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So without much further thought, she reached in her purse and grabbed the first pen she could find. Then, Runa neatly wrote her name below her grandmothers.

With the kunai, she pricked her finger and allowed a droplet of scarlet red blood to fall on the space right next to her writing.

At first, she thought nothing happened. Had she been rejected by the contract? But then—

Runa gasped at the sight of a butterfly with large, sparkling purple wings fluttering around her, its wings glimmering with every ounce of light it catches. Curiously, she reached her hand out towards the mystical animal.

It slowly lowered towards her palm, and the second it made contact with the tip of her finger-Gone, she was out like a light.

Her body slumped lifelessly against her bed, her soul abandoning it's host and traveling towards another world. The world of those who left this great earth long before her.

And waiting for her, was a young woman with long white hair, ruby red eyes, and open arms.

There's a dull, faint thrumming noise coming from the inner workings of my chest. It's rhythmic nature somehow manages to lull me into consciousness, though, still it's not enough to let me open my eyes.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

It's the only thing occupying my senses for now. I can't see, feel, smell, or taste anything else. All I could do is listen to that same dull repeating noise that almost sounds like a heartbeat.

Wait- is that my heartbeat?!

"Runa? Runa honey- Oh she's knocked out! No, what if she's just asleep? She's just like my daughter oh my god-" A light toned, sweet sounding voice spoke, only to be cut off from a laugh from someone else.

What the hell is happening? Who's voice is that?

"I can't believe this! She looks just like Sasuke!" Another voice, presumedly from the same woman who laughed before, fawns over me. Oddly enough, this other woman sounds almost a bit sad, mournful as she mentions my fathers name.

"I told you!! And you never believed me!" The first voice scoffed, followed by "Well, your stories are always a bit dramatic. I didn't know if you were exaggerating or not!" The second voice defended herself.

Amidst their lighthearted bickering, it's as though my body begins to wake up. It's then that I begin to feel it entirely again. A tingling sensation creeps over all of my bones, and I wince at the way it resembles the feeling of a leg falling asleep! But all over me!

"Oh! Shit she's waking up! Quick Mikoto, get behind me! If she sees both of us at the same time she's gonna think she's hallucinating!-" The first voice urges.

Mikoto? That's my grandmothers name!

"You act like seeing just one of her dead grandmothers when she wakes up is any better" It's a mans voice this time, sarcasm oozing from his tone.

"SHUT IT YUUDAI! You get out!" The first voice snapped, sending the man away with a finality that would've had me cowering in place if it were directed at me.

Yuudai?

Flashback

When I was little, I saw a certain shift in my family dynamics quite a few times. The first was my father leaving with Katsuro, the second was Masahiko leaving on his longer missions, and the third was my mother leaving the home more often.

For some reason, my mom's been especially busy as of late. More and more of ours days have been spent apart, as she'd wake me and Haruki up, give us our breakfast, kiss our foreheads and send us off to one of her friends for the day.

She'd leave Daisuke out of her antics though, spending almost all of her time and energy on him and his wellbeing. I didn't understand it at the time at a mere five years old, never putting much thought into what she was going through every time she had to let us go in favor of tending to her youngest child.

Our babysitter for this specific day was none other than our very special grandpa Kakashi!

Haruki was quick to fall asleep once she reached his office doors, curled up and snoozing away on the bench underneath the large windows overlooking Konoha. The sunlight glimmered upon her little body, Kakashi's hokage robe tightly tucked onto her sides, acting as a cocoon of sorts.

Looking back, It could almost be seen as symbolic.

I on the other hand had been restless, dressed in a delicate white sundress as I jumped around the room trying to get lord sixths attention.

"Grandpa Kashii! Tell me more stories!" I whined out loud, tugging at his gloved hand. My eyebrows were knit together, the pout on my lips very telling of my current emotional state. He was beyond amused though, seeing me as a mini Haru with different colored eyes and hair the grumpier I got.

I was only around five years old at the time, unable to understand the fact that I was sat on the lap of one of the most powerful men in Konoha's history and bossing him around all at the same time, at least these days I have a bit more respect towards him-

"Runa, how many times do I have to tell you? I'm uncle Kakashi, not grandpa" The masked man deadpanned, amused at the way I shrugged mindlessly afterwards.

"But mommy tells me you're my grandpa" I reason with him, my pigtails bouncing along with my head as if I were trying to convince him of the truth, he raised a brow, a small smile underneath his mask.

"Sometimes it's better to ignore your mommy, don't tell her I said that though" He says, but I remain unconvinced.

"Well if you aren't my grandpa then who is?" I ask him, my five year old brain feeling like I somehow cornered him into admitting he was wrong.

"I actually knew him well, his name was-"

Flashback ends

"Yuudai, get out of my face" The first voice snapped, her sweet tone completely thrown to the side as she dealt with this who has the same name as my grandfather.

"Why the hell are you so pissed?! Make me Luna! You're all bark and no bite." The Man scoffed, and if I were fully awake, I'd surely feel my brow raise at it all!! Who are these people?!

And wait— LUNA?! MY GRANDMOTHER?!

Hold on, am I in the afterlife? Did that butterfly kill me? Oh my god, does this mean that Masahiko killed me?! OH NO!!

....My mom probably won't punish him that badly for this—

"Yuudai, we cannot argue in front of my grandchild! Stop acting like a barbarian and shut up"

"Guys? I think she's really waking up now" The second woman, Mikoto's, voice gently announced.

The silence from the other two makes me think that they've stopped their fighting to turn and look at me.

Whoever she is, she's right!! My dark eyes snap open, and the first thing I notice when my vision clears up is that I'm staring straight up at the night sky rather than the ceiling of my hotel room. It's filled with twinkling stars and swirling butterflies, and the floating shimmers look blurry under my newly awoken gaze.

The view is quickly interrupted by someone's face appearing directly over my own. "Runa honey?! Are you alright?!"

She's beautiful, truly stunning.

Dressed in an elegant ocean blue Kimono, Her eyes are a familiar shade of ruby red, her snowy white hair is held back in a low loose bun, but even then long wisps of white hair fall over her shoulder and nearly graze past the tip of my nose!

There's really just one, one minuscule feature that differentiates her from my mother....eh, it's the nose.

The more my vision clears, the more I feel myself falling into a stunned silence. I've seen her in pictures, of course I have! The framed ones that line the hallways of my home, the ones I'd look at with insecurities eating away at my soul.

This has to be a dream! A really really vivid dream!! She can't be staring at my face right now as if she didn't die years before I ever even existed, oh my god oh my god I REALLY AM DEAD!!

"I never knew butterflies were venomous...and I never knew venom could actually kill me, mom always said we were immune to it" I whisper to her in complete fear, watching again in shock when her worried face twists into one of complete amusement.

I watch in awe as she throws her head back, laughing at my words; and the sight aids my growing bewilderment.

Whoah....How can two people have the exact same laugh?!

My mother, my mother is her twin!

Everything about them, and I mean everything is nearly identical.

Well again, maybe not the nose...My mom and uncle Shinji actually have very similar noses!

The woman before me, the woman I clearly recognize and still can't believe I'm in the presence of, eases her laughter once she looks back down at me with a fond smile.

"Oh you're just so cute!! My name is Luna, I'm your grandmother! And no, you aren't dead. And yes! You are immune to venoms! If there's one thing your good for nothing grandfather did for you, it was blessing you with that pesky ability!" She smiles at me, however at the mention of my grandfather I notice the way her eye twitches.

I blink at her, entirely overwhelmed with the influx of information I've just received.

I've got to be dreaming right now! Is this the sort of shit Haruki goes through from time to time?! No wonder she wakes up acting like a zombie from those scary movies, this is the weirdest and creepiest experience!-

My brain is totally lagging at this point, unable to process the sight of the woman above me. Moments pass and I have yet to wake up from this bizarre sort of dream, in fact, the more I lay here the more real everything starts to feel!

I stare at her, slowly connecting the dots, and even with her confirmation that I'm not dead, horror seeps though my bones.

I bolt straight up, sitting like a pin with wide eyes and somehow avoiding smashing my forehead with hers all the while my senses start to enter a stage of complete flight or fight.

"How AM I NOT DEAD IF IM HERE WITH YOU?!" I hysterically shriek, backing away from her as if it were going to help me at all.

I glance around with a thundering heart, and my eyes quickly catch sight of another woman who was standing close by, watching the moment quietly and hesitantly. I scan her over with a Hawkeye gaze, and the recognition immediately sets in.

She's stunning, with long jet black hair, dark eyes with full long lashes—

Oh.my.god.

My mom has always been a rather secretive person, when it came to her childhood at least. Looking back, she never really initiated conversations about her parents, upbringing, or much of anything about her past.

Her story-telling almost always stemmed from Haruki or I begging to hear them as young children ourselves, and even then she seemed to hold back so much information from us! Parts of her wanted to tell us more, but her more hesitant side always ended up winning and forced her lips shut.

I noticed even then, at a mere five years old, that our mom didn't like talking about herself all that much with us.

She always deflected, even when she story should've revolved around her! She'd manage to go off on tangents about other people, other topics, anything besides her upbringing.

And yet— there was always one person she loved talking about. A woman who, she very clearly admired with all of her heart. Her Mikoto, my grandmother.

Those were the only times where she actually did have moments where she enjoyed telling stories of her childhood, happy ones that reminded her of all of the good times she encountered as a young girl growing up in Konoha's tumultuous war torn era.

She often told me I resembled her, and well— everyone who ever met Mikoto told me the same thing.

Growing up, I always wondered just how true it was.

Of course I saw her in pictures, but to see someone in a photograph is way different from seeing someone in person! I always wondered what it'd be like to meet her face to face—

And now I know........

ITS TERRIFYING!!

"OH MY KAMI IM ACTUALLY DEAD!!" My voice cracks as I screech once more, completely forgetting Luna's desperate attempts to calm me down as I spring up to my feet and jump away from the two of them.

The woman who I immediately recognized, Mikoto, let her dark brows rais in surprise at my outburst, and Luna quickly stood up herself to try and talk to me again.

"Runa honey listen to me!!-"

"SINCE WHEN WERE BUTTERFLIES TOXIC?! DID I ENCOUNTER A NEW SPECIES?!?!" I cry out loud, repeating the same mantra as before as I pace back and forth. as my ponytail swishes from behind me, nearly whipping Luna in the face.

"Runa, my love, I told you that you aren't dead and you're immune to poisons actually—"

"GRANDMA IM TOO YOUNG TO BE DEAD!! I HAVEN'T EVEN SHOWN MY DAD ALL THE STUFF I LEARNED WITH MY SHARINGAN YET!!" I'm hysterical at this point, my cheeks red and blotchy from the waterfall of tears pouring out of my eyes.

Mikoto perks up at the mention of my dad, though, she still looks heavily concerned as she watches over me and occasionally glances over at Luna.

Luna facepalms, dragging her hand down across her face as she begins loosing her patience with me. "Runa. My love. Listen to me—"

"WHAT IS HARUKI GOING TO DO WITH OUT ME?! SHE CANT EVEN GET GROCERIES ON HER OWN WITHOUT HOLDING MY HAND OH NO—"

"Runa, my love please stop I promise once you listen to me—"

"I WANNA GO HOME!! MY MOM AND I MAY FIGHT ALL THE TIME BUT I MISS HER, AND I MISS MY BED!!" I wail, my hands covering my eyes as I sob out the words and continue to pace around.

"RUNA UCHIHA LISTEN TO ME AND GET AHOLD OF YOURSELF DAMNIT!! YOU'RE GOING HOME TO YOUR MOTHER, BUTTERFLIES ARE NOT POISONOUS, HARUKI WILL NOT GO TO GROCERY STORES ALONE, AND YOU ARE NOT DEAD. UNDERSTOOD?!" Luna snapped, grabbing my shoulders and forcing me to stand still.

Her eyes aflame like two pits of burning embers, the red hue glinting with annoyance amidst my blubbering. I immediately shut up, blinking up at her with a watery gaze as she holds onto me.

"Understood! Oh Um..grandma your eye-" I sniffle, pointing at the one quite literally twitching.

"Oh don't worry Runa, it happens to her often. Usually its Yuudai who causes it though" Mikoto says with a weary smile, hesitantly stepping towards the two of us with her hands clasped together.

I gape at her up at her, my jaw slacked and eyes unblinking once she stops right next to us.

She turns to Luna, raising her brow as if she were waiting for the white haired Senju to move on. And with a deep breath, Luna smiles.

"Okay! Now, where was I? Oh yes! Runa my love, you aren't dead, you're just in the realm of dead people!!" She smiles once more, as if those words wouldn't be enough to send me into yet another panic attack.

Mikoto quickly intervenes, as if already seeing the returning terror in my eyes. "Honey, what she means is, you actually used her jutsu! That means you have some new abilities, like this one!" She smiled, taking my hand in her own soft one.

"New abilities...meaning I can talk to dead people?" I whisper, my voice hoarse from screaming at the top of my lungs seconds prior.

"Hah! That's just one of many!" Luna claimed proudly, a grin on her face that leaves my mind in complete shambles as it flashes to my own mom. How can two people look so exactly alike?! How?!

"H-How?! I don't get it! How did this happen?!" I ask, an anxious look plastered on my face.

"Well, You just signed that summoning contract right? The one attached to my sword? That's how!" She exclaims, nodding along as if it made complete sense.

"Your sword?" I ask, my voice a bit hoarse from the terrified shrieks I let out earlier. She nods, a knowing smile on her face.

My grandma wielded a sword?! How come this is my first time hearing about this?!

"Yep, my sword! My grandson buying that weapon wasn't mere coincidence y'know." She teased, standing up from her crouched position in front of me. That's right, Masahiko was the one who got me the sword. But how?!

I gaze up at her, meekly making my way up to my feet with Mikoto's help to listen to her story properly.

Now standing across from her for the first time with a clearer mind, a question mark appears above my head as I realize something that itches at my brain curiously. I glance between the two of us multiple times, wondering if I was seeing things correctly.

We're...We're almost the same height!

She's so short!! I mentally squeak, knowing damn well that in order to make eye contact with my mom like this requires me tilting my chin up at her and gazing up at the sky!

Luckily she doesn't notice the way I've subtly started comparing our heights, instead focusing on the story she's been dying to tell.

"The weapon store owner is this little old lady who I met while I was pregnant with Haru and Isao brought her my sword after I passed away. She's kept it for me over the years and hasn't let anyone else purchase it, but when she heard you all were coming to town she put the sword out for display, and once she met Masahiko she gave it to him!" She explained.

I blink at her in awe, my head trying to wrap around the insane domino effect that has led up to this moment.

"That's!- I just wanted the sword because I thought it was pretty" I admit to her in shocked whisper, and she giggles once again,

"Thank you! Yuudai customized it for me himself. It's some sort of Oshiro clan courting tradition, funny right?" She tells me, and again, I just blink quietly.

"H-he made the sword for you? To court you?!"

"Mhm! Taught me how to use it and everything" She sighed fondly at the memory before turning her gaze back onto me. "Runa hun, I have a million things to teach you. Literally a million! But first, I want you to officially meet someone very special"

Without any specification, my eyes naturally turn to the only other person in my mind it could possibly be.

She was holding my hand earlier, but she must've let go at some point while I was speaking to Luna. Just looking into her eyes is like looking into a mirror, in one of the eeriest ways possible.

Her hair is dark like mine, and even sports a sort of midnight blue undertone the same way mine does. She's smiling gently, the corners of her eyes crinkling just the slightest bit with this loving warmth that reminds me of the expression my father makes when he looks at my siblings.