TITLE: devour
SUMMARY: She didn't ask for this. It wasn't her job to be consumed and invaded and spat out so that these boys would evolve. Rin!SI/OC
1. Guess who's back with another half-thought-out plot, which never ends well. That's right, back by unpopular demand, it's me. If I'm being completely honest, I started writing this to get over my writers' block for florescence but then, it spiralled. And I have no control.
2. This is just the prologue and a lot of things aren't explained, some things are glossed over. Baring in mind this was just an exercise, to begin with, just to try and get me to be able to write something for once. I do have the details sort of worked out, I just need to bug some friends for their opinions etc.
3. My main inspiration for this out-of-control piece of work is that quote from The L Word, " It's not my job to make you a better man and I don't give a shit if I've made you a better man. It's not a fucking woman's job to be consumed and invaded and spat out so that some fucking man can evolve". I adore it, that combined with reading the amazing Erasing Impossibility. Which is, awesome and everyone should read it.
4. Quick note: When I talk about placements, it's more like a scholarship sort of deal that's centred around those who can't afford to pay tuition for the Academy, predominantly orphans. It's not a restriction on civilians but at the same time, they can't allow all orphans to go to the Academy.
5. A quick reminder that I don't have a beta-reader, and having no idea how to acquire one so all I have is my shoddy attention-span and spell check to slay the beast. So this is probably riddled with errors. Let me know what you think or how to improve!
EDITED: 21/12/18
For the most part, Rin was a normal girl.
She wasn't particularly fond of bugs, hated ginger-heavy foods, her favourite colour was dark green and no doubt, there was probably a long list of facts she could give that would consolidate the fact that she was, for all intents and purposes, a normal girl born in Konoha.
For the most part, she was normal.
It was the other part which people tended to brush over, to ignore. Herself included.
It wasn't something that happened overnight, it was small, almost unnoticeable until it almost bowled her over in the streets that it wasn't normal.
People weren't led around by their feelings, sure they were but not in the same way which Rin was. It was like a solid worth in her chest, a weigh on her breastbone which seemed to direct her. It pulled and pushed her in certain directions, sometimes it screamed. Mostly, it was a hum in the back of her head, like white noise, acknowledging everything whilst doing nothing.
Sometimes it was a sign, the echo might croon in satisfaction about one particular spot, a random little patch of grass in a training field that seemed to be long forgotten. It was just a flicker but the next time which Rin returned, someone had dropped their wallet, filled with enough money for her not to have to worry for a week or three.
So maybe she started to pay more attention to what the echo was telling her.
It took a few months to realize that it was happening, but it only took a few seconds to realize that it wasn't normal.
She kept quiet about it, curled in on herself.
No one noticed when little orphan Nohara Rin turned quiet, no one noticed or cared. The only thing she had going for her were the strange echoes which dragged her around like a rag doll. It was something she vowed to get under control, to keep under wraps, to hide away from the prying eyes of civilians, the matron of the orphanage, everyone.
Rin was, after all, supposed to be just a normal girl.
There was a stigma which came with being an orphan in Konoha, and at first, Rin didn't notice.
(The echo laughed because Rin didn't notice a lot.)
That's fine because she was getting better at least.
The majority treated her in a similar way to the other orphans, with the same sort of feigned politeness and ill-masked disdain. This included the staff in the orphanage itself, all the children were treated that way and why wouldn't they?
In the eyes of the village, they were burdens.
Some were adopted, the number was depressingly small, a select few would be drafted to join the Academy each year and then the others would be left to rot in the sense of loneliness until they were of age.
That was when they were kicked out and almost never seen again.
Whenever Rin was out and about though, a bit of distance between herself and the orphanage, there was suddenly these assumptions weighing down on her shoulders. It was like a brand she couldn't shake because expectant eyes followed her because they assumed that since she didn't have parents, she'd be unruly and unkempt and undisciplined.
They thought immediately, "This girl is going to be a problem child."
This was mainly the civilians line of thought but, still, the civilians made up two-thirds of Konoha's population.
"I'm watching you brat!" The vendor called out to her.
Rin rolled her eyes, tossing the tomatoes between her hands, squeezing gently to test its ripeness. The vendor was fat and balding, the only threat he posed to her was that he could still swing a broom at her. He was the target of many thieves and pickpockets, so she didn't take it personally when he eyed her with suspicion.
She had a small amount of allowance which was granted by the Hokage, all of the orphans did. Enough to give herself a treat every now and then.
"How much for these?" She asked quietly, lugging the small basket of fruit and vegetables towards the vendor.
He inspected it thoroughly but not without giving her the stink-eye. "It's 150 ryō."
Say what you want, but he was fair in his prices.
"Here you go," Rin handed over the money and gathered her goods quickly."Have a nice day, sir."
The vendor waved her off with a grimace and she was halfway down the street before she slipped the stolen fruit from her sleeves, and the twenty ryō which he'd had left out on the side, that was shoved into her purse.
She didn't take his suspicion personally because he had every right to be suspicious.
"Now, I know you didn't pay for that, kid."
A hand clamped down on her shoulder and Rin froze.
Stomach dropping to her knees and she realised she'd been caught. It wasn't the vendor, she hadn't heard him yell or the distinct thwap of his broom.
No, someone else had seen her.
She thought she'd been careful
This was it. Matron Saeko was going to skin her alive and use her flesh as a rug. Done for, she was dead meat.
Her head tilted back and she stared up at the mess of blonde hair.
"Don't you own a brush?"
She needed to learn to control her mouth.
The man laughed though, a bit too happy considering he'd just caught a thief. His shiny hitaite glimmering as he moved, Shinobi, flak jacket? Chunin or higher.
"Let me guess, the allowance wouldn't cover the whole thing?" He murmured, his eyes sliding over to her basket of fruit and veg. He didn't say anything about the bit of extra money he'd seen her stuff into her small purse.
A thick lump swelled in her throat.
Rin knew one when she saw one.
Those in a similar boat as herself, or had been in the past, it was increasingly obvious when you knew what to look for. It left a mark that followed you around, no matter the rank or a person's abilities. Orphans who had managed to swing the limited, and highly coveted, Academy spaces.
"Why not something a little sweeter kid? I used to waste all my money on animtsu," He grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly.
"...aren't you supposed to be telling me off?"
It wasn't like she wanted him to, but, it was a little confusing actually.
"I am, I'm telling you off for not buying more sweets, didn't you hear?"
Shinobi were weird.
"I mean for stealing."
The man grinned at her.
(The echo sang.)
It wasn't exactly a comfortable sensation but it did make Rin stand up and pay a little more attention to who she was talking to. His warm hand gently guiding her, pushing her further and further down the street.
Away from the scene of the crime.
"You were stealing? Huh, guess I didn't see that."
"You literally stopped me because you said that you knew I didn't pay for my stuff," Rin was quick to point out.
Some part of her was screaming to shut up, why was she tempting fate? An eyebrow arched and she looked decidedly unimpressed with the holes in his story.
The shinobi looked equally unimpressed, his expression falling flat into what could only be described as a pout. Folding his arms over his chest with a soft huff as they made it to the bottom of the road.
"You know, most kids would be happy at not being pulled up for stealing."
"Most kids don't get stopped by weird shinobi, just smacked around a little."
It was blunt and without tact.
Rin mindfully said nothing about the way he twitched at her comment.
The dark expression that flickered across his features told her enough, told her that he remembered similar experiences because orphans weren't anything to be protected or cherished. From the get-go, they were told they were burdens.
Sometimes it didn't need to be said, it was just the way they were treated.
Callously.
With reluctance and without affection.
Not many people cared and it was a fact of life that Rin tried not to be bitter over.
(The echo whispered that she was more than a little bitter.)
"Yeah well, that's not how it should be," he muttered, dark expression washed away as he crouched down so he could look her in the eye. Hands resting on his knees. "You applying for the Academy?"
"I'm going to try," because all she can do is try.
He nodded.
Konoha was better than some of the other hidden villages, or at least that's what they're told. The Academy is expensive for those who didn't have the money, Clan's paid certain taxes which meant their children got in with relative ease. Civilians could apply and be funded through with sponsorships or just pay out of their own pockets.
For the orphans, there were at most five spaces every year.
Tuition was covered by the Hokage and they were reminded about it for the rest of their Shinobi career that they should even be grateful to be there.
Not dead in a ditch, not a runaway, not in a dead end job.
"Does it get better?"
"For some, it does," he didn't sugarcoat it. That was good. Rin didn't need or want that. She wasn't made of glass and if she was going to the Academy, she'd be made of iron by the end. "The best thing to do is to get in there and prove them all wrong."
"Right."
Rin doesn't need to ask anything else, grabbing her goods and she aimed to be back at the orphanage with enough time to bribe the cook into letting her use the good kitchen equipment.
The shinobi stopped her once more, grinning when she rolled her eyes at him.
(The echo preens and Rin fights the instinct to lean into the hand he'd place on her head.)
"What's your name kid?"
"Nohara Rin."
"Namikaze Minato, I'll see you in a few years."
He says it so surely, with a beaming grin and all that hair. She simply stands there and stares at him as he stands to his full height, wandering off with a wave.
(The echo pings again and tells her, yeah, yeah she will.)
CHAPTER WORD COUNT: 1729
STORY WORD COUNT: 1729