Finally! I'm sorry it's taken me so long to finally get some more Ibiki out. I've tried a lot, but not until I was writing a quick drabble today during a particularly boring anime movie (something like 'the cat returns'. It's extremely bizarre, but I suppose if furries is your thing…) during Japanese did inspiration come to me… in the form of a pairing: IbiRin. Now don't leave just yet- I swear, it grew on me, who is actually rather anti-Rin. Well, apparently just antu KakaRin, as I seem to have no trouble pairing her with other ninja… Oh, and this is my first chance in ages at romance, so wish me luck!
So anyways, the random facts such as Ibiki's team, and Rin's surrogate-mother-medic-sensei-Masako, are of my own creation. Also, the timeline's shifted. i.e. Obito doesn't die until age thirteen or fourteen, and the Kyuubi doesn't attack until a few years after that. I'm also guesstimating Inoichi-wife's death.
Anyways, enjoy! I hope you all Ibiki-gasm half as much as I did while writing this =3
1 4 T i m e s
I.
The first time Rin met Morino Ibiki she was only eight, an academy student for a lowly year due to her late start. Ibiki, two years older, had been on the verge of graduation, only half a year from being assigned a genin team and sensei. Rin had seen the brunette walking home, half-smiling and half-smirking to himself as he tossed the flat rock in his hands back and forth, feet above the ground, from his right to his left to his right hand. Rin had stood halfway into the weapon shop's doorway, entranced, until the rock landed on the ground with a small thud a good two feet behind the humming ten year old. Immediately the boy had lost his superior grin and had turned around, cursing quietly as he searched the dirty ground for the dull stone. Ibiki's face had been flushed red, his eyes narrowing in annoyance behind his long brown bangs. Rin's first and only thought before the boy left her mind ten minutes later was that, if only he'd cut his hair, he could actually be quite cute.
II.
Rin met Morino Ibiki for a second time after she had graduated and had already spent a good year under Konoha's Yellow Flash. Minato-sensei and Kakashi had already handed in their mission reports for their first B-rank mission, and although Rin had also finished hers she was waiting around with Obito who had, in contrast, barely started the thing. Ibiki had come in, trailed by three others, a couple of minutes after Minato's fluffy yellow hair had flicked out of the doorway, his own brown hair being pressed down by a feminine, gloved hand. Rin hadn't been able to hear Ibiki or his pink-haired sensei's words as they argued, from across the loud room, but she could see the boy pushing the man off of himself angrily, the man putting up his hands in mock surrender. And even then, as soon as the man left the boy alone, he and his female Hyuuga teammate were at each other's throats, their crumpled B-rank mission reports held in their hands as if weapons of war. Rin had blushed slightly as Ibiki's black eyes had flickered up to meet her own, but as soon as they had they were at Obito, and then the other Uchiha in the room, and then back down at his mission report. Soon enough the four teammates were gone, and Rin sat down with a sigh next to Obito, tired of standing for the good fifteen minutes after missing the last two nights of sleep. It took another ten minutes for the Uchiha to finally finish his mission report, and by then Rin had once again forgotten the loud brown-haired boy.
III.
At the age of twelve Rin learned the name of the boy, as they chiseled it into the memorial stone and held a small, quiet service for their team. His name was Morino Ibiki, and it was written on the stone right after his sensei's, Haruno Yanoko, and right before the names of the two Hyuuga twins, Hota and Hachi. Rin knew this because she had stared at the stone for almost an hour before Minato had finally dragged her off for ramen with the team. Rin had never known someone so young to die before. There's been her grandmother and two of her grandfathers and even her uncle, but that just wasn't the same. She hadn't really known Morino Ibiki, not at all, actually, but that didn't matter. Morino Ibiki was real, and fourteen, and had died. It took Rin three whole days to return from her temporary depression, and despite everything Minato-sensei did to cheer her up she still couldn't quite forget Ibiki.
IV.
Rin met Morino Ibiki for the third time on a mission with her team to the dense forests only two or three days out of Konoha. It was to be a simple sweep of an abandoned shinobi checkpoint that had been rumored to be hosting low-level nukenin. Still, not even the ever pessimistic Kakashi could have guessed who they'd find or, in some cases, who they wouldn't. They'd first stumbled upon the room when Minato-sensei had frozen, stiffening at the smell of stale blood. The room, once opened, had smelled of rotting flesh and piss, and Rin had nearly fallen to her knees and retched where she stood. Indeed, Obito had backed away a couple of paces is shock, and even Kakashi was hesitating, turning an unhealthy white. Ibiki had sat in the center of it all like some kind of undead king, his broken ribs showing against his pale skin, blood smearing the skin so that one could barely even tell how pale it actually was. Minato had been the first to step forward, to rush to the genin's aid. Quickly he'd snapped the chakra-blocking cuffs and picked the small boy in his arms. Ibiki had looked so small. They'd left the base quickly after that, and, while they were, Ibiki had cracked his black eyes open. Ibiki smiled. Ibiki cracked his bloody, broken lips, and laughed. Rin would never forget that laugh, no matter how many times it haunted her dreams. Rin would never stop thinking about Morino Ibiki again.
V.
Five months after Ibiki's five weeks in captivity and Rin had barely come to terms with the fact that the boy who'd died, the same loud brunette who fought playfully with his pink haired sensei, the same boy who threw rocks in the air and couldn't catch them; that this boy had come back to life like this. She never said a word about it to anyone, not even her original sensei turned adoptive mother, and sometimes she herself could forget about it, but it was always there. Ibiki. To Rin Ibiki was almost like an icon, an idea. Morino Ibiki wasn't real. But 158 days after they'd found the boy, tortured to the brink of death in the pit of the old ANBU base, the boy had appeared again. 'The last step to recovery' they'd called it. He'd almost-but-not-quite been cleared for missions now, and so it was decided he'd be sent with Minato, who was more than willing to take on the now teamless boy. The Sandaime had warned them that despite everything, Morino Ibiki might not be completely mentally stable, at least not as much as was desirable. Rin nodded. She wasn't quite sure what that was supposed to mean until she remembered the crazed look in the boy's piercing eyes the day they'd found him; until she remembered the cold, ironic laugh. The boy came to join them in the early afternoon as they were setting out to leave, and it took them all a moment to realize that this was Ibiki. His face was pale and blank, framed on either side by thin scars, and his hairless skull was covered by a bandana-style hitai-ate. His thin body was covered up by an oversized jacket that fell past his fingertips and almost to his knees, and on his hands was a pair of tight, fingered black gloves. Rin couldn't help but feel that she'd met some kind of demon; some kind of phantom ghost come back to haunt them. As Ibiki's head had swiveled in her direction she'd tried to smile, to hold out her hand. Ibiki didn't shake it. Ibiki just stared into Rin's eyes blankly, and before Rin could control herself she'd flinched, letting out a small whimper. She almost didn't notice how Minato-sensei sent a warning look to the both of them; almost didn't notice the sadistic half-grin creeping its way onto the boy's face. Rin was scared.
VI.
Rin talked to Morino Ibiki for the first time in her life on the night of April 2nd, the night team Minato had left for a simple information gathering mission to visit a Suna informant. The boy had waited until Minato-sensei, Kakashi, and Obito were busy and out of earshot before starting, and even then the way the boy spoke had made it impossible to feel they were alone. His voice was quiet, blank whenever it wasn't amused, and echoed through the trees. 'Rin, Rin, Rin…' Ibiki had sighed, his cracked lips slipping into a smile. But the smile made Rin shiver. It wasn't a pleased smile. 'Do you have any idea just how funny this all is?' Rin shook her head slowly, having trouble keeping her beating heart under control. 'You're afraid of me.' Ibiki said it not as a question but as a statement, and as much as she wanted to there was no way Rin could deny it. 'Every time you look at these scars, you think about Obito.' And she did. If Morino Ibiki could become this, all she could do was wonder if the loud, sweet Uchiha could ever turn into someone like this. She wasn't sure why the boy was being so open to her, because that's what it felt like; when all he did during the day was follow quietly behind them. Maybe he just needs human connections, she thought in comfort to herself. Rin forced herself not to notice the slight madness that showed through in Ibiki's emotionless onyx eyes. She wasn't sure whose sake it was for; hers, his, or everyone else's.
VII.
Rin first met the monster that was Morino Ibiki two days later, when they encountered three A-rank nukenin from Konoha. Minato had almost immediately started after the tall green-haired man, their designated leader, while Kakashi had taken for the silent black-haired girl whose bandaged hands gripped more senbon then she could count. As soon as it was just Rin, Obito, Ibiki, and the last read-haired rogue Ibiki had made his move, faster than Rin could even try to watch. It took thirty or so seconds but soon the man was against a tree, breathing heavily as Ibiki leaned into him, smiling so widely the half-healed scars stretching his lips seemed close to breaking open. 'Where are the others?' Ibiki had hissed so low that Rin almost couldn't hear him. Others? 'There's no way there'd be just three of you. Plus you all have variations of the same tattoo on the back of your necks. The big guy's was blue, and you two have black ones. Rankings?' 'I don't know what you're talking about.' The man had spat, but a blur of motion and blood sprayed across the grass. Rin flinched. Ibiki shook his hand exaggeratedly, letting the blood still left on the knuckles flick off. 'You were saying?' Ibiki spent another five minutes with the man and he was talking, screaming, really, and blood were covering them both so thoroughly one could barely be made out from the other, if not for one being so obviously in control. Obito had turned green, and his eyes were screwed up as if trying not to cry. Rin wanted to double over and puke. Ibiki finally took a kunai from the begging man's pocket, satisfied, and without hesitation plunged it into the man's gut, letting him drop to the ground like a sack of potatoes. 'Hey! Hey, what the hell are you doing?' Obito had finally shouted, walking up to Ibiki. 'Disposing of useless trash.' Ibiki had said, the large sadistic smile still lingering on his wet face. 'Now we have information on a growing group of nukenin gathering at the border of sand country.' Obito shouted after the boy as the two ran out of the clearing and towards where Minato had headed. A pause, and Rin followed as well. Rin would never forget the torturous, pitiful gasping breaths of the man who, for the next three and a half hours, would lie in the grass, bleeding slowly to death as the pain drove him out of his mind. Rin would never forget the way that fact would make Ibiki smile.
VIII.
After that first mission with team Minato, Ibiki's mission clearance was recalled. Something about Minato complaining about just how mentally unstable the boy turned out to be; something about how the boy had traumatized his students and endangered their mission and something about revoking his ninja license all together. Rin didn't really know. All that she knew was that she was probably never going to see or hear of the tragic boy again. For two and a half years Rin was right. Nevertheless, on Rin's fifteenth birthday she heard Morino Ibiki's name again. It was whispered gossip as she entered the hospital's cafeteria, and only when she'd interrogated one of the other intern medics did she hear about it. Morino Ibiki had taken over ANBU's Torture and Interrogation department. It almost took her a moment to remember the boy, but as she did she nearly doubled over. It was shocking. Surprising. Sickening. And… funny? Rin took off early that day and walked over to T&I headquarters cautiously. There she met a blonde haired man who gave her a tired, sad sort of smile on his way out the door. She'd get to know Yamanaka Inoichi as time went on; get to know how his wife had just died that same morning and left him alone with a newborn daughter to take care of; get to know of how the mild mannered man had really been the head of T&I for years, had been the youngest ever to hold the position before handing it over to Morino Ibiki. But for now all Rin could do was smile in fright. She could remember how sweet he could be and she could remember clearly the way Ibiki had laughed as the red-haired man screamed in agony. Rin walked down the halls, ignoring the stares, and put her shaking hand on the doorknob.
IX.
Rin and Morino Ibiki met for the first time in thirty-two months on November 13th, in Ibiki's dank but surprisingly roomy office deep within Konoha's T&I headquarters. Ibiki looked up from his paperwork quickly as the girl entered, and for a moment his mind pulled a blank. Wait… what? But then he remembered, and he almost-smiled calmly. 'Rin.' He'd said her name in a blank voice, but to Rin's relief it wasn't blank-emotionless so much as it was a name, and thus no emotion really needed to be tagged to it. Rin took a deep breath. 'I heard you made the head of T&I.' It was so obvious she could feel blush beginning to tint her cheeks. Ibiki laughed. Not the cold, mirthless laugh that she sometimes still dreamed about but a normal, pleasantly amused laugh. Normal. Rin smiled. She'd come to learn as she came to visit the man more and more often for the next ten months, how his mentor had managed to keep him on this side of the sanity line. She had no doubt, given his career choice, that the boy still had a sadistic streak half a mile wide. She had no doubt he walked into work every morning with a feral smile on his face, and left at night with blood splattered on the grey uniform he kept hidden under his long trench coat. Still, Rin was happy that he could be happy. It was… relaxing.
X.
Morino Ibiki asked Rin on a date 311 days after they'd begun meeting in his office, usually at the end of the day, as soon as Rin could skive off duties. Over the year she'd become more swamped, and sometimes she wouldn't visit for days on weeks on end. But still, they both enjoyed the visits, so on a night when the T&I was getting a cleanup, Rin had no doubt as to why so she didn't ask, Ibiki asked if she'd like to meet him at the small café down the street from the hospital. At first Rin smiled, thinking nothing of it, until her colleagues heard and shrieked with glee. 'A date!' they shouted, and Rin had to wave her hands wildly to calm them down so they wouldn't wake the patients. 'With who? Where? Is it the boy you keep meeting up with after your shift ends?' After a painstaking ten minutes they were all in the interns' lounge, and Rin just smiled giddily, because what if this was a date? She liked Ibiki, but more as a friend, really. He'd talked to her about Obito's death better than even Minato-sensei had, having lost his teammates as well. What if this really was a date? But no, this was Morino Ibiki. The man may have come back to sanity but he had certainly not come back to completely normal human emotions quite yet. Rin's smile widened when she announced that no, it wasn't a date, and it was Morino Ibiki, and watched her colleagues gasp in unison. 'Morino Ibiki? That monster?' 'He's not a monster!' Rin had yelled indignantly, before brushing off her skirt and leaving her shift twenty minutes early. Because Ibiki wasn't a monster, not really… right?
XI.
Morino Ibiki finally admitted he was dating Rin three months after their 'date' at the café, and it was only because he was very drunk. Morino Ibiki did not like to get drunk, as not only did it shroud his instincts and, apparently, loosen his mouth when it came to his love life, but also because it brought back bad memories. Ibiki only ever had nightmares anymore after drinking, or in December. But Rin had been smiling brightly and blushing darkly, drunk herself already, and he couldn't quite resist. What was wrong with loosening up a little bit, every now and then? Rin had blushed darkly as Ibiki had admitted openly that he and her were dating to a somewhat unsurprised Inoichi. 'I thought so.' Was all he'd said, before shrugging and heading off sober to pick his daughter up from the sitter's. 'Just don't come down on her too hard, alright Ibiki? Not everyone's from T&I.' It took Rin a while to understand just the magnitude of what Inoichi had said, but she got a first taste of it later that night, morning, really, as they found themselves lying in bed in Ibiki's small one room apartment. They'd hugged, and then they'd kissed, and then Rin found herself being pushed roughly down on the twin-sized bed. Rin kissed the boy, man now, really, back, and let her hands start unbuttoning his long coat. It was on the floor, and his T&I uniform jacket was opened almost all the way when they came to a stop. Rin's brown eyes couldn't help but stare at the scars; Ibiki couldn't help but let his eyes blur as he recalled the person who'd given the scars to him in the first place. Ibiki was angry. Ibiki screamed. Loudly, harshly, and it was all Rin could do not to cry or throw something at him or just leave right then and there. But another hour and she was sitting next to the disoriented boy, because he was just a boy, half-petting half-massaging his spine through his still unbuttoned uniform top. He had fallen asleep, and even though Rin's head was throbbing and she could barely keep her own eyes open she couldn't just leave Ibiki alone. After twenty more minutes Rin gave in, and got down next to Ibiki, and carefully put her arm around him. As she fell asleep she could hear Ibiki making quiet, whimpering noises. Almost as if he was crying. Rin would never forget what Inoichi had said, and she would never forget just what this night had meant. Ibiki had let her in, and Rin wasn't going to betray him; she wasn't going to let him go. She wasn't going to mess up. She wasn't going to watch another person she loved die.
XII.
There were two people in the world who knew every single one of Morino Ibiki's secrets. There was Yamanaka Inoichi, Ibiki's mentor and father figure who'd helped him through the darkest days right during and after his recovery. It was Inoichi who'd held his hand through the worst of the nightmares, and it was Inoichi who'd helped him bandage the still healing scars that had covered his skin. If anyone, Inoichi was Ibiki's sun and moon. Inoichi kept Ibiki on Earth; kept him from floating through space. Inoichi was Ibiki's gravity. The other person who knew all of Ibiki's secrets was Rin, the girl who'd been disgusted and intrigued with him and who'd kiss him goodnight as they parted ways or, some nights, didn't. Ibiki had never truly recovered, and Rin had helped him accept that was the way it always would be. Rin, more than Inoichi had been, was the sanity in Ibiki's life. Inoichi had taught Ibiki how to take the lemons and make lemonade. Rin taught Ibiki to accept that some people just couldn't force themselves to love lemonade, no matter how many lemons life threw in their direction.
XIII.
Rin and Morino Ibiki's relationship always seemed to put people on edge. 'He's using her,' they'd always say, or 'She just wants the connections.' Ibiki would glare in his own, emotionless version of moody and stalk away. Rin just managed to block it all out. The people that really mattered understood completely anyways, like Minato-sensei before his death, and Kakashi and Inoichi and Rin's medic-sensei Masako. These days Rin would finish up her shifts and, as soon as they were done, rush over to T&I headquarters. By now everyone knew her, and even the blind Kichi had grown to recognize her apparently unique walking pattern. 'It's dangerous to settle into habits, Rin-san.' Kichi would say politely everyday in some variation as Rin entered the building, taking the kunai from where it was stuck behind her ear and throwing it an inch or so in front of Rin's sandal. 'Habits are for sloppy ninja. Habits get ninja killed.' Rin had long learned how down and serious the ninja who worked for T&I could get, but she'd also learned that it was their own way of expressing worry or sisterly concern. There was something about all T&I ninja that was a little off, but Rin had grown to know Ibiki, so she understood all of them, to an extent. It was almost terrifying, how a gruff shout and a barely-missing punch to the face could become so endearing. It was also thrilling. Everyday Rin would walk into Ibiki's office without knocking, and everyday Ibiki would swear under his breath before turning and, as he saw his fiancé's face, suddenly smiling. 'Rin.' He'd say, almost in relief, and Rin would smile and hug him tightly, her fingers brushing over the scars at the base of his neck. This was Ibiki's version of love.
XIV.
Rin really doesn't mind that this is all she has. Just the hospital and T&I and Ibiki and her. It's like a large family, and Ibiki and she are its rulers, and all the rest of them are devoted townspeople who all throw up their hats and shout their names. And when they do Rin will blush, and Ibiki will let out a gruff curse under his breath before grabbing her hand embarrassedly because he's never really been a big fan of crowds. And Inoichi will be the old retired king, and all of her medic friends will be the ladies in waiting, and Kichi will get to be the grudging jester. Rin imagines her in a bright outfit with a spangles-and-bells hat, and bursts out laughing.
"Rin?" Ibiki asks, looking up from his paperwork and across his office to where the brunette is laughing quietly to herself. "What is it?"
"Ah- ah. Nothing." Rin grins, standing up and walks over to Ibiki, attempting, and failing, to read his sloppy ANBU coding upside down from across the desk. "I love you."
"Me too…" Ibiki replies easily, because Rin does this changing-subject thing a lot. Ibiki lets his eyes wander down to the simple gold ring on his left hand. Normally he would never do something so obvious and secret-telling; if an enemy got one glance at it they'd know he was engaged. They could go after Rin and hold her ransom. But sometimes, risks were worth taking. Looking up and into Rin's smiling eyes, Ibiki knew this one always would be.
~0~
Ah! Please no flaming for the cheesy ending!*hides under desk chair* I could not help myself. I just couldn't think of another way to end it. It was actually supposed to stop after thirteen, but fourteen just sort of wrote itself. (OH MY GOD! It's like- how my other two numbered fics are sevens. I'm turning into Voldemort!) (And yes, lol, I love using numbers like list-formats and numbers of days. Once I wrote a drabble based off Itachi's mengekyou sharingan that talked a lot about the 72 hours, and listed the number of minutes specifically at least twice. Haha, I'm so silly XP) ...Reviews? *poke poke nudge nudge*