A/N: Sorry about this taking so long to get out. I was thinking through a matter I'd considered several times before, which you should be aware of as I've changed the date of her brother's death a few times, it's again set to a couple years prior to the story. I also had to rewrite the chapter once because I changed my mind five pages in on the document that I wanted to do something different than I had been doing. That said, hope you enjoy!

'Reiki.'

She frowned, rolling the word about in her thoughts.

What had she gotten herself into? What had Reiki been involved in?

As this crossed her mind, she shifted about in the metal chair she'd been left in to wait for her usual escort to come fetch her. The sealing team had said that they'd let him know that they'd finished as soon as they'd reported the results to the hokage- which had left her to her own thoughts, a matter that always lead to the same questions at the moment. Especially now, considering the failure the sealing team had encountered upon attempting to unravel the seal holding back her ability to speak.

They hadn't said a word, but she'd caught the rather wary looks that had been sent her way upon the discovery that continued efforts would only continue to end in barren results. It was a strange reaction- she was aware. Weariness, annoyance, those would have made sense. Wariness, however? Why were they wary of her? Was it because of who they thought she was? Should they have been?

Was Reiki really her?

Should she have to be held accountable for the actions of someone who seemed to be something completely separate from herself? And who was to say that the separation didn't stop at memory, what said that this Reiki they thought she was, was her?

The name obviously meant something to her, of that she was certain. But was it really her? Shouldn't her own name at least hold some ring of... familiarity? Shouldn't she not have to guess what it was, but to know what it was when she heard it? To know why so many people seemed to know so much about her, some of it undeniably unsavory if those looks and the matter of the ANBU were any indication?

There were several differences between the her that Kakashi would speak of and the her that she was slowly uncovering.

Were they really the same person?

There were two many questions and not enough answers. She needed answers. At this rate- she'd suffocate under the weight of the unanswered before any solutions were found.

The door cracked open and Reiki stiffened, eyes flashing to the figure stepping through the open space. The dim lighting of the room caused her to furrow her brow, cocking her head to the side slightly. Instead of the white-haired figure she'd expected to see, there was a slightly hunched, scarred man. Instantly, she scrambled for her paper pad.

'You're not Kakashi.'

"I'm not," the man agreed.

Without saying anything else, or waiting for any other questions from her, the man shifted around to take the other folding chair that had been left in the room. She simply watched him as he set it out and sank onto the surface. His dark colored hair was half-covered by a white bandage wrapped around his head, cutting off view of one of his eyes. His body had a frail feeling to it, but at the same time there were obvious muscles lurking beneath the surface. The air around him... it was dangerous. It only took a moment for her to draw a connection between matters around her and this man.

'Are you the one that ordered the ANBU to follow me?' she questioned.

It seemed obvious to her, although she wasn't sure why. Something in her mind told her she'd come to the right conclusion. He was in a room with her that was only a few doors away from the interrogation rooms. Not just anyone could walk down here. If he hadn't been stopped, then the ANBU outside knew him. If they knew him and he felt it important that he speak to her, then obviously he had some matter that dealt with her. He wasn't the hokage and he didn't give off the feeling of a friend.

Again, to her, all of this seemed obvious.

His lips twisted up slightly, although the expression had a rather mocking feeling to it.

"You always were one of the brighter shinobi of your age group, even for your family's standards."

Her eyes narrowed slightly.

'You know me?' Reiki demanded.

Despite the conclusion she'd reached covering the man, it was unsettling to discover she'd been right. If only, once, she could meet a person that she knew with the memories of how she knew them. Perhaps she was being a bit self pitying- at the moment she wasn't going to bother to stop the feelings. It was selfish- but she had long since decided that she was allowed a small bit of selfishness in these circumstances.

The man studied her in turn, his eye just as concentrated as her own two had been a second ago. Seeming not to find an answer to whatever it was he was searching for, the man's lips twisted up once again.

"Wouldn't you like to know the answer to that question," he mused. "Or perhaps, you already know the answer?"

The defensive expression that had begun to form on her face faltered for a split-second, confusion coloring her. The confusion, however, disappeared the moment she realized how obvious the expression was. Her face locked up, fingers tightening around her pencil.

'What do you mean by that?'

He didn't reply instantly once again, that dark eye searching her.

"I'm curious," he informed her.

She simply stared at him, prompting him to continue without her adding anything to her paper pad.

"I find it strange that a woman who is supposed to be dead shows up years later," he replied slowly, watching for any reaction she might show. "Not only that, that she shows up without the rest of the team she was sent out with. It only makes it more interesting that she claims to hold no knowledge of her whereabouts during said years. To add to it, if your use of that paper is any indication, that seal I've heard of hasn't yet been removed. Our sealing squad is comprised of the best of the best. Now, why wouldn't they be able to remove a simple silencing seal, I wonder?"

She stiffened, her defensive posture unchanging. It was obvious what he was implying.

'You think all of this is my fault- that I'm faking innocence.'

A thin, closed eye smile was his response.

Irritation surging through her- a strange, almost foreign feeling considering it was something she'd yet to experience to this extent- Reiki drew to her feet. She instantly jotted down something upon her pen pad, aware that his eyes never left her from the moment she'd started until the moment she'd finished. He didn't say a word, only watched as she dropped it on her chair then moved past him, dismissing the errant thought that she'd been instructed to wait for Kakashi. She didn't pause until her hand was on the door handle, the distinct feeling of his eyes on her still flooding her system. He hadn't moved to grab the paper, something that irked her slightly.

Without waiting any longer, however, she left. It wasn't until the door had fallen completely shut behind her that he lurched to his feet and scanned his eyes over the note she'd left for him to read. He couldn't help but note that the scribbled words of a mute has less of a dramatic exit then the cold response she no doubt would have given him had she been able to speak her opinion. The chill in the air when she'd stormed out was enough of an indication of how she'd taken his words for him to guess at what tone he voice would have held.

'Believe what you wish. I won't try to convince you of the truth, I'll just tell you that, that is what it is, the truth.'

It was the moment he'd finished reading the small note that his lips turned downwards, a thoughtful, irritable edge to his gaze.

She was the same, yet different. There were things that struck him as vastly different from the person they'd known. At the same time, perhaps that was just a construct. It wouldn't be hard to picture a girl like her- an excellent actress- being able to pull all of this off. Rarely did traitors change their feathers- rather they just disguised the color in an attempt to blend in.

Especially traitors that had once plotted to destroy an entire village.

___________________________

Reiki ran into Kakashi in the hall. At the sight of him, she paused, an almost sheepish expression taking place of the stormy look that had previously occupied her face. His visible flickered over her, then back to her face with what was obviously a question. In response, she shrugged, slowly jotting down an excuse and turning the pad out for his viewing.

'I grew anxious.'

"Oh," he replied after a moment, her words lining up with the agitated state she seemed to be in enough to wipe away any suspicion he might have held about the matter otherwise.. "... should we go, then?"

She nodded, relieved that he didn't question her further. Silence fell between them, a comfortable feeling, as they started down the hall together. Within a short time, they'd escaped the building and found themselves back on the streets of Konoha, the question of what to do now that the most pressing matter before them had been taken care of. The answer came to them within a second, however, as two familiar faces appeared, one of them albeit less enthused looking than the other. Trailing behind them was an equally familiar, black canine.

The first, a certain personal space invading pinkette, had his arm wrapped around the neck of the second, a certain ticked off looking brunette. Much like before, rather than threatening, her anger seemed more comparable to the irritable noises of a small animal. No matter how hard she seemed to be striking his side, each blow coming with it's own rather harsh sounding thud, Mitsuki took it in stride, spreading his other arm in the air as he prepared to make a declaration.

A slightly pleased feeling flickered through Reiki when she realized she remembered both of their names. It must have showed on her face upon their approach, because Mitsuki faltered, no words escaping his open mouth. Instead of saying anything in response to the surprise on both of her "friends" faces, Reiki glanced to Kakashi. In turn, he shrugged, his own way of wordlessly telling her he wasn't certain of their reason for being there. Within a moment of that- however- Mitsuki had recovered and released Arisu in order to fling his arms about Reiki in an excited manner.

It took her a moment to respond, not only startled by the sudden invasion of her personal space, but also by the direct contrast to the slightly irritable boy she remembered having met in the hospital.

"Happy to see me, huh?" he questioned, releasing her when Kakashi sent him a warning expression that had him holding back a retort that was instantly on the tip of his tongue. There was no need to make the fact known to her just yet that while he was fond of Reiki- the pinkette was less than appreciative of her escort. "Well, the feeling is mutual. So, how'd it go in there, hm?"

At the shrug she gave him, his expression fell.

"Ah... well..."

Arisu irritably swatted him upside the head, earning herself an equally irritable glower in response. Instead of justifying her "reasonable" reaction to his obvious disappointment with a reply, she focused on Reiki.

"What he's supposed to be telling you right now is that a lot of us have pulled together a welcome back party at my parents' bar."

Strangely, she had no problem imagining Arisu's parents owning a bar- despite that strange knowledge that pricked the back of her mind telling her that it wasn't quite atypical for the girl's clan.

"Drinks are on the house and everyone is coming," Mitsuki added, his annoyed expression softening somewhat as his eyes flicked back to her. "No's not an option."

"Mitsuki," Arisu scolded. "You can't just--"

"What, you weren't thinking that?" he cut in cheekily.

She glowered at him, the red-faced, harmlessly looking anger that was quickly becoming familiar appearing on her face once more.

"You still can't say it like that!"

"So you were thinking it?" Mitsuki countered smugly.

"Go to hell, asshole."

At the venom in her tone, he smirked.

"Did I hit a nerve?" Mitsuki questioned.

During all of this, Kakashi simply sighed, familiar with the duo's bickering. After all, when you combined two people with equally irritable natures, it was hardly surprising that they'd butt heads on multiple occasions. If anything, it was more surprising to find the two ever not arguing. Something that only happened when they were either both drunk or exhausted, and even then the only reason they tended not to argue on those occasions was in place of words, they'd simply dive head first into a brawl. This in mind, he shot Reiki a questioning expression- leaving it up to her to decide whether or not they subjected themselves to hours of being social in place of simply returning back to his apartment for another evening of seclusion.

She hesitated, then shrugged.

Perhaps it was better to go with this strange celebration of theirs. They'd spoken as if there were a number of people who would be there- meaning that there were still a number of people who knew her that she'd yet to even learn the names of. The more information she gained, the more likely she felt it was to stumble upon an answer to the questions rolling about in her mind.

And the only way to do that was to tackle all of this headfirst.

"We'll come," Kakashi informed the duo evenly, his expression giving no indication of what he thought on the matter.

The bickering stopped instantly, Arisu looking as if she was within an inch of throttling her much more annoying partner. The surprise on her face was enough to tell Reiki what answer she'd expected to have gotten.

"Really?" she demanded. "You'll come?"

Reiki's lips twisted upwards and she inclined her head in agreement. A grin flashed across Mitsuki's face, his irritation forgotten as he suddenly moved to latch an arm about her neck just as he'd held Arisu upon their approach only a short time ago. This time when she stiffened and Kakashi shot him yet another warning expression, the man simply ignored the warning and stuck close. He wasn't known for abiding by the idea of personal space and he wasn't about to start now just because Hatake thought he should.

When he'd been acting somewhat pleasant around him in the hospital, that was another situation entirely. He'd have to be an ass to be rude to a hospital patient- which the man no longer was. In his mind, that simply meant he'd be nice enough to please Reiki and no more.

"Then let's go!"

________________________

By the time that Reiki had been settled at a table overflowing with snacks and bottles of sake, among other types of alcohol, her head was spinning with names. Their arrival at the bar had been met with cheers and greetings- all by unfamiliar faces. Names had been thrown at her just as quickly, leaving her scrambling to connect them with the right face before the next introduction came.

As she drew in slow breaths, attempting to calm her slowly fraying nerves, she drew up the list of people she could recall in her mind.

Yuhi Kurenai was the brunette with the red-eyes who'd greeted her with a warm smile. At the woman's side there'd been a tan man... Asuma- she believed- apparently the son of the hokage who she'd yet to actually be introduced to but had come to see her when she'd been unconscious in the hospital. Gai she'd already met, his enthusiastic smile, bowl-cut, and dramatic tears upon learning that she was still unable to speak would be unlikely to be forgotten anytime soon. Next had come a sickly looking guy, who'd introduced himself as Gekko Hayate between coughing. He'd mumbled an apology, saying that he'd been running late and had to run to get there- a matter that had left him breathless.

Next had come a few other figures, such as a man in black who kept adjusting his black shades until Mitsuki had elbowed him with a roll of his eyes- declaring that Reiki shouldn't worry about remembering the name of such a pervert. A declaration which had been met with such vehement denial that she had to wonder exactly how true it'd been. The final one had been a slightly sheepish boy- a bit younger than the others- who'd looked as if he was questioning why he'd been invited. He'd introduced himself as Iruka and had also earned him an elbow as Mitsuki scolded him to "lighten up" and that maybe a drink would do him good.

All in all, Reiki was relieved when Kakashi had cut off any other introductions and escorted her to a table- earning himself a sour look from Mitsuki in the progress. It enabled her to simply listen to the conversations going on, only occasionally having to offer a polite smile or a nod in response to something someone would address in her direction- half of the time not quite sure what she was agreeing to.

She'd wanted to learn more- but was suddenly aware that perhaps diving head first into it all had been a rather poor plan. The night drug on, the conversation becoming harder to keep track of as the number of glasses she'd been poured and handed became unknown. Kakashi- having been drawn into a conversation with Gai over something that while trivial to him had prompted loud explanations from the rather drunk jounin in question- only realized that Reiki had begun to drift off when her head dropped to his shoulder.

He blinked a few times, glancing down at her and was shocked- although such an expression was easily kept from his face despite the alcohol induced red dusting to his cheeks. After all, he'd never known her to be the sort to be so relaxed- in all the years he'd known Reiki she never let her guard around others, even if they were friends. She'd never have allowed herself to fall asleep in public.

"Hey, Kakashi?"

He looked away from her at the question, his eyes alighting upon the eighteen year-old Iruka, who had his chin laid on the table as he tiredly eyed the passed-out Reiki.

"She's... staying, right?" the boy questioned. "She won't disappear again...?"

Slightly surprised by the rather serious question- although perhaps this was yet another thing that could be blamed on the empty alcohol bottles decorating the entire table- Kakashi glanced down at Reiki, pondering the question for a moment. The answer should have been instantaneous- of course she was staying. The girl had no knowledge of the world she'd left behind upon disappearing. There was no reason that she should be thrust back into the shinobi world- therefore there was no reason for them to lose her again.

The table had gone silent with the question- the buzz of conversation that had been propelling them all through the night falling away as the girl of the party was actually brought into focus. Multiple pairs of eyes focused on them as he continued to consider the question and she simply snuggled closer, a slight flush on her cheeks and a small furrow between her brows- the result of whatever she was seeing behind those closed lids.

"... she won't."

Few looked reassured with that answer, that is until they caught the expression on his face as he gently shifted so that instead of leaning on him, she was being carefully cradled in his arms. The expression there said everything.

She wouldn't disappear again for one, simple reason.

He wouldn't let it happen.

Several goodbyes and promises to meet again soon later, Kakashi was walking back through the night, Reiki still cradled in his arms. His eyes would occasionally drop down to check on her- as if to assure himself that she was completely asleep. She might trust him- or at least seem to- but he doubted any girl would feel comfortable being cradled in the arms of someone she'd known for such a short time as she believed she had. Once they'd arrived back in his apartment, he juggled her as to manage to open and close the doors without disturbing her sleep. Much to his relief, she was still completely unconscious when he made it to her room and laid her out on her side atop her bed, his hand brushing her shabby black bangs from her face.

His hand faltered for a moment, not immediately pulling away. A second later a chaste kiss was placed to her forehead before he dropped his hand to his side and set about dragging her quilt over her prone frame.

"... Goodnight, Reiki."

A dull, empty ache replaced the buzz of the alcohol. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Kakashi turned on a heel and left, his mind replaying his answer to Iruka's question.

She wouldn't disappear on them. Not again.

Right?

All he had to do was keep his promise.

And... his distance.

A/N: To explain the reason the party wasn't expounded upon much... have you guys ever watched shows with people with amnesia? The homecoming parties are always, always overwhelming to the person in question. Narrating it partially from her POV and skimming over it was my way of showing this. She was already tired from the attempts of the sealing team before hand and honestly only gathered names from the situation- and only because she was completely focused on that fact. Hope that reasoning makes sense to you guys! Night!