A/N: It's me again! Again, with Neji's birthday not coming up until Saturday, I needed some way to entertain myself. So, tada! A short fanfic (short referring to the length of chapters) about what could happen if Rin were part of Akatsuki (unwillingly) and returned to Konoha on a mission to snatch Naruto. I warn you, though: This fanfic does not follow canon very much. There may be some moments, but not many.
WARNING: not KakaIru! gasp! And, no set update schedule. I update when I update. Around writer's block and FYE and life, there couldn't be an update schedule if I wanted one. Which I don't.
Disclaimer: Characters in this fanfiction are not mine, they're Masashi Kishimoto's. If Naruto belonged to me, KakaIru would be canon and Kakashi's genin team would have never died/disappeared.
"Rin-chan?" Tobi asked, pushing open a door and bouncing into the room.
Rin looked up from her task silently, not speaking just yet. The masked ninja had to pause for a moment as Rin's dark, piercing eyes locked on his. Despite how long the woman had been in the Akatsuki's custody, she'd always unnerved him. It almost felt like she knew exactly what was behind his orange mask, and that made him feel... exposed, for lack of a better word.
"Leader-sama sent orders," he chirped happily. Before she could react, he tossed an envelope on her bed. "You're going back to Konoha, to keep an eye on the Kyuubi jinchuuriki. Watch out, though; the Leaf ninja might kill you if they find out you're one of us!" Despite the seriousness of the situation, his voice remained happy and excited, though behind the mask his expression was also grim.
Rin didn't move and her expression didn't change. Tobi noticed the complete lack of a reaction and tilted his head to the side. He'd basically just told her she was free to go, despite having to check in a few times with Leader-sama or Zetsu-san. But no, there wasn't even a flicker of emotion on her face. She was... different than whom she used to be, before Akatsuki had kidnapped her from Suna in the dead of night. It worried him.
"Why?" was her reply after a long, unnerving silence.
"Apparantly we need someone on the inside. Tobi doesn't know, Leader-sama never tells Tobi anything!" Again with the excited, little-kid voice. "Zetsu-san says Itachi-san and Kisame-san are going on a different mission that doesn't involve the Kyuubi."
She stared at him, through the single eyehole in his mask, and he stared back, keeping his eye as blank as possible. Finally, she gave a nod. That calmed him down. No more questions, no more staring... no more reason to stay in that room. He bowed low and straightened up, moving back to pull open the door.
"Good luck, Rin-chan! Don't forget to write!" he giggled, wiggling his fingers before escaping the woman's room. Once the door was shut completely, his shoulders sagged and he sighed. Why did she have to change so much? He missed the old Rin, whose emotions showed all the time, who was always there with a smile when someone picked on him.
"Sorry, Rin-chan. Please forgive me..."