It is the sound of pelting rain, the smell of decaying vegetation and the bursts of bitter winds that stirs her.
Then she sees Tobi, the cave walls, the depressing darkness and it all comes back.
"How are you fairing?" Tobi asks quietly.
"Rested but disoriented," she mumbles.
"Yes…that tends to happen," he answers vaguely.
She dismisses his confusing statement. Half the time he does not make any sense.
They remain silent. The ferocious element continues to stir the environment. It is the sounds of heavy rain and ear-shattering thunder that deters any further attempts of a conversation.
Only sometime later when the fall of rain turns into a light shower and the sounds of a storm is intermittent that Rin decides to break the quietude.
"How long have I been asleep?" she asks curiously.
"Several hours," Tobi replies.
She cannot take another bout of disoriented feeling, albeit standing helps.
"How are you fairing?" she asks.
"Better than you it seems," he replies lightly.
She smiles at the humour and Tobi is watching her for several long uncomfortable seconds before walking pass and analysing the cave's surroundings.
"You said you would explain the significance of this place," Rin says.
Tobi does not immediately speak. His watch is focused on the wall in front.
"I explained to you earlier that I have yet to find an area on this mountain that does not impede on my teleportation ability," he eventually says, "This is just one area I am testing out. If all goes to plan we won't have to spend too long here."
"Will Deidara be okay?" she asks anxiously.
"He landed on another mountain, he is safe. I'd be surprised if he has not made it to the other side of Cascades by now," he answers stiffly.
Unconvinced, she nods half-heartedly.
"Rin, he will be okay, don't you worry about him," Tobi says gently.
She never gets him but something in his tone gives her the reassurance that Deidara is okay.
"How do you know if this place is safe?" she asks quietly.
"I don't," he replies bluntly, "but it is worth a try. If more exploration is required I can go on my own, I won't put you in any danger. Staying exactly where we are right now is safe, you know that don't you?"
For some inexplicable reason, she gets what he is asking. But she half expects him to understand this place without the need for further exploration.
"Yes, we are safe," she agrees, "But I sensed something for a brief moment when we first set foot in here. It was a strange sensation, like it was there, close by, but far away, like it was or is-"
"Behind the walls," he finishes.
When Rin remains in puzzled silence, he continues.
"Your chakra senses are extremely sensitive so I am not surprised you were able to feel minute traces of it."
"You seem to know where 'it' might be coming from," Rin says.
She points to the wall behind him.
"Yes, I can see."
When Tobi moves to scrutinise another blank wall, his body suddenly tenses. In the same moment, a sickening jolt of nausea permeates.
Her chakra senses tremble, as if something is drawing energy from her body. But it stops and she falls to the ground.
"Are you okay?" Tobi asks from somewhere to her right.
She gives him a withering look.
"W-What was…"
"I think I know how to get behind that wall," Tobi says lowly.
Rin is looking troubled.
"We don't have to, we can-"
"No," she interrupts forcefully, "I want to get out of here sooner and if there is a way, I'll do it."
"I cannot guarantee we would find anything, let alone be safe. Perhaps it is better if I go alone-"
"No," she interjects. The hard edge in her voice catches him by surprise, "we stay together, if something happens and we get separated, it will be difficult to find each other in a place like this. Don't underestimate me."
"Okay, but we head back here and leave straight away if we encounter anything unsafe."
"Something would have to be pretty damn unsafe if we decide to leave in that storm," Rin frowns.
Tobi says nothing.
When he stands to re-examine the cavern walls, Rin hovers behind.
Tobi traces an imaginary line up and down the rocky surface, then runs his fingers gently across in ambiguous patterns.
"I see," he murmurs, "Do you have a kunai on you?" he continues.
"Oh…I do," she passes the kunai to him.
With incredible precision, Tobi pierces a very small dot on the wall and follows an imaginary line he so curiously traced earlier. Tiny cracks appear in the form of minuscule hollow holes, and with one forceful tap, the brittle wall crumbles to the ground in a dusty heap.
Before them hangs a tiny rectangular carving about the size of Rin's hand. It protrudes innocuously from the black surroundings that was the one metre imaginary line Tobi had traced earlier.
At that precise moment, the storm abates and the clouds part to reveal the light of a distant crescent moon. The glow shines into the cavern and illuminates the carving in an expressive gleam.
"What is that?"
She stares cautiously at the abstract painting that comprises of bizarre symbols.
Tobi does not speak but he is gazing intensely at the picture.
"What are you doing?" Rin asks fearfully.
She steps in to hold the kunai's tip from making contact with his hand.
"Blood and chakra," he answers evenly.
A prick of the skin followed by the sounds of a scraping kunai. Tobi presses the bloody tip to the cave's wall and suddenly she hears it, a loud rattling noise that exemplifies the clashing of tumbling rocks.
A large archway replaces that of the painting, which has shrunk away into the depths of the cave wall.
"Hmm…" Tobi peers through to the other side.
"What do you see?" Rin asks nervously.
"Dark and dusty," he replies, "shall we?"
He steps past the arch entrance until darkness swallows his entirety.
"Hold on, how do you expect us to see?" she calls exasperatedly.
Her focus turns inward, then a surge of concentrated blue chakra transfigures into a spherical shape and hovers ever so delicately on her palm. She steps past the entrance and illuminates the dreary, narrow underground.
"Clever chakra control," Tobi says genuinely.
"I'll be right behind," Rin says brightly.
Even with the glowing light of Rin's chakra, the darkness extends far beyond their path. Perhaps the 'explosion' during the inner cave's reveal prompted a shower of dust to descend from its low ceiling? Regardless, it does not settle and so the mounting feelings of oxygen deprivation sinks in.
The atmosphere is stale and suffocating. The air is reminiscent of a physical substance that can be touched. It is ominous in form and highly adept at concealing itself within one's body.
But Rin is highly sensitive to her environment. Her ability to detect chakra, whether innocuous or sinister, plays to her advantage when perceiving imminent danger.
"Tobi, I don't like the feel of this place," she says apprehensively.
"Did you sense something?" Tobi asks cautiously.
"I-I think so, can you not feel it?"
"Only slightly, are you okay to continue?"
"Yes."
They delve further into the midst of the inner cave before descending at a gradual pace. The surrounding air turns thicker, the temperature colder.
A wispy mist lingers in front when Rin exhales, followed by a biting chill that hacks at her skin with scathing force. It burrows into her muscles and slithers its way through her veins.
"Why is it so cold in here?" Rin says shakily.
"We must be deep underground," Tobi answers mildly.
As they descend a set of uneven narrow stairs, the air inundates with an icy anomaly.
The quietude, menacing yet enigmatic, intermixes with the frosty atmosphere with every step.
"This is interesting," Tobi says suddenly.
At these words, Rin raises the chakra sphere towards his watch and illuminates the hundreds of human skulls strewn carelessly across the wall. It stretches far and wide, the glow of chakra shines light to the seemingly endless rows of bones.
"I can still feel their chakra," Rin says shakily.
"Do you recognise it?" Tobi asks curiously.
"That same slithering chakra in the Forest of Death…only less malevolent," she replies anxiously.
Tobi remains in brief silence, as if making sense of her comment.
"Tobi!" she suddenly says, "I remember. That first time we saw the sacrificial pit. They are identical to these, and in the Forest of Death, I saw something similar. Do you think they are all connected?"
"I believe so," Tobi answers thoughtfully, "But I do not know how they are connected. Although you do appear to have some sort of sensitivity to this."
"What do you mean?"
"You recognise these pits, you sense their chakra," he glances at the skull lined wall, "and you were the only one who felt and saw that dark chakra in the Forest of Death."
Rin frowns.
"You didn't see the dark, slithering chakra?"
"Normally no, not unless I utilise my eye," he answers vaguely.
She does not understand his exposition but she takes his word for it.
"I wonder why I could only see it," she says miserably.
"It is because you are highly sensitive to chakra, perhaps even more so than those who are naturally sensory types. Can you see their chakras?" he points to the wall.
"No. I feel them but I get this intuition that I cannot see them because they are not malevolent enough," she says disconcertingly.
"That is correct. It is because darker chakras are more intense, generally with greater concentrated powers. These ones have either not reached that state yet or have decided not to," Tobi explains.
"Decided not to?"
"Sometimes after death, some people decide to stay. For whatever reason, some turn to malevolent activities. This increases their chakra's darkness and hence their visibility to you."
"How do you know?"
"It is a theoretical speculation," he answers honestly.
"I really don't like this," she states dismally.
Tobi stops and Rin almost hits into him.
"Do you want to continue?" he asks.
She nods quickly.
"Yes, yes of course."
Fear may have lingered briefly on her features because Tobi suddenly stretches his hand out to her.
Bemused, she looks to him, as if expecting an explanation.
But he does not speak.
Only when she takes his hand does relief inundate her surroundings.
I'm safe now.