IDIL's Note: Hey all! Hope everyone had a very Happy Holiday/Merry Christmas this past week! Sorry to any of you who were expecting an LA update by now, but I was in Mexico on vacation this past week so there was no way I could get it done. I did brainstorm tons though! And I'll try to have it up ASAP. Anyway, in the meantime, to placate you all (:P just joking) here is a kind of depressing onehsot. No pairings, no implied pairings. Just pure, unadulterated semi-angst. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Once upon a time they had been her team, and she had been their Rin.
She had been wanted. She could tell by the way Minato always ruffled her hair playfully during team meetings or after a particularly long and trying mission during which she'd had to heal one or more of her teammates. She could tell by how Obito slung his arm around her shoulder casually whenever he got the chance, though he seemed to take special care to ensure that it was most when Kakashi was around. She could even tell by Kakashi's tone of voice as he curtly thanked her for healing him…again.
She had been needed. She knew it from how Minato always consulted her with the team's mission plan beforehand just to make sure that she got the best feel for her position as possible. She knew it from the look of relief in Obito's eyes whenever she would go over to help him – Rin never could quite forget the imago of a 5-year-old Obito, hands balled up into little furious fists, pouting and stomping his feet dangerously close to his mother's toes, protesting vehemently at the idea of getting a tutor to help him learn to read, shouting, "But I don't need a tutor! I just need Rin!". She knew it by how Kakashi flexed his freshly healed muscles after she tended to them, and the arrogant smirk that crossed his face as he realized he would be just fine.
She had been loved. She felt love from Minato in the way his ruffling her hair was so smooth, his palm barely applying any pressure to the top of her head, his stance next to her the same stance as one taken by a proud and protective father watching over his children. She felt love from Obito in the way he always pulled her closer to his side before letting go of her shoulders, and in the way he would be the first to defend her – "Have a heart you conceited bastard! She's doing the best she can, and she always heals us after missions, so show some respect!" – whenever Kakashi made the occasional scathing comment about her abilities as a shinobi. Hell, she even felt some remote shred of love from Kakashi whenever he would come up to her and replace the heavy backpack full of medical supplies that she was carrying with his own lighter backpack – though every time she tried to thank him for his caring, he would brush her off immediately and hastily argue, back turned towards her, "I'm not doing this for you. I don't want the whole team to be slowed down because of one person".
But that had been once upon a time, and there was no more chance of any happily ever after. Obito was dead, body lying buried and forgotten beneath a pile of boulders. Minato had gone on to fulfill the role of Hokage, becoming practically consumed by the title and jointed responsibility, and no longer managed to find the time to visit his former team, despite his ability to teleport at will. As for Kakashi, he would pop up every now and then on the occasional birthday or during the holidays, but Rin knew the ulterior motives for his visits – to make sure that he kept his promise to Obito. Mainly though, Kakashi was gone on missions, ANBU treks of all sorts around god-knows-where doing god-knows-what, and it was clear he no longer needed her as a medic – he had a full team working on him around the clock at ANBU, and a hospital full of nurses who were more than willing to take care of a bedridden Hatake Kakashi and tend to his every need.
Once upon a time she had been their Rin, but now it seemed she was simply just Rin. No longer wanted. No longer needed. No longer loved. And no longer theirs. Just Rin.