It is escalating, this disgusting nauseating feeling of looming death.
But death is not what she fears, it is what she will leave behind. She agonises over uncertainty, terrified for the person who lives and breathes for her existence.
Her skin, deluged with abstract lines of demise, is stark against the sun's blaring light. Like a tattoo etched deeply, it has ingrained itself into her DNA.
Along with death's souvenir is the retrieval of her memories and the events of her life thirteen years before her death. They return in dreams, in sudden visual flashbacks and in random recollections.
Though she is gradually weakening, her master's temporary strength has instilled a transient spur of hope.
Two days ago, they arrived at Lake Sand, a small town situated between the mountainous regions dividing the East and North lands.
Although modest in population, the town is spread across vast acres of greenery and serene mountains. The dense, slope-like forest provides a permanent barrier against any form of industrialisation.
The area is so secluded, Rin and the two Akatsuki members did not cross paths with anyone until they arrived at the town's inn.
It is a beautiful place, surprisingly for a small settlement, but its isolation ten thousand feet above ground means the lack of people is unsurprisingly conspicuous.
Located at the precipice of the East land's highest mountain, the inn is minuscule, and sits on a large patch of nature that is so tranquil, it could be utilised as one enormous sleeping quarter.
Through the large window panels of the inn room is the spectacular scenery of endless mountain scape. The view below is marred by thick fog that gives the surrounding region an eerie vibe to its majestic beauty.
It is darker up here, despite the gleaming sun against a cloudless cerulean blue sky. Maybe it is the fog or the thick vegetation, but the darkness is far from sinister - perhaps a closer resemblance to the epitome of a paradisiacal quietude.
There have been things Tobi and Deidara do outside her conscious, but Rin is not the least perturbed.
She has been spending most her days alone beside nature, befriending the sweet serenity of luscious flowers, observing the vast array of wildlife and studying the mysterious formation of colourful landscapes.
Otherwise, she spends her time staring blankly out the inn room window. It is a mediocre attempt at staving off the disgusting fatigue and the memories that trickle uncomfortably into her thoughts.
But today, things change for the worst.
Her reflection is dull and solemn against the surface of an old cracked bathroom mirror. There are lines scrawled all over her face and body.
Tentatively, she forms a seal for the concealing jutsu. It is a technique she developed to suppress the ugly black-grey squiggly lines. But as the days pass, the task turns arduous. Her chakra dips low and the energy level shrinks to a small burning ember that is barely holding on.
When Rin steps from the bathroom, Tobi is already waiting for her.
She approaches him and presses her fingers against the heavy fabric of his cloak. Then, she pulls him into a possessive embrace. His response, however, is a very loose, reluctant hold.
When she faces him, his gaze brims with a mass of sentimental emotions, as if there is something he is desperate to say but is resisting against it.
"Rin, stay by my side and watch over me, okay?"
She frowns uncertainly.
"Yes," she answers gently.
And just like that, her body caves.
She falls, swift yet slow to the internal conscious. Her body collapses with a vicious wave of debilitating fatigue. The heavy energy drags her inwards and gravity advances on her.
Then reality spins, and spins and it does not stop. It sucks every ounce of breath until she is suffocating from its torturous effects.
"Rin!"
The firm grasp on her shoulder does little to quell the dizzying sensation. But she recognises her own reality, and perhaps Tobi's comforting touch is an alleviation.
And it is the memories and the disorientating sensation of a thousand images. They flash before her in blind, rapid successions and disappear seconds after to be replaced by permanent pieces of her past.
She sees him, hears him, her friendly dark haired teammate. Together they stand side by side and watch her past in a ruminating replay, as if completely dissociated from physicality.
Then her muse rattles in a paralysingly painful rhythm.
Tobi is standing beside her with a look of petrification etched so deeply, she can feel every torturous emotion.
"I can't!" She cries.
Her hands swiftly latches to her ears in agonising pain.
The revolting high pitched screech reverberates grotesquely against the four walls, yet it is only her that hears it.
Without warning, the tragic events of Kannabi Bridge corrodes her conscious. Her eyes blind from the bright flashes of blue-white light that looms from an unidentified origin.
As if going through a procession of memories and sensations, she savagely grips the left side of her chest. There is an excruciating pain equivalent to a thousand kunais against flesh. The anguish, paired with the memory of watching Kakashi's guilt ridden face is so vivid, she feels as if she is reliving the event again.
"Obito I-" the painful gasps barely forms a coherent sentence.
Her lungs give way and she is inhaling deep for every molecule of oxygen. The black-red fluid she expels from her cough has seeped repugnantly onto her hand.
When she turns to Tobi - Obito, the blood has already drained from his face.
"Are you okay?" he asks quietly.
There is a sudden surge of palliative chakra. His chakra. And instantly, her body settles.
She nods wearily and sits up fully. The reemergence of the very stark black-grey intermittent lines is the darkest it has ever been. And with the little energy she has left, she repeats the concealing jutsu.
Her thoughts, however, remain unsettled.
Is he really Obito?
The very speck of the Obito she once knew is so far behind the deepened gaze, she is uncertain as to who she is looking at. But there is warmth and tenderness when he looks at her, as if the young Obito is only permitted to emerge in her presence.
No longer can she recognise him, from the demeanour he exudes to the very harsh presentation of his physical.
A fractured part of her is desperate for the comfort of his close proximity, yet she is unable to fathom the surge of uncomfortable emotions that links her desirous feelings for Obito.
The foreign discomfort is reminiscent of the redundant experiments she had worked tirelessly on.
The jolt of guilt hits her. She did not mean to trivialise her connection with Tobi - Obito. But she will not deny the wave of discontentment - to her Obito is different from Tobi.
"Are you really Obito?" She quivers.
There is no warmth in the gaze he gives her, rather a wary speculation of her question he is finding difficult to answer.
"Yes," he says eventually.
His voice is barely audible, a factor that matches the guilty expression that is now apparent across his face.
She does not speak.
Her mind wanders to the devastating events of Obito's 'death.' She still cannot fathom the absurdity of such revelation.
He had died, they had mourned, grieved and moved on, yet here he is, alive and well.
Though such memories remain graphic, Rin cannot recall the connection she had to that mission. It was war, they were completing a task, but who were they fighting for? Perhaps for their village, her home?
Home I cannot even remember.
"Where is Kakashi?" She asks.
It may be her dismissive tone, or the question itself, but Obito's gaze darkens disdainfully.
"I don't know," he mutters.
She looks to him curiously, but drops the questioning. It has been seventeen years. She does not know the events between her death and present day - additional knowledge will not save her from impending demise.
When Obito takes her hand, her body automatically withdraws and she rejects his touch.
It is the first time she feels deathly uncomfortable in his presence, and not in a desirous way, rather, a bitterness she cannot comprehend.
And he looks utterly defeated.
The saddened expression is so flagrant, she desperately wants to escape its negativity.
Perhaps she is angry at herself for being in this situation, or the fact Obito knowingly took advantage of her amnesia. Either way, the hostility continues to rise dangerously, until she moves to stand and Obito winces at her sudden need for distance.
"I'm sorry, Rin" he says quietly, "You must really hate me."