Look at the stars

As they glimmer oh-so bright

And I cry here all alone

Without you to hold me tight

Rin Nohara enjoyed very few things. She was a young woman known for always having a smile on her face; most of the Konoha actually children believed that she was incapable of frowning. Over the years, though, her smile had slowly grown more and more forced. Sometimes, Rin worried that she would never smile – really smile – again.

That was when she visited Obito.

It was usually well into the evening when Rin managed to finish her duties at the hospital and work her way to the memorial stone, but that was how she liked it. Stargazing had become one of the things she could take some measure of enjoyment out of, no matter how small. Often times Kakashi would find the brown-haired woman slumped against the memorial stone, orange goggles still clutched tightly in her hands, sound asleep from a long night of watching the sky.

The two surviving members of Team Minato never spoke a word about their teammate or sensei, though it wasn't for Rin's lack of trying. Ever since the fourth Hokage's death two years ago, Kakashi Hatake had become disturbingly silent. He had adopted several of Obito's old qualities – ironically the ones that the Uchiha boy was so often berated about by his silver-haired teammate – but he never was one for needless conversation, not even when Rin needed someone to tell her that it was okay; no matter how very not okay it was.

Really, nothing had been 'okay' since Obito's death, and Rin's life had continued to go downhill.

Every time the young woman thought – hoped – that she would be able to go about a day without crippling grief, or wake up in the morning and find her face tear-free because there had been no nightmares, or even walk down the street without hearing his voice in her mind, something else had gone wrong. Not just wrong, though. It was always more along the lines of a horrific catastrophe that tore apart Rin's world and forced her to pick up the pieces.

It had been nearly six years ago to the day that Rin and Kakashi were finally given their first mission together with just the two of them, an infiltration into Kirigakure to gather information on rumors of the three-tailed beast having fallen into the hands of the Blood-Mist nin.

The ensuing chaos was dubbed the 'Kiri Incident', at least in Rin's mind, and had been promptly classified. Not even Rin's trusted and sole surviving teammate knew exactly what had happened, at least not after he'd put a Chidori through the girl's chest, and it hurt them both that he had to be kept in the dark about it all. Thankfully, Kakashi hadn't asked any questions after the Hokage had a short talk with him – about what Rin wasn't sure – and for that small blessing she was grateful.

Sometimes Rin could even pretend that nothing ever happened, that it wasn't within her now, whispering in her ear when she was alone. She wanted to give up, let it take over, if only so that she wouldn't have to deal with that never ending ache of loss. And yet, the very boy who caused her so much pain had also managed to become her savior; in more ways than one.

But Obito Uchiha would never know how he saved Rin, even so many years after his death . . . and he would never know that Rin loved him.

It pained the brown-eyed girl that she had never told him. Hell, she hadn't even realized it until the Kiri Incident. In those moments, the darkest, most painful moments in Rin's short life, it hadn't been Kakashi who filled her thoughts and kept her strong. It hadn't been Kakashi who kept her sane when it began to take over. Rin had even imagined that she'd seen Obito, that he'd held her close and stared down at her with a single sharingan eye and protected her when the Kiri nin tried to take her back to that horrible, horrible place. Obito was still saving her, and Rin would never be able to repay him for it.

After the Kiri Incident, Rin had been confined to Konoha indefinitely. Apparently, it wasn't safe for her to go out on missions, not with that thing within her. Kakashi had joined ANBU the moment Rin had been deemed stable and released from the hospital, off on his first mission without saying goodbye. He never failed to protect Rin, at least from enemy nin and the occasional half-drunk civilian who found the young medic attractive, but he couldn't save her from the battles she fought within – he never even tried. They both knew that even the genius son of the White Fang could only do so much.

For several years Rin had taken solace in the Namikaze family. Her old sensei had been more than welcoming and Kushina was very possibly the kindest person Rin had ever met. She also admired the fire and strength Minato's wife possessed, even until the very end. No one had taken their deaths harder than Rin, not even Kakashi.

Two-year-old Naruto Uzumaki was a beautiful child. He had a shock of bright blonde hair and vibrant blue eyes identical to his father's and a soft smile that reminded Rin almost hauntingly of Kushina. The civilians and Konoha nin alike often treated the infant as a pariah, even Kakashi seemed to disregard his existence entirely; though her old teammate seemed to be disregarding a lot of things lately.

Rin had taken it upon herself to look after the boy, despite the protests of the third Hokage and the Konoha council. She had reasoned that with her particular problem, she would be best suited to keep an eye on and stop Naruto should he lose control at some point in the future. While her argument was thin, it had been enough for the Hokage to award Rin guardianship of her sensei's child.

Every moment that wasn't occupied by her work at the hospital and young Naruto was still spent mourning Obito. No matter how hard she tried, how long she worked, or how much she cried, Rin could never get the black sheep of the Uchiha clan out of her mind.

Though the entirety of the proud Uchiha clan despised Kakashi because he, an outsider, possessed their precious sharingan, they blatantly hated Rin. The young woman firmly believed that had it not been for Mikoto's infinite kindness, one of the Uchiha elders would have ordered her to be assassinated. Mikoto and Kushina had been friends at the Academy. They had stayed fairly close throughout their careers as kunoichi, and later their respective marriages to powerful men. Mikoto actually had a son only a few months older than Naruto, a rather petulant little child named Sasuke.

It amused both Mikoto and Rin how Sasuke and Naruto seemed to deem themselves rivals from their very first meeting at two years of age. Barely a glance had been exchanged between the children before they snarled at each other and got into an argument before they'd even been introduced. While Rin did find Sasuke to be a rather amusing child, he was also rather trying on her patience. His eyes were identical to Obito's – Rin later discovered that they were cousins, Obito being the son of Mikoto's elder sister – and it unnerved the medic to no end. Itachi, who was four years older than both Naruto and Sasuke, was a sweet and charming little boy with whom Rin enjoyed the occasional walk and conversation; she looked forward to seeing the young genius' accomplishments, not realizing at the time just what that sweet, charming little boy would accomplish.

As much as Rin enjoyed and cherished her time with the small portion of the Uchiha clan that didn't want her head on a stick, she still found herself alone entirely too much. It had occurred to the young woman in passing that nearly all of her class from the Academy had already paired up, a few had even settled down to start a family. She was already nineteen years old and would be turning twenty in a few short months. By shinobi standards, Rin was practically an old maid – and a virgin one at that.

More than once she had contemplated a relationship with Kakashi. Most shinobi simply assumed that the two were dating, especially since the silver-haired nin had very nearly shoved a Chidori up Ebisu's rectum when the poor man had let his hand wander to Rin's waist. There was a time when Rin believed herself to be in love with Kakashi. After all, the man had everything. His career was more than promising, having already gained the rank of ANBU Captain, not to mention his numerous commendations from the War and having achieved the rank of jonin at age thirteen – something Rin had only recently attained. Despite his rather aloof and sometimes cold persona, Kakashi had a heart of gold and would never purposely hurt or endanger the young medic – save for that one Chidori to the chest. He definitely had looks going for him as well, Rin had noted with a small blush, he had certainly grown to be a very attractive man.

All in all, Kakashi seemed like the total package, so to speak. Yet, Rin didn't love him and she suspected that she never would. It was heartbreaking to love a dead man, Rin decided, even more so after the Kiri Incident. No one save for Minato and Kushina had bothered to understand and offer comfort and it stung Rin's heart that Kakashi had never given her more than a one-shouldered hug and a mumbled apology. Sure, he didn't know the extent of her pain, but he'd put a Chidori through her chest! One would think such a thing would at least warrant flowers.

"Okaasaaaaaaaaaaaan!" Naruto drawled as he tugged at the hem of Rin's skirt. She sighed and scooped up the child, who had somehow managed to cover himself head-to-toe in mud and grass.

"Did you and Sasuke get in a fight again?" Rin asked as she toted the toddler through their small apartment and into the bathroom.

Naruto responded with a gurgling giggle and a mischievous grin. Rin shook her head in exasperation but smiled just the same as she dampened a washcloth and set about rubbing the muck from little Naruto's grimy face.

Yes, she missed Obito so badly that it made her chest ache. Perhaps, though, Rin thought tentatively as Naruto protested and squirmed about beneath the washcloth, everything would be alright one way or another.

Dear, innocent little Rin was utterly clueless in regard to the chain of events that had been set in motion the day she nearly died by Kakashi's hand. She had no way of knowing that somewhere beyond the borders of the Fire Country there sat a young man just as broken as she. Poor, naïve Rin went on living her life, oblivious to the dark clouds gathering on the horizon, waiting to unleash a storm like no other.

For many years Rin would go on to live her ordinary life, playing mother to little Naruto and doing her mundane job at the hospital. She would weep for Obito, but the tears grew less frequent as the years stretched on and Rin finally decided that the young Uchiha boy would have wanted her to at least try to be happy, wouldn't he? Yes, she would try, for Obito's sake, to keep herself together and move on with her life as Kakashi had.

Little did Rin realize that a quiet stroll one night would throw her carefully balanced world crashing to the ground once more. Because Rin was both a medic and a mother, and every instinct in her body forced her to run toward the horrified screams coming from the Uchiha compound on one fateful night.

There she would find young Sasuke sprawled unconscious on the blood-spattered pavement and catch sight of Itachi's retreating form. There Rin would see the slightest flash of a familiar face before it was obscured behind a mask.

There Rin would see the ghost known as Obito Uchiha for the first time.

~End~

Author's Note:

Well, that wasn't ominous at all, right? Heh, I feel a bit like I tried to cram too much into just one chapter, but this is my first time writing an ObiRin fic (or any form of FanFiction at all, for that matter) so I really don't know how much shoddily written drama can be crammed into one chapter and still be considered passable. :)

Yes, I DO have a reasonable and perhaps even plausible reason for Rin to be alive, but I really can't go into detail about it without massive spoilers that'll ruin any chance this story might have for an element of mystery. I adore Obito and Rin, and quite frankly cried like a bitch when Obi-kun died. WHY, KISHI?! WHYYYYYYY?!

*ahem* This is essentially just a prologue to test the waters and see if anyone would even be remotely interested in an ObiRin fic where they don't die in the end. In my opinion, Obito and Rin are the least appreciated couple in anime history. Of course, this could be because they both DIED before anything could actually transpire between them, but that's beside the point. I'm still working out how I'll write Obito, but I'm shooting for a somewhat reserved Rin (you would be reserved if the person you love literally died right frickin' in front of you and then your best friend/crush tried to kill you) who's an amazing medic (come on, she did an eye transplant with nothing but a small medical kit in the middle of rubble crashing down around her, her friend DYING, AND a bunch of people running around wanting to kill her) and can still kick ass when she needs to, but doesn't Sakura levels of obvious I-can-kick-your-balls-out-your-throat-ness. One of the things I liked best about Rin was the fact that she really was never portrayed as amazing super-genius steroid-guzzling super-hot badass, and I would like to try and write her as someone who is fairly average ninja-wise but is amazing because of who she is and what she does with the abilities she does have rather than an overpowered badass/marysue.

Alright, now that I've gotten THAT off my chest to (hopefully) avoid flames, I'll shut up. If anyone has made it all the way down here, have a cookie and know that I love you; but not in a stalker way, I promise. ;)

Please review, I would really like some input from the ObiRin community (there are others, right? DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE TO DROWN IN MY OBIRIN FEEEEEEEEELS!) on whether or not I should continue this. I do apologize for how rushed it is and any/all grammatical errors, I currently have no Beta and basically just wrote this in one big stretch because inspiration struck.

~ Sheepy-chan