Sunken Moon

Rating. T for language.
A/N. unbeta'd so careful. there probably be grammar and spelling mistakes in these here waters. also, Rin defeats Madara as fast she does because i hate writing battle scenes and couldn't figure out her Zanpakuto abilities as much as i would like (water-based because Isobu) and because to Rin and Hisagi, Madara is a very new Arrancar still not quite used to its powers, essentially a very weak Numeros, and so her Bankai coupled with her impressive Kido abilities is enough. and i got lazy, might fix it at some point but eh unlikely, plus i wanted her to kick ass, especially cause Madara has been such a prick to her boys. also, ninth division older bro Hisagi Shuuhei is the bae.

Lieutenant Hisagi Shuuhei was still undecided as to what to make of his new Captain. She was very nice, and the men were very appreciative of the female energy she had brought into the Division, a breath of fresh air after Tousen's betrayal. She was barely tall enough to reach Hisagi's shoulders, and yet favored the long sleeved version of the Captain's haori which made her look even smaller. Her work ethic was impressive: she always ensured all deadlines were met in terms of both paperwork and the magazine the Ninth Division was entrusted with running.

It had been incredibly helpful for her to step in when she did, as Hisagi had been drastically unprepared to run an entire Division by himself and had been running himself to the ground just trying to keep up. When his new Captain first met him, she immediately and firmly requested that he take two days off. Hisagi protested, but despite her small stature and the friendly air around her, she had insisted. When he returned after two glorious days of sleep, she was running the Ninth Division like a well-oiled machine as if she had been doing it for years.

Hisagi assumed she had learned all of this under Unohana. After all, his new Captain's former position had been the Fourth Squad's Fourth Seat, after a few decades as part of the Kido Corps. This was not only obvious in the way she treated the Division, with the attentiveness only someone used to caregiving would be, but also in the fact that she had insisted at least one third of the Division learn healing Kido, even if it was only the basics, so someone was always on hand on missions to at least begin the healing process on the wounded.

It was a bold move, to be sure, but it had worked, and most of the other Divisions were beginning to pick it up, routinely sending a few people over to the Fourth Division to learn the ropes. It lessened the load on the Fourth Division, and ensured a lower death rate, as their patients were at least administered the most basic of first aid on the field now.

Yet for all her impressive administrative feats and the warmth with which she filled the previously betrayed, haggard Ninth Division, Hisagi worried. His new Captain reminded him very much of Hinamori Momo, and despite Hinamori's prowess as a lieutenant, she was an exceedingly fragile girl at this moment, one whom he was desperately inclined to protect. To feel a general sense of protectiveness for his Captain was odd, as she was the superior officer, and yet here he was.

He feared that she would fall in the battlefield and once more leave the Ninth Division shattered. They had barely begun to heal from Tousen's betrayal, mostly due to her presence, and could not afford another blow right now.

Which is why, when the Hell Butterfly showed up ordering his new Captain deal with an Arrancar showing up, he requested to go with her for back up. With an amused smiled, she agreed, and here they were, departing for the World of the Living during which what had been a supremely tumultuous month in terms of souls appearing and disappearing throughout Soul Society.

But Hisagi was going to ensure his new Captain was safe and protected, and made it back to her Division if it was the last thing he did. She was no Tousen or Muguruma Kensei, but Nohara Rin had breathed life back into a Division which had been steadily corroding from the inside in angst over the betrayal of its former Captain.

Captain Nohara seems far more likely to die for her Division and duty than betray us, and just for that reason, I cannot let her go alone, Hisagi thought, as the doors opened to the World of the Living and two Shinigami and a Hell Butterfly stepped through onto a barren wasteland of a battle ground.

-o-

Obito was having a terrible day. He'd had several over the course of his life, chief among them the day of the Kannabi Bridge mission or the day the love of his life died at the hands of his best friend, but this one was quickly taking the top spot. In the span of less than twenty-four hours he had battled with several former friends (had his ass handed to him by Bakashi again in Kamui), voluntarily become the Ten-Tails' Jinchuuriki, battled several former Hokages and friends again, been convinced to switch his allegiance by the son of his former teacher and, currently, betrayed Madara in order to save the son of his former teacher, and lost his Rinnegan eye for his efforts. And this was only what he could remember.

So yes, he was understandably a little under the weather and a lot out of it when he regained consciousness only to see a door opening in the sky behind his crazed ancestor whom Naruto and Sasuke were currently facing.

Given the clusterfuck the situation had become while he took his power nap, Obito thinks his reaction was completely understandable.

"What the ever-loving fuck is it now?"

"Language," came immediately from his left, and when he turned, he was gratified to see that Kakashi was just as surprised at himself that he still had that knee-jerk reaction whenever Obito cursed.

"Sensei, what is that?" Sakura's voice, on his right side, was just the slightest bit tremolous, not that Obito could blame her given the events.

"I…don't know…Obito?" Kakashi turned to him, and fuck but making eye contact with him still hurt now that he changed his mind, so Obito immediately looked away, preferring to watch the bizarre and terrifying events playing out before them to meet the man's eyes because he would forever be a bit of coward when it came to Kakashi apparently.

"No ide- holy shit is that Rin?!"

Next to him, Kakashi was too gobsmacked to even begin to think about reminding his former team mate not to swear, a habit ingrained in him when young and which took a lot to forget. Of course, the sudden appearance of their third team mate coming out from doors in the sky probably had something to do with it.

-o-

Nohara Rin opened her eyes for the first time again in the middle of a crowded street. She had no memory of her past other than her name (and for some reason a blurry image of what seemed to be two boys but it was almost gone), and no idea where she was. Fortunately, her reflexes were not something she lost, and she was able to dodge the punch headed her way, as her soul had happened to materialize itself right in the middle of a fight in one of Rukongai's rougher districts.

In the coming five years, Rin found that her soul grew at a slightly faster rate than those of the small group of people she surrounded herself with (and that, unlike her, they had absolutely no past memories, not that hers were really memories, so much as an image of two young boys which she had come to think of as hers).

Like any other street urchin in Rukongai, she had managed to make herself a merry band of friends who looked after each other and dreamt of becoming Shinigami one day, as she had learned the groups of people garbed in black were called. However, none of the kids seemed to have the reiatsu necessary for it, and so they concentrated on surviving through their day-to-day existence.

Rin didn't become aware of her powers until she healed one of her comrades (succeeding here where she knew, for some reason absolutely knew, she had once failed one of her boys and oh but that hurt). He had broken his leg while running away from a group of bandits, and the accompanying fever was not going down, no matter what anyone did. Rin's natural aptitude for caregiving and medicine had its limits when faced with only the most basic of medical options, and in her distress, had managed to call upon her reiatsu and use it to break her friends fever.

Despite the fact that she saved his life, however, Rin soon became ostracized from the rest of the group, as it became clear that, with her abilities, Rin was certain to go further than any of them. By the time a passing Shinigami took an interest and ensured she made it to the Academy, most of Rin's former merry gang had either died or were simply not talking to her anymore. Children can be ever so cruel, after all.

(Incidentally, the name of the Shinigami who picked her up was Shiba Kaein, and he would stop by the Academy every so often in the next year to make sure Rin was doing well. He was the first true friend she ever made as a Shinigami, and she was exceedingly upset when he stopped showing up.

She locked herself up in her room for an entire weekend when she finally found out why he stopped showing up, to the distress of her friends (because she had come to think of Kaein as her's as well, her's like the two boys she couldn't help but think she had also failed). And she had real friends now, others like her who had been picked out from Rukongai, who endured the sneers of the young lords and ladies in the Academy, who looked out for each other and helped each other get stronger to survive and thrive, and she owed it all to this man, this man whom her friends teased her about, who saw her potential and believed in her, this man who was now dead dead dead like her boy or just one god she hoped they were both alive she hoped-)

Rin first interacted with her Zanpakuto that weekend after she found out about the Thirteenth Squad Lieutenant's death. Watatsumi had been unsympathetic to her plight at the time, more interested in making her grow stronger, a melancholy, ever-present need to devastate things in her Zanpakuto, her soul, Rin has never been able to understand.

(When Nohara Rin, loyal shinobi of Konoha, voluntarily died at the hands of her best friend, a part of her soul became contaminated with the hatred flowing within Isobu, not that her soul wasn't already altered by all the horrors she had faced in war.)

Despite her training with her Zanpakuto, striving to make contact with it once again, it was Kido wherein Rin excelled. None of her friends or even the aristocratic students could hold a candle to her progress and understanding. It shouldn't have been a surprised, then, when, at the beginning of her fifth year, the Kido Corps offered an early graduation if she was willing to work for them immediately afterwards.

While Rin had been interested in the Fourth and Second Divisions, (her passion and interest in healing was always her foremost concern, but she was exceedingly good at stealth and hand-to-hand combat if the need called for it for some reason and she wistfully thought of hiding in trees and jumping through them at times) at the urging of her friends she took up the offer.

The next few decades of her second life she spent working for the Kido Corps, learning more than she could have ever possibly dreamed about Kido, at the cost of being negligent when it came to training with her Zanpakuto, something Watatsumi constantly berated her for, but Rin took no notice of it.

At least, she didn't take notice of it until a joint mission with the Eighth Division required a change of plans. There were not enough Kido Corps members standing to complete the incantation and use their reiatsu to halt a group of Menos Grande and very quick Hollows. The battle had been reduced to a Zanpakuto battle, and Rin had never felt more inadequate.

When they returned to Soul Society with less than half of the original group, Rin immediately requested a transfer.

She was placed in the Fourth Division.

Her Kido skills, particularly her healing abilities, were put to very good use in the Division, and Rin quickly rose through the ranks for that reason alone. It wasn't until Unohana took her aside and, with one of those terrifying smiles of her, began to train her in earnest that Rin stopped thinking of transferring once again.

How the renowned healer had picked up on Rin's ire and desire to overcome her shortcoming, Rin did not know, but under her Captain's tutelage her Shunpo vastly improved, and her ease with her Zanpakuto left her quite pleased. Whenever she spoke to her Captain about her issues with Watatsumi (that hatred she felt coming from her Zanpakuto at whatever stood in their way, hatred that became power because she had to protect everyone protect her Division her friends Soul Society those two boys she cannot forget about because they are all hers), Unohana reminded her that there would always be issues with your soul being manifested in such a manner, as it was a clear vision of who you were to your core, no corners to hide in, and that was always unsettling to interact with. Rin sometimes wondered what Unohana's Zanpakuto was really like then, but she wisely never asked.

About two months after Rin had made Fourth Seat, ryoka invaded Soul Society, Hanatarou somehow got involved in the mess (and that had been a headache and a half as the well-intentioned boy reminded her of someone but she wasn't sure who), and the Captains of the Third, Fifth and Ninth Divisions were revealed to be traitors. Hinamori Momo was confined to the Fourth Division for psychological trauma until further notice, and the Lieutenants of the other two were currently being questioned by the Onmitsukidou. Overall, it was a mess and a half, and the ryoka were now being treated as allies whilst Soul Society readied for war, as it had never done so before in her lifetime.

(And yet a part of Rin, a part that eerily sounded like Watatsumi, told Rin that she had lived through this before, that she had endured the pain and calamities of war before and paid for it dearly with family and friends and her life-)

In the intervening years and with Unohana's guidance, Rin had developed a closer relationship with her Zanpakuto, and become a seasoned, well-rounded fighter. She had thought her attempts and success at training her Bankai had been kept secret, as she still felt she could improve and had no immediate interest in switching positions, until Unohana approached her one day during her tea break about a month after the ryoka invasion and quite placidly said,

"I'm recommending you to be Captain of the Ninth Division,"

Rin spat out her tea immediately, to the infinite amusement of her Captain, whom Rin knew took delight in so surprising her Division.

Despite Rin's protests, Unohana put down her name, and after being examined by a variety of Captains, she was informed the position was hers. When she asked Unohana about it after the very quick ceremony, the woman replied,

"We need to recreate and reforge bonds and trust in those three Divisions especially after such a betrayal, and your impressive work ethic, administrative ideas and achievement of Bankai as well as your disposition makes you the perfect candidate to breath life into any of those Divisions,"

Rin blushed, stammering a thank you in the face of such shrewd praise, as the other Captains filed out of the room. A few congratulated both her and Unohana while they talked, all looking down at their newest, very short colleague. Even Hitsugaya was taller.

(Of note is the fact that Rin had always been aware, once she seemed to stop growing, that she painted quite the fragile picture. A very short, non-descript brunette other than for the odd markings on her cheeks (why she continued to draw them on herself, she had no idea, but she seemed to be unable not to), was, more often than not, underestimated. Rin had soon grown out of the shame that came with using that to her advantage, as she had quite often throughout training exercises in the Kido Corps and the battles she had occasion to take part in as a member of the Thirteen Divisions even as a healer, and had specifically asked for a larger haori that would dwarf her slightly, making her seem even more delicate. None of the Captains believed it, of course, but unsuspecting foes most likely would. Her new Lieutenant, she knew, became even more overprotective than he already was (to somewhat exasperating amounts if she was honest, but she let him have his moments to appease him) whenever she wore it.)

When she was called to the World of the Living to deal with an Arrancar, as a Captain of the Thirteen Squads she was duty-bound to respond. When Hisagi asked to join her, she agreed good-naturedly. Hopefully seeing me in action will help calm him down a bit, she thought. She knew he was very concerned, as somewhat of an overbearing brother figure, not just for her but for the entire Ninth Division, and while she appreciated his caring, she was beginning to feel suffocated by it, as she refused to let anyone step in the line of fire other than herself, because she would always protect what was her she refused to be the protected, no more, not anymore, not since Obito or Kakashi would she ever be on the other side she would protect everyone she cared about she would just. Watch. Her.

You can imagine the surprise of Nohara Rin, Captain of the Ninth Squad of Soul Society, when the portal opened to the World of the Living and, behind the Arrancar she was sent to take care of (which was cackling something or other about some hair-brained scheme to use the moon or something), she saw two men she remembered as much smaller, but were still, ultimately, hers.

As her breath hitched slightly, the Arrancar turned to face the two new arrivals, and Captain Nohara Rin put all thoughts of her two boys aside. She knew that, while they were hers once upon a time, she didn't remember enough to qualify them as hers anymore, and that, furthermore, she shouldn't remember her to begin with. She had figured this out quite early on in her career as a Shinigami, the anomaly that were her memories, and she knew, as well, that she was not the Rin those boys once knew, the Rin that was hers just as they were hers. She was a different Rin, and while she cared about them, she was a Rin that had a different job to do and a different group of people that was precious to her, she was a Rin that could protect instead of being protected, and that is exactly what she was going to do.

Behind her, Hisagi placed his hand upon his sword hilt. His eyes were fixed on the Arrancar, ever the dutiful Lieutenant waiting for his Captain's command. If he had noticed her slight falter, he didn't comment.

Rin grinned, facing the Arrancar that had clearly gone out of control, and drew her sword.

Watch me, boys, she thought.

"Drown them all out, Watatsumi!"

And a torrential downpour descended.

-o-

Uchiha Madara will never understand how he went from being the most powerful figure on that battleground to losing quite so spectacularly. As soon as the woman who appeared out of seemingly nowhere wearing black and white called down the rain (as that it what she appears to have done) he found himself trapped by water that was heavier than it should have been, wrapping around him like chains. He was undeterred however, and was successful, although he found himself caught easily enough. He avoided slashes from the woman's sword, which was glowing an eerie blue hue and he wanted nowhere near him, whilst occasionally being caught by the water chains again, trying to hit back when he could.

It all proved useless as the small woman pouted at him, commented how she hated when they struggled cause it only made things worst, and proceeded to say,

"Bankai, the Devouring Watatsumi,"

It was at this point in time that he found himself drowning from the inside and, well, he could only begin to wonder where he had gone wrong, even as he struggled to free himself.

-o-

While the Arrancar managed to free himself quite a few times from his Captain's Shikai abilities, once she stopped playing around and used her Bankai, the battle was shortlived. The Arrancar seemed to have been newly formed, perhaps accounting for its inexperience in combat in its new form, but he was nonetheless very impressed by his Captain's ability.

She eventually stopped whatever it was that her Bankai did that seemed to make her enemy gurgle water (he suspected it was related to the blue hue her sword maintained even during Bankai, although its shape was drastically different now, as it had shrunk to the size of a small blade) and instead enclosed him in a variety of Kido barriers. Her ease with the incantations spoke of years of practice and a command of the art that staggered him, even though he knew she had been a member of the Kido Corps.

"Lieutenant Hisagi?" she asked, startling him out of his somewhat flabbergasted stupor.

"Yes, Captain Nohara?"

"We'll take him back with us, I'm sure Captain Kurotsuchi will be able to tell us more of his kind," she informed him. Hisagi nodded, shuddering lightly at the horrors that most likely awaited the Arrancar in the Twelfth's Captain's labs. As they prepared themselves to leave, Hisagi caught his Captain pausing, briefly looking at some of the humans with high reiatsu below them, smiling at them brightly and nodding. As she turned back to the opening gates, her eyes were slightly clouded and melancholy, but as soon as she noticed him looking, she smiled.

"How are your plans to ask a certain Tenth Division Lieutenant out going, Hisagi?"

Hisagi choked on air. Captain Nohara laughed. He forgot she liked to do that, something he suspected she picked up from Captain Unohana.

But overall, Hisagi decided, Captain Nohara was a good Captain, one he was once more proud to work under, one who clearly needed no protection but he would definitely protect, because she felt too much like a younger sister not to, one he was happy to call his Captain.

Teasing and all.

-o-

Kakashi was certain his jaw had hit the floor.

"Weeeeell, I'm not sure what happened, but that short lady took care of Madara, so I guess we're good now, you know?" Naruto scratched his head and looked at Sasuke, still glowing with the chakra of the Sage of the Six Paths.

"Hmm," was Sasuke's comment, although he too seemed quite bewildered.

"S-so, it's over then? We won?" Sakura asked hesitantly, standing up and beginning to walk towards her teammates.

"Seems that way, although I really don't understand what happened," Naruto shrugged, "but whatever, we won! Sensei, we won!"

Elation and relief were clearly gripping his students, who now turned to face Kakashi himself and his former team mate Obito. Both of whom were still looking up at the sky, where their other teammate had just disappeared into a doorway after smiling briefly in recognition and nodding, most likely in goodbye.

Kakashi was brought out of his stupor when Obito began to laugh – or cackle, really, ingrained as the habit was having spent so long concocting evil plans. Kakashi chuckled as well, and once they were both done, they turned to look at each other. It was the first time Obito didn't look away after a second, and for the first time, Kakashi allowed himself to hope that things might be okay after all.

Obito grinned.

"See, what did I tell you Kakashi? Rin was, and always will be, a menace!"

Kakashi could only grin happily in response, remembering an afternoon many years ago when they had both had their asses summarily kicked by a very angry Nohara Rin (much like had just happened to Uchiha Madara).

As he looked at his best friend in the eyes for the first time in forever and saw only happiness, witnessed the elation of his reunited students who were fusing over Sasuke, and sensed the variety of familiar chakra signatures slowly making their way to their little group, Kakashi was truly happy.

Thank you, Rin, as always.

comments appreciated.