The sound of rain and distant thunder was the first sense that returned to Rin as she slowly gained consciousness. She was vaguely aware that she was even alive, and it took several seconds for her other sensations to wake up. There was a cold moisture in the air, and a soft blanket covering her body to keep it out. She smelled something like dampness and dust, and tasted a sour stillness that filled the room.

She was not alone.

Rin opened her eyes, and saw the face of a strange man grinning down at her. Her body froze, caught off guard by his snake-like stare. The man extended a hand and touched her face, cupping her cheek in his palm and observing her like a sculptor looks over his finished work.

"You're finally awake." He retrieved his hand and leaned back with a satisfied smirk. "I wasn't so sure that the jutsu would work. But you're alive, and you're just like your old self." There was a devilish humor that flitted across his cold face that Rin didn't understand.

"Who are you?" Rin asked tentatively. She dared not sit up just yet, her body wasn't so sure about that.

"I'm no one important," the man turned away and got to his feet. "I'm just the man who brought you back from the dead."

"Back... from the dead?" Rin winced. Memories were returning, sharp and fragmented. There was a strong pain in her chest, and she lifted a hand to cover her heart, expecting to touch open flesh. It was, to her surprise, smooth skin. "I died..." She murmured, and she could hear the sound of chirping birds, thousands of them, but couldn't remember where they came from.

"Yes, you died." The man was leaving the room now, and Rin followed him with her eyes. "It was around 20 years ago, wasn't it? That's a long time to be asleep." He left Rin to herself, sliding a door behind him.

Rin finally decided to sit up. It was easier than she anticipated it to be, and she took her time to observe her new surroundings. Was this man crazy, or had she really been dead for years? Rin couldn't remember an afterlife, but something about the way the man spoke was eerily truthful. She thought of home, and of her family, and wondered if she could ever go back. Would they accept their daughter after believing she was dead?

What about Kakashi, or Obito? Her heart twisted at the thought. Kakashi had probably found some other girl and married her. She wanted to see him, and see how he had grown up. Obito... well, he'd be happy to see her, of course. But he'd probably have moved on too. Minato-sensei probably had kids by now, probably all ninjas just like their parents. Everyone had changed and grown up, Rin mused, and she was still just plain old Rin.

There were footsteps at the door, and Rin expected the man to return to check up on her. However, this time it was a different person, a man in a mask to be precise. He stood there, staring at her, making Rin feel a bit uneasy.

"Excuse me," she said carefully, "what are you doing?"

The snake man followed silently, his lips were curled in a pleased sneer.

"Well Tobi, what do you think? She's exactly the way she was. No modifications." The snake man leaned against a wall. "Exactly what you specified."

Tobi's expression was covered, but his stance was tense.

"What have you done?" His voice was deep, and Rin felt an odd blush creep upon herself. "She's a child, Kabuto."

Kabuto laughed. "She's not been given the privilege of growing up, Tobi. This is the girl you fell in love with, no more and no less. A girl in a woman's body wouldn't have made a difference, unless you had made plans for her?" His tone was taunting.

Tobi was silent, and Rin was still. Plans? If that masked stranger laid a finger on her, she'd be making plans...

"Be gone." Tobi swept his arm back, gesturing for Kabuto to leave. Kabuto gave him a haughty chuckle and a knowing look.

"As you please." He said, disembarking again. Now Rin was alone with this masked Tobi, and she was prepared to fight him if necessary.

A few tension filled seconds passed, as the two simply watched each other.

"Rin." Tobi broke the silence with a dry voice. "Rin, is it really possible?"

Rin gave Tobi her coldest stare. "I don't know what you're talking about." She let a hand slide under her blanket and felt her thigh for a familiar pouch. It was still strapped to her, and she carefully searched blindly for a kunai or shuriken. "And I'm not telling you anything."

Tobi flinched, seemingly hurt. "This isn't an interrogation." He said, moving closer to her. "Don't be afraid of me. I did everything for you."

"I don't even know who you are." Rin said, her fingers now curling around the handle of a kunai. "I don't know anyone named Tobi. What did you do for me? If I died a long time ago, why bring me back?"

Tobi reached to touch her now, but Rin brandished her kunai and tried to stab it into his chest. Tobi's reflexes were quicker, and he firmly grasped both of her wrists with one hand and pinned them over her head. Rin screamed and tried to squirm, but Tobi's strength was completely unmovable.

"Let go of me!" Rin twisted as Tobi straddled her to keep her still. Her eyes widened in terror. "Don't touch me!"

"I said I did everything for you." Tobi continued speaking, ignoring Rin's cries and struggles to throw him off. "Even before you were dead, I dedicated my life to yours. I'm going to make things alright again, though. We'll all be together again, if you just trust me."

Rin had finally ceased her struggle, realizing she was wasting precious energy trying to fight. "I still don't understand you," she said, "Who'll be together again?"

"You, me, Kakashi, and Minato-sensei." Tobi sighed. "Everything will be alright. Everyone will be alive. No one will ever have to die again, Rin. I'll never lose you like I did when we were both children."

The realization was like the sharp twist of a knife.

"No." Rin stared disbelievingly at the masked face that was looming over her. "You're not..."

Tobi took his free hand and pulled away his mask, and he felt Rin shudder beneath him when it was finally off. She could see now the half-mangled and scarred face of her childhood friend, now a hardened shinobi. Two eyes watched her carefully, one with the Sharingan, the other the Rinnegan. There was no mistaking who he was though.

"Yes, Rin. Obito."

Rin opened her mouth, shut it, then opened it again to speak.

"No! You can't be! I watched Obito die!" Her body thrashed again, and she turned her face away from his. "Obito is dead! I'm dead! And you must be the devil!"

"Maybe I am the devil." He stroked her face tenderly, going from the crown of her head to the point of her chin. "But I am also Obito Uchiha. I brought you back because-" Words choked him, and Rin turned to look at him again. His face was full of pain, and her heart softened.

"You really are him," Rin whispered, feeling a hot streak of tears roll down her cheek. "Obito... what happened to you?"

Obito said nothing, but he wiped away the tears that were smearing her face paint. He bent down so closely that his face was barely apart from hers, and Rin felt his shaky breath on her skin. She made a small whimper, and closed her eyes, bracing herself for what she imagined was next.

His lips lightly touched her cheek, before he moved them over to her mouth and kissed her. His kiss was careful and gentle, and Rin felt years of longing melt into the motion of their lips. She kissed him back, trying to comfort her older teammate after the years of his grief.

Slowly her clothing was taken off, and Rin let Obito touch her and explore her body submissively. She wasn't sure why she was doing this, because Rin had never had any romantic feelings for him when she had been alive. Rin felt only the pleasure of Obito's attention to her every breath and sigh, when she felt his length between her thighs. Obito slowly pressed inside of her, and for the first time Rin cried out in protest.

"Obito!" She gasped through clenched teeth and tried to squirm back. "It hurts, stop it!"

Rin tried to push him away, but Obito's hand had pinned her arms like they were before. Rin screamed, but Obito persisted.

His erection was now deep inside of her, and he kissed her again to calm her down. Rin closed her eyes again, letting herself believe that this was a genjutsu, or just a dream.

Obito's other hand caressed her body while the one holding that had been holding her down released their grip. His fingers buried themselves into her hair and he rocked his body against her, slowly at first and building up. The ache that Rin felt inside dulled away, and she moaned in pleasure while saying his name, as he filled her again and again.

Finally she orgasmed, shuddering as she felt him release inside of her before lifting his body away. Obito laid down beside her, and pulled her smaller naked body into his embrace. Rin caught her breath, wishing to herself for a drink. Rin licked her lips instead, tasting Obito's kiss and feeling another shudder run through her now shaking body.

"Obito..." Rin lost her train of thought, she took a moment to register what had happened. Obito was alive, and so was she, but he was aged by things Rin couldn't possibly dream of.

"I love you, Rin." Obito confessed, and she felt him sigh into her neck. "That's why I brought you back."

xxx

Rin was brushing her hair and looking outside the window of her room. It was nighttime by now and the rain hadn't let up at all, and every now and again the crash of lightning streaked the cloudy sky. After cleaning herself and getting dressed, Rin was suddenly feeling hungry.

As though he had read her thoughts, Obito entered her room with a tray of food. He placed it on a rickety wooden table that stood bare against a wall.

"I brought you something to eat," Obito put the tray down carefully to minimize the table's wobble. "I thought you'd be hungry after... everything." It was an attempt to return to his old humor, but abandoned.

Rin turned to look at Obito, to see he had covered his face again with his mask.

"Take that mask off." She said, approaching her dinner and no longer looking at him. Obito complied, and watched as Rin carefully ate her first meal. It was a dish of rice and chicken, a cup of tea and a tiny bowl with a few strawberries. Rin loved strawberries, and she suspected that Obito must have remembered that tiny detail over the years. After she was done, she politely thanked him, before changing the subject.

"You never told me what happened."

xxx

Rin had a vile taste in her mouth and the world she knew was spinning.

He had murdered their sensei.

He had killed so many people.

He had destroyed their home village.

But Rin had not wavered in her stance. Instead, she let her eyes soften on him, and he caught his breath as she softly said, "I see."

There had been tears. Obito had embraced her again, but this time their were only a few kisses and soft words. Rin let them wash over her, and Obito left to give her thoughts some space to grow.

Everything was going to go right this time, he thought.

Rin turned again to her window, seeing the storm clash outside, and heard the familiar chirping of birds.

She opened the window with ease, and slipped quietly out and into the downpour of rain. Rin didn't belong in this room with this man who called himself Obito. He wasn't the Obito she remembered, and she didn't belong with him in this world, or any other world.

Xxx

Staring glossily into the heavens, Rin had a smile on her face and a wound in her chest. She was laying in a large puddle of rainwater, as if she had only intended to sleep there.

Obito held her in his arms, shaking violently, unable to contain the hellish reality spinning around him once again.

Thousands of chirping birds could be heard, but there was only the rain and the lightning, and a grown man clutching a girl's body while howling into the storm.