A/N: terribly sorry i haven't updated in awhile. this chapter took a long time. it's around 6 pages compared to 3 so yeah.. well enjoy! and review!!!
Chapter 3- Separation
Rin winced in pain as her senses started to return. She opened her eyes slowly and looked down. Her arm was fine, but her stomach was still wrapped tightly. Rin glanced around the dimly lit room as she propped herself up on the bed. She gasped as she saw Sasuke sitting in the corner, eyes on her. She watched as he stood and sauntered over to her bedside.
"Liar." He hissed. Sasuke's face was inches from hers now.
"About what?" Rin squeaked out. His frown deepened as he stared into her clear eyes.
"Itachi. You're lying about Itachi. Why would he bother with you? Why wouldn't he come and fight me? Why?" he demanded.
"Next time, I'll ask." Rin answered sarcastically, "You think I just broke my arm and stabbed myself to entertain you? Don't flatter yourself." Sasuke backed up a few inches, surprised by Rin's sudden confidence. Rin sighed and sat all the way up.
"Listen Sasuke, it was an accident. Wrong place, wrong time. From what I got, he's looking for you." Or at least, that's what she thought she got out of it. Itachi was as vague as Sasuke was arrogant. Rin tried to read Sasuke's expression, but he turned to face the large window. She could see his reflection on the glass; his mouth in a tight frown, eyes tense.
"No. Itachi doesn't look for anyone. He knows something, and he came to test you." He spat. A soft knock on the door interrupted Rin's thoughts on this. Sasuke opened the window.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Rin whispered. Sasuke hung on the sill to look back at her. His cold eyes were still staring through her.
"I was never here." He said calmly, "And by the way, whoever's knocking, really wants to see you." Rin turned back to the door as Sasuke dropped out into the cool air. She really didn't want to talk to anyone, so she laid back down quickly and shut her eyes.
The wooden door creaked open anyway, to reveal Naruto, who seemed very agitated. He slammed the door shut and walked over.
"Sheesh! Why is everyone so mad at me? Rin thought.
"How could you go and get yourself hurt? We're supposed to finish our battle, remember?" he called. Rin sighed silently in relief; this wasn't about Itachi. She didn't respond, though, still keeping up her facade of sleep.
"Helllloooo! Rin-chan! Wake up!" Naruto yelled.
"Well," she thought, "he's not going away. Might as well answer him." She opened her eyes reluctantly and sat up. Rin looked him up and down. His face was slightly scratched, which matched his clothes to a tee.
"Hey Naruto." She faked a yawn. "Did you says something?" she mused. His face wrinkled in agitation as he stood proudly.
"I was training." He declared. Rin smiled at him, he was always training.
"Listen Naruto, we'll have to finish our fight another time. I suppose I'm in here for a week." She said grimly. The blonde shinobi ran his fingers through his hair. Rin's brows furrowed as she looked at his blank forehead.
"Naruto, where is your forehead protector?" she asked. He looked up vainly and rubbed his forehead.
"Oy, I took it off. I won't be putting it back on until the next chuunin exams." He smiled sheepishly.
"But Naruto, you're already a chuunin. Why would you go again?" She questioned.
"To watch. If I go, it's got to be clean so people will respect me. Plus Konahamaru is in it this year. I've got to go watch him." He declared. Rin nodded. This was a good reason. Konahamaru was like a sibling to Naruto. Rin would go if she had any. Naruto shuffled back to the door and slid it open. He turned back to Rin.
"Hey Rin-chan, have you ever met the sand-nin?" he asked deviously.
"No. Who are they?" she asked cautiously. A grin came across Naruto's face as he looked at Rin.
"You'll see. But it's worth going to the exams if you meet them." he said. The wooden door slammed shut as he left, leaving Rin alone again.
"Another week." She mumbled miserably.
********
Rin filled out the proper paperwork as fast a she could as Naruto hovered over her shoulder. He was Rin's only visitor all week, which told Rin she was on her own as far as training and a social life went. She had been confined to her room over Christmas, and Naruto had come and celebrated with her. He even bought her a ribbon for her hair. Rin felt bad that she couldn't get Naruto anything, but he insisted that when they finished their fight, it would be payment enough. She wore the ribbon now, tying her light brown hair in a high ponytail as she bent over the endless amount of forms. Some short strands slipped out and she brushed them out of the way.
"Damn paperwork. They know I was here. No need for this!" she thought furiously.
"Hurry up Rin-chan! I wanna get out of here!" Naruto whined. Rin scribbled her name on the last form and slammed the pen down on the table.
"Done!" she declared. Rin smiled smugly as Naruto dragged her out the door. She took a deep breath as she stretched her arms.
"Freedom!" she called. They laughed as they walked through the village.
"Oy, you hungry?" Naruto asked.
"Starving. All they fed me there was soup." Rin replied. Naruto's face wrinkled in disappointment.
"Does that mean you wouldn't be up for ramen?" he asked meekly. She gave a look of mock surprise.
"How about popsicles?" she reasoned. He smiled as they turned down the market street. Rin and Naruto walked up to a large man standing behind a small cart. His smile was friendly as the two stopped at his little shop.
"What can I get you?" he asked in a deep voice. Naruto looked at Rin expectantly.
"Oh, um, cherry." Rin stuttered.
"Two." Naruto agreed. The man reached in and pulled out two red-colored popsicles. They thanked the man and continued on. The two kept walking and ended up on an old dirt road towards the back of the village. A fence separated some of the houses from this, which, if they had kept walking, would have led around to the village gate. Naruto hopped up onto the wooden fence and sat facing the various buildings. Rin climbed up awkwardly to sit beside him.
*******
"Well. Do you think Konahamaru is doing ok?" Rin asked. Naruto let out a loud laugh before turning towards Rin.
"Today's the written test. Konahamaru is going to fail!" Rin's eyebrows raised slightly.
"Why is that funny?" she asked. Naruto's smile faded as he answered her.
"Konahamaru doesn't pay attention. He learns off of experience. He'll do better in the next round." He said seriously. Rin was about to question it further when Naruto suddenly looked down the road. He smiled deviously as he jumped down onto the grass on the other side.
"Naruto what are you doing?" Rin called. He looked up at the young shinobi but didn't answer. Instead he clasped his fists together and slammed them against the wood. The force sent Rin and her Popsicle flying backwards onto the road. Rin landed harshly; dirt flying into clouds around her. Rin coughed as silently cursed Naruto. Her Popsicle was long gone, and she cursed again. It was good a good flavor…
She opened her eyes to see three people standing above her. The first one she saw was a blonde girl, who carried a large fan on her back. The second ninja wore all black with a hood. His face was covered in purple markings, and he had some sort of device attached to his back.
"Uh-"
"You're in the way." Rin turned to the voice, which had come from the third shinobi. Rin found herself looking at a redhead about her age. His face was grim as he crossed his arms over his chest. Rin's face twisted into one of disgust at the blatantly rude comment.
"I'm sorry, next time I fall off a fence, I'll make sure to look for pedestrians." She said sarcastically. The boy with purple face paint let out a light laugh.
"She's funny Gaara. You should be nice while we're here." He mused. The girl rolled her eyes.
"That's like telling wind not to blow." She retorted. Rin struggled as she got up. The shinobi team backed up as she brushed the dirt off of herself.
"If you'll excuse me. I need to find Naruto and thank him for pushing me off a fence." She huffed. She turned to leave but a hand grasped her shoulder. It turned her to face Gaara, a look of interest creeping upon his face.
"You were with Naruto just now?" he questioned. Rin shrugged his hand off and nodded. His cold, green eyes stared back at her.
"Wait," she said, "are you from the sand village?" The three nodded in unison.
"We're going to see the Hokage to check in. we're here to watch the chuunin exams like always." Gaara informed her. Rin shuffled her feet uncomfortably. That's where she was headed soon enough.
"We'll go on ahead Gaara." The boy said. He winked as the two turned and left. A bewildered look brushed across Rin's face as she took in the meaning. she blushed as she turned to face Gaara.
"My brother, Kankuro" Gaara sighed. Rin looked closely. She didn't see the resemblance.
"Really? What about the girl?" she asked.
"My sister Temari." He said plainly. His arms were crossed again and Rin could sense the impatience in his voice.
"This guy really has no social skills." Rin thought.
"Well-"
"Rin!" Naruto called. He blue eyes beamed as his head popped over the fence line. "Hokage-same wants you!" Rin's frustration showed on her face as she stomped towards him.
"Have you been there the whole time? Listen Naruto: it's rude to push people off of fences. I declare myself the winner just for that!" she yelled. Naruto looked over her to Gaara.
"Oh, Kazekage-sama, she's looking for you too." Rin gave Naruto a look of shock before turning back to Gaara.
"Is he talking about you?" she asked incredulously. He smirked at her.
"Yeah. Nice to meet you Rin." His expression was amused as she stared at him.
"Naruto I'll kill you for this!" She screamed silently. Naruto was already over the fence making small talk with Gaara.
"You watching the second round too?" he asked.
"Yeah. We came early just to watch." He replied. Naruto put his hands on the back of his head and turned back towards Rin.
"Seriously though, the Hokage seemed in a hurry to see both of you." He and Gaara calmly started walking and Rin fell in behind them. Rin glanced at her bare feet as they walked. She really needed to start training again. She would fall to far behind Neji and Sasuke if she didn't start quickly. Not that they visited her in the hospital anyway.
********
"I wonder what the Hokage wants. I wonder if Sakura or Ino told her what I said about Itachi." Rin's thoughts were interrupted as she ran straight into Gaara, who had stopped dead.
"Ow. Ya know stopping without warning isn't a very bright idea." She said, irritated. She looked up to see Gaara staring at her. A startled look came upon his face. She eyed him cautiously.
"Are you Kagami Rin?" He asked seriously.
"Yeah. What of it?" she ventured. He took in a deep breath before answering.
"It's nothing. Never mind. Naruto, did the Hokage specify why she wanted to see me?" he changed topics. Naruto glanced at Rin before shaking his head no. Rin walked the rest of the way in silence, though Naruto and Gaara chatted the whole time.
When they arrived, Gaara opened the large doors leading to the Hokage's office. Papers fluttered around as the three walked in. Stacks of other forms were piled everywhere. Rin looked around the room to see Neji and Sasuke, plus Temari and Kankuro from earlier. Gaara went to stand beside his siblings, and Rin took a few steps towards her team. Sasuke glared at her from his seat, and Neji just looked away.
"Naruto, you can go now." The Hokage said. Naruto frowned and looked at Rin.
"Fine." He answered. He shut the doors behind him with a creak. Rin turned back to the now slightly crowded room.
"Rin. Do you know why you're here?" she asked. Rin raised her eyebrows.
"Am I supposed to? What is this a therapy session?" she thought.
"In other words, she has no clue." Sasuke interrupted for her. She shot him a threatening look before turning back to the Hokage.
"As my rude teammate has just so graciously pointed out, I do not know why I'm here." She said confidently. The Hokage sighed.
"It has been brought to my attention that the current arrangement is not working out. Therefore, I am switching the teams." She said calmly. Rin stared in disbelief. Her team was kicking her out. She turned to her teammates. Sasuke wore a smug expression, his eyes showed satisfaction. She tried to make eye contact with Neji, but he turned away from her.
"Guilt." She reasoned. "What am I supposed to do then?" she asked. She wasn't going to cry over something like this.
"You'll be assigned a new team shortly." She said simply.
"As far as I'm concerned. It's not a choice of whom you're grouped with. If you don't like them, you have to deal with it. It shows weakness when you try and degrade your teammates by forcing them out." Everyone turned to Gaara. The Kazekage remained calm as he looked at Rin, then Sasuke.
*******
Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he looked back at Gaara.
"This doesn't concern you." He hissed. The Hokage raised her hand to silence him.
"Well Gaara, since you seem keen on not letting Rin go without a team, why don't we do this: Rin will return with you after the chuunin exams and Temari can stay here and join Shikamaru and Ino's team. Chojii is on a mission with his clan anyway. We have a new shinobi who can join Sasuke and Neji." The room tensed the Hokage waited for a reply. Gaara's eyes narrowed.
"That's not a good idea." The words rang harshly in Rin's ears. Kankuro stood up and walked to stand beside Rin. His arm balanced on her shoulder.
"I think you should take the Hokage up on her offer." He declared. "She's funny. Who knows? Maybe you'll learn to like her." Rin found herself blushing again and quickly tried to compose herself. Gaara stared at his brother, slightly surprised.
"I could use a change of scenery." Temari agreed. The two waited for Gaara to respond.
"Sasuke, do you approve of this?" the Hokage asked sarcastically. Neji took a deep breath and started to leave.
"It's like your trading her soul to the devil." He muttered as opened and closed the wooden doors. Rin suddenly became aware of the fact that she didn't know who these people were. The weight from Rin's shoulder was removed as Kankuro crossed the room again and patted Gaara on the back. He flinched at the motion, but didn't say anything else.
"Gaara, I'm pretty busy, can I take that as a yes?" the Hokage asked impatiently. The sand-nin stood without a word and motioned for his brother to follow him. As he passed Rin, he stopped and looked at her.
"We leave after the final exam. If you're late, we're leaving you. If you get killed in our village: I warned you." He hissed. The two left and all that remained were Sasuke and herself.
"How could you do this?" she asked Sasuke bitterly. He merely turned to the Hokage and asked to leave. She approved and he walked past her without a word.
"Rin," she continued, "you can go too. I'd make friends with Gaara, quickly." Rin shuffled out of the room, feeling more anxious about leaving then ever.
A/N: well? what did you think? i know, i'm horrible at ending things but that's the best i could manage so far. i would really love to here from you guys!
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