you and the thought that you were having vertigo.

I closed my eyes instinctively and could feel my body tense even more. When the feeling disappeared, I opened my eyes to find us in another room. It was most likely his, and the door was shut.

"Rin," he hissed in voice that spoke of severe restraint, but still tightly combined with anger. "What the hell were you thinking?"

I released his hand and gathering enough courage, I drew on what little experience I had on acting. I put my hands on his mask, cupping his face. "Obito," I said in a breathy tone. "Please, let me look at your face."

I could feel something shift in him then. I gently released his face as he reached up and removed his mask. My hands were back on his face then and I cupped his cheeks carefully, almost caressing them. I stared into his eyes intently and put as much emotion into my words. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

His eyes were softening although his face was stony.

"After you found me in the bathroom, I began to remember and when you left, I had remembered some things, but what hit me next a few minutes after you left was my memory of being held captive by the Iwa shinobi during the mission for the Kanabi bridge." I felt his face untensing and his lips starting to pull downward, but the small shift was too little for my eyes to notice.

"I wasn't really aware of my situation; the world around me. All I knew was that I had to escape. I needed to go back to my team. I had to escape and find you. I knew you were going to die if I didn't warn you. I didn't have a weapon, so I made one and went searching."

At this his face finally frowned and his eyes stared down at me sadly.

"I can't believe you're alive, Obito," I choked out. While his thought might be I was so happy, tearfully choking out how happy I was to see him, I felt the opposite. I was having a hard time getting the words out. Knowing that I was Rin in a past life, I still felt like I should have some remaining feelings for him. I should be happy. But all I could think was how horrible he turned out, all the awful things he'd done in my absence, and all the horrible things he'd done because of me.

There was a tightness in my throat and to avoid breaking face and becoming an ugly crier because I couldn't believe what I was doing, I threw myself into his arms and sobbed into his chest. Everything in me screamed to get away from him, but Obito immediately trapped his arms around me and held me in place.

A hand began to card through my hair and I heard a shushing sound. I knew I wasn't completely forgiven because I could imagine the panic he went through. While he was twisted and I had to get away, I knew the state of his mind would freak out the moment I was no longer within his reach.

The fingers that ran through my hair were foreign to me and forced my body to stay relaxed in his touch.

"You're safe, now, Rin," He told me in a gentle and soft voice. "I won't let anyone take you away from me." The words, while meant to be comforting, did the opposite. I let the horrible feeling take over and I let loose another sob in his arms.

I felt him reach down and pick me up in his arms. I immediately reached up to wrap my arms around his neck as he carried me. He set me down on his bed and kneeled in front of me.

I pulled away from him and looked into his eyes with uncertainty.

"What now, Obito?" I asked.

His face grew a little stern. "You're going to stay with me. Don't try to leave again. I meant it when I said that there were bad people here. Itachi was the least dangerous one to run into, and now that they know you're here, they're going to be curious. You cannot leave this room. Your room is now unsafe and I'll move your stuff over here."

I nodded quickly; glad I was getting off easily, although I felt even more uneasy now about my living conditions. I did a quick glance around the room and noticed that it was quite bare, so the things he would bring over would mostly fit.

What worried me the most was that I was now going to sleep in his bed. I didn't know how far his obsession went with Rin – no, me.

I felt his hand cup my face and rub his thumb along my cheekbone. "Get some sleep," he ordered me. "I saw you work an eighteen-hour shift. Along with the events of the last few days, you're in dire need of sleep. Please, get some sleep, Rin."

I pulled myself away from him and climbed into bed, pulling back the plain covers and curling up in the foreign bed. I pulled the covers over myself and eyed him uneasily from my spot.

Would he join me? Would he stay? What would he do?

He stared at me for a moment with longing on his face. Finally, I watched him stand and slowly crawled into bed with me. We locked eyes and he lightly pulled me into his arms and held me carefully into his chest.

I was resigned to this new position and I dreaded what came next, but I didn't believe Obito to be someone who would force someone to have sex with them. He was a murderer, vengeful and hateful, but I didn't believe him capable of such a thing.

I closed my eyes and felt the last few days catch up with me as I fell into oblivion in Obito's arms.

The dream started with an open campus around me; all was pink around me. The floor, the wide sky. I didn't know on which I stood. As I stared into the nothing around me, I felt a hand tap me on the shoulder.

I whirled around.

The person who tapped me on the shoulder was Rin Nohara.

"Claire," She said with a smile.

"Rin?" I replied in confusion.

"Past and future selves don't normally interact," She started, "but I thought some help might be needed."

"How are you here?" I asked. "Aren't I you, and you are me?"

"Kind of," She shrugged at me. "Like Itachi said, we have two different experiences. I, being Rin Nohara, and you being Claire Roth. While when you were born, you still had pieces of me – those unresolved feelings in my death and my core attributes, we merged." She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't think I'm explaining this well. My death was tragic and I had unresolved feelings when I left. I didn't move on like I should have, and we didn't reincarnate as we should have."

"What do you mean?" I asked, both intrigued and scared.

"My feelings were so strong that they passed onto you. It should have been a clean slate; we should have become one, a swift a fluid change into a new person. Instead, I passed onto you certain things."

I shook my head. "Are you saying that we failed in reincarnation?

She laughed lightly. "That's one way to say it. The next problem is that hile you had traits passed on from me, you didn't get everything."

"Isn't that a good thing?" I asked.

"No." She replied firmly, her face frowning now. "That missing feeling you always have? That hole in your chest you've always felt? How people explained it away as not having 'fulfilment' or that you just have something 'missing' in your life? It was only going to get worse. You didn't have it when you were younger, but it grew as you got older, right? It's like a ghost in a way, when I died, I didn't move on. And like a poltergeist, what remained of me is getting stronger."

I felt bad she was explaining herself as something that people believe to be nuisance. I realized that Rin didn't think too highly of herself and perhaps even blamed herself for many things, including our failed reincarnation.

"Eventually, those traits would become more. More that remained of me would grow; like being discontent. The longer you went without resolving the problem, the more it would grow and the more you would remember."

"Remember?"

She smiled sadly at me. "You've already started remembering. They've been dreams, and sometimes we don't always remember dreams. I said it was going to start off small and grow, right? It was only a matter of time before you started to remember your dreams. The dreams would then move into your consciousness while awake."

"Wait!" I felt a jolt of surprise. "Those few hallucinations I've had – out of nowhere, no diagnoses besides that PTSD – they weren't flashbacks for me. PTSD is usually flashbacks, but mine weren't."

She nodded. "I wondered when you would notice that. Your mind is combining my memories with interactions, or things from your world. Hearing people talk about you when they aren't and saying things that don't make sense? Taken from my memories."

I felt disturbed by this revelation and felt immense worry. "So memories are just going to pop up? We're going to merge eventually?"

She shook her head. "No, not like that. Not anymore. How we were going, we were going to suffer through the process for many more years. I'm here to change that. It's more imperative than ever that you remember your time as me. That we finally merge. I won't be taking over, but with the situation with Obito and your future rescue by Konoha, you need to fully remember more than ever."

"But you said that you would grow? You're not going to merge fully?"

Her face was troubled and apologetic. "It's time I moved on. Or as on as I can. And I can, through you. You will fix my mistakes. You will become fulfilled; fill that hole in your chest as you will no longer miss that which you lost."

I opened my mouth to argue. While I felt bad for her, and I could somehow relate to this feeling of just wanting to bed done, I didn't want to have to fix someone's mistakes – at least not mistakes as large as Obito becoming a bit of a psychotic murderer and Kakashi's mess.

"I'm sorry," She said with a strong amount of emotion that I could almost physically feel. "But I am trusting you. I am you, after all." She gave me a small, sad smile. "Please, take care of Obito and Kakashi. Please forgive Obito for his mistakes. He's not bad, not really, just…lost on the road to life." I shook my head a little and tried not to laugh at the stupid catch phrase of Kakashi's. I could see her shoulders trembling a bit as she withheld laughter, too.

I sobered quickly, though. "I understand, but I am not you – like you and Itachi said, we had entirely different experiences. I cannot love Obito like you did. Not after what he's done, what he's done to me, or for us."

"I know," Her face troubled, "But please try. He'll get better, he'll make it better. He always does. Whatever happens, know that I am thankful for this opportunity to finally rest. I am going to pass on my memories, including how to use chakra and medical ninjutsu. It should help with your story for when Konoha comes to rescue you." Her eyes were pleading with me to understand. "I'm sorry, but thank you from the bottom of my heart."

Before I could say anything else, I saw a tear drip from her eye and she disappeared like she was never there.

In the next moment, I felt a rush as memories cascaded into my mind. Years of memories like a movie in first person. I suddenly understood how strong her feelings were for her teammates. The strength of the emotions made me cry out –

And I woke with a cry. I sat up straight on the bed, the cry dying on my lips as I saw my surroundings.

I could feel my chest beating like a bird in frantic flight over the morning sky.

I could feel Rin's love deep within and when I thought of Obito and Kakashi, I felt the remorse, the love and the regret. Bitter regret sat in my gut and coiled until I couldn't remember the last time I felt so nauseous in my life.

I leaped out of the bed and ran for the trash can near the desk. I threw myself to my hands and knees and puked into the can. I heard the sound of a door being thrown open and shut with such force and quick footsteps. A hand pulled my long hair back as another rubbed my back.

I could smell Obito, recognize the chakra of him as he kneeled by me like he promised to always be there for me.

I shuddered between puking as I warred with the emotions Rin pushed into me and what I felt as Claire for Obito. More than ever, I had to reconcile these emotions, these memories and my past.

As I finished puking, I looked up to see Obito's worried face and his hand disappear from my back as he pushed a piece of cloth in front of me. I took it silently and wiped my face with it and pulled away from the garbage as the smell hit me. Preventing a gag in response, I went to sit on my butt instead, taking deep breaths.

"What's wrong, Rin?" Obito asked worriedly.

"Flashbacks." I said simply.

Obito pursed his lips in response, but let go of my hair and threw away the cloth, pulling me to my feet in the next second. He put the back of his hand on my forehead and frowned. "No fever." He muttered.

I shook my head. "Just flashbacks, Obito," I reminded him. He didn't respond to that as I turned to look at the room. The vanity had been placed in the room with the makeup, an extra dresser added and my books were filling a bookcase next to his desk. I noticed something missing, though. "Where's the team photo, Obito?"

"I don't want to look at Kakashi everytime I come into my room." He grumbled in a near growl.

Now that wouldn't do. "I want that photo, Obito." I insisted. "I understand you're unhappy with Kakashi, but my death was my fault. Kakashi's suffered enough. You don't need to blame him. If I never get to see him again, I want something to remember him by."

I could feel his reluctance. Finally, he sighed. "Fine."

He didn't move.

"Now, Obito." My own insistence and persistence surprised me. But I realized how much I wanted the photo. I was talking back to Obito and he wasn't being aggressive in response. If anything, he seemed to appreciate that his Rin was back and feel back into easy conversation.

At least for now.

He heaved a heavy sigh but left without another word to retrieve the photo.

As soon as he had left, I raised my hands up to my eyes and watched as medical ninjutsu coated them. I could remember how to heal, everything.

The memories weren't a forefront, either, though, and I could feel my Claire memories as being more dominant. I remembered things when I pushed or like they were somewhat forgotten memories that were in my subconscious.

I dropped the chakra in my hands as Obito reappeared with the photo. I took it gladly and set it on my vanity.

"I'm glad you're finally awake." Obito said after I had placed the photo on the vanity.

"Finally?" I replied, turning to look at him.

"You've been asleep for days." I could feel the disappointment. "You need to take better care of yourself, Rin." He chastised me in a tone that carried an underneath of worry.

I'd heard that most of my life, to be honest. Skipping meals for days, skipping days of sleep, nothing new. I knew that he was worried, but I was going to carry his words with me like a grain of salt. "Okay."

The guy actually seemed relieved I'd agreed, not aware of how much I was not in agreement. I felt a little humor bubble up inside me, but left it unreleased.

Obito pointed to a door over by the vanity that I hadn't noticed yet. "The bathroom is in there. It's private, so you don't have to worry about running into any of the members of the group I work with." I nodded in acknowledgement.

Obito grabbed the trash can and told me he was going to take care of some things and he'd be back eventually.

Knowing he'd be gone for a while, I sat at the vanity with a medical ninjutsu book and read the words with renewed interest.

Time passed and I realized that Obito would not be coming back anytime soon. I didn't know what time of day it was, but decided sleeping wasn't a bad idea after exercising the mind. I crawled under the covers and felt relieved that Obito wouldn't be coming by tonight (hopefully, my mind supplied).

And as Obito's absence continued in the next few days (I could only imagine how long I'd been in the room. I showered after each sleep and noticed my supply of clothes dwindling and the laundry basket in the bathroom growing with each outfit I replaced.

Food arrived for me in the form of Zetsu appearing three times a day and the plate of food disappearing after each meal eaten when I wasn't looking. I hadn't been asked about allergies since Obito's initial question, but that was fine because I'd lied. I was a big girl and Obito probably was keeping tabs on me and knew when I wouldn't eat something (and if so, I'd probably be allergic and needed something else).

I found myself beyond bored and had the urge to pound my head against the wall when I'd finished all the medical books on my bookshelf and didn't want to resort to reading trash novels.

I thought of Icha Icha and could feel my fingers twitching in response. The biggest curiosity of the Naruto fandom. What would it be like? Was the writing good? Was the smut good? I wanted to read it just once. No, I had to have it. Next time I saw Obito, I was going to probably horrify him with the request, but I needed that book.

Sighing, I put my cheek on my fist and stared at the wall. I had started to work on my memories and the emotions I felt that were passed on. While I had not yet reconciled who Obito was and now is, nor how I used to feel and how I felt now, I didn't think that it would get better until I had more interactions with Obito.

I heard yelling outside the door, which was not uncommon. The Akatsuki members were a wild bunch. I heard many petty fights over the last few days. I'd heard the sound of Hidan's head hitting the ground and the grumble as it was sewed back on. That had been traumatizing, but I was starting to get used to the usual craziness.

I wondered what the problem was now.

My mind wandered until I realized I did not hear the voices of Akatsuki members, nor the sound of petty spats.

I turned toward the door and my curiosity drew me towards it. I put my ear next to it, hoping for a sign of what could have happened.

I could hear the slight sound of multiple footsteps.

"What do you see?" I heard someone ask, the voice a low rumble of tension.

"A female, in that room down there. She appears to be trying to listen to our conversation. It looks like the door is locked."

I stepped backwards in surprise as the footsteps got louder and I could hear them without straining my hearing.

"Get the door open." The first voice demanded no give in the voice.

I wasn't sure what to do. Who was it? Was it Konoha or had the Akatsuki pissed off someone who was willing to storm their base so blatantly and pick a fight with them?

Where were the Akatsuki? Didn't they usually have people at the base to keep an eye on things? Wouldn't they fight with anyone in the base?

"The door is locked on both ends." The second voice informed. Should I unlock it? I wondered.

I bit my lip. "Who is it?" I asked as loud as I dared. I cursed myself for the idiocy of engaging a conversation with someone who was invading the base.

There was a pause on the other end, like they weren't sure how to respond.

"Are you a prisoner?" The low rumble of the man responded. "And do not lie to us, or you will regret it."

With trepidation, I responded with a quick, "Yes." I reached out to touch the door. "Are you here to free me?"

I didn't get a response for that question, but the voice demanded, "Stay away from the door. This is sure to break it."

I hurried away, towards my vanity on the other side of the room and backed myself on the wall.

The door exploded inwards, pieces of the door throwing themselves far and splinters flying through the air. I brought my arm up to cover my face as I turned it away from the force of the destroyed door.

I lowered my arm as I heard people enter the room.

I stared back at the man who appeared to be in charge. I gasped as I stared at him.

"No, this is impossible." He said as he saw me. "You're supposed to be dead."

"Jiraiya…?" I muttered in shock. I stumbled forward. "You've come for me?"

"How are you alive, Rin Nohara?" I jolted at the name.

I looked to the side and crossed my arms, holding each of my elbows with a hand. "It's a long story…and it starts with the Rinnegan."

A sharp intake of air was his response before I looked up to see him turning his eyes to the room and latching onto the team photo of Minato, Kakashi, Obito and I.

Jiraiya seemed to realize where he was and what was happening immediately. "We have to go. Now."

I nodded hurriedly and as I passed the vanity I grabbed the photo.

"We need to hurry, before someone comes back." Jiraiya said firmly. His team nodded at him. I took a second to look around and saw no one I recognized, even with Rin's memories. There was a Hyuuga, a possible Inuzuka and an Aburame. An obvious tracking and retrieval team. "Can you run?" he asked me.

I grimaced. While I got Rin's memories and abilities to use chakra, I am not in shape for actual ninja work.

"Right." He responded like he expected that. "We're in a hurry, so jump on my back."

I didn't want to, especially knowing the lech he was, but I knew that my best option was to do exactly that and trust he could be professional on a mission.

I climbed onto his back and latched my arms around his neck and clamped my ankles around his middle, the photo nicely tucked into my pocket of my skirt.

"Let's go!" He said and took off at a run, a pace that was blinding and scared me. "This mission just got more complicated. We're going to Konoha – no stops." He ordered. I knew their pace was killer and to go for that long would be hard on them, but I appreciated the rush.

I put my head on his back and tightened my grip for a second as I said, "Thank you!" in a breathless voice that was filled with elation. And while Jiraiya did not respond verbally, I felt his pace pick up.

Konoha. I was going to Konoha.