Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters of Naruto
On her way to the forest, Rin had heard some commotion with the jounin of the village, but she didn't think much on it, after all the newest genin were in need of senseis for the next day. She should've paid closer attention as to what all the commotion was about though, because as she walked into the forest boundary she could hear the faint sounds of a battle occurring not to far from her position. Again, she ignored it, it wasn't rare for others to spar in the forest but she didn't once connect the disarray in the village to the battle, and that was her mistake.
As usual she started out with simple katas, but as she felt her body relax she snapped her eyes opened and grinned. This was the only time she could truly push her limits, there was no one to hide her eyes from, no worries, and so she began her training. She jumped into the air and grabbed a low branch and pulled herself up until she was standing on the branch, she grabbed two kunais then threw one into the air, as it left her hand she dropped to the ground and held the other kunai directly above her as she waited for the other to fall. As she saw it descend, she channeled chakra into the kunai and became stone still, and the second the two kunais met, tip to tip, she let the other go and swung her leg out. She had been practicing this for a while and hadn't gotten much of a result, but as her foot met the end of one of the kunais she could see her patience had paid off. Instantly, the two weapons were launched across a few trees until they embedded themselves into a tree a few meters away, one above the other. She smirked in triumph and went to retrieve them, but as she pulled the weapons from their temporary sheath, she felt a surge of chakra that was far too immense to be human. In her shock she slashed her palm, and she held it in partial shock and partial pain.
Quickly, she pulled some bandages and wrapped them around her hand tightly. Full of curiosity, she went forth to find the source of this power and as she neared the source she couldn't believe her ears or her eyes. That voice, that annoying, exasperating voice, it belonged to no other than Uzamaki Naruto. And that had to be a mistake on her part. She neared the voice, or what seemed to be many voices, in a sly way, trying to go unnoticed. When she was close enough to identify what was going on, her breath came up short. Indeed, it was Naruto, but it seemed impossible. There were hundreds of clones, and she knew from the chakra signatures that these were not just illusion, but actual clones. But how was this possible? Surely there had to be a logical explanation for this. Earlier the same day, he couldn't create one! This made no sense… to go from a pathetic clone to hundreds in one day? She could feel her heart racing in her chest as she tried to process al the information that was drowning her senses. She could feel the chakra that was being emitted by this boy, but it was different than any chakra she'd ever felt, almost too animalistic and too natural. Something was different about this boy, but that's not what bothered her.
From the time she first set foot in the Academy, she had promised herself never to underestimate anyone she was faced with or ever judge someone without knowing them, colleague, sensei or other wise; because she could see the way others looked at her and the way they judged her and she despised it. And now, a few years later, she was the one who was judging Naruto with absolutely no knowledge on his past, his feelings. She was in awe of his power, yes, but in her self-loathing, she ran away quickly and rushed to her apartment. Despite the fact that Rin had a better sense of respect towards Naruto now, she couldn't get over the fact that she was being such an insolent hypocrite. As she walked into the complex, she pushed passed a few girls who were, no doubt, waiting in vain to speak and congratulate Sasuke, and then shut the door behind her. Her breath was ragged and came up shot, and she knew that it wasn't from the run. This was physically taking a toll on her, as she raised her hand to wash it in the sink, she saw it shake. Rin clenched her hand and even though it pained her, it stopped shaking at much. She cleaned it thoroughly through teary eyes, not because of the pain caused in her hand, but the one in her heart and mind. After her hand was wrapped correctly, she walked into her bedroom and stumbled into her bed.
This couldn't be happening. She was getting over worked over something silly, right? It shouldn't bug her this much, not to the point of completely breaking down like she was now. She clenched her hands tightly, ignoring the pain, and changed into her sleeping gown she had to get over this. If Nazoko were here he would have said, 'Rin, you must learn to not let your emotions get the best of you. You have to remember that there are people in this world who wish to harm us, so chin up, okay?' He said it was okay to cry if the reason was warranted, but in a situation such as the one she was faced with was uncalled for such meaningless tears. Taking deep breaths, she resolved to forget all this nonsense. She had to be stronger than this if she was to rescue her brother. And despite the fact that she felt bad about being such a hypocrite, Rin climbed into bed and said as she did every night, "Good night Nazoko." She closed her eyes and let the obscurity of sleep overtake her.
Sasuke grunted in disregard as one by one he heard the girls clear the hallway leading to his apartment. It was unbelievable how persistent these girls were; day after day they would follow him from a 'distance' and giggle, laugh, and trot around like idiots. They were pretty easy to avoid, but when he couldn't it was hard to completely ignore the childlike whispers and giggles. It was distracting, but instead he saw it as practice, if he could concentrate while they were around, then surely his focus during battles would improve. As he started getting ready to go to bed he began to analyze Rin, as he used to when he was younger. She just made no sense. It had been proven time and time again that the chances of her brother being alive were close to nonexistent and yet she continued to believe that, against all odds, he was alive. Even then, Rin was strange on her own, only she would have this tremendous ability and want to suppress it instead of refining it. He shook his head in disapproval, when he had, more or less, recovered from the Massacre, he had hoped that perhaps he and Rin would remain friends and then set out together to kill Itachi; but that wasn't the case. Instead of becoming allies, they became distant and this was because he could see that she held no abhorrence, no hatred, towards Itachi. She was offended, yes, but not enough.
It was almost tragic, but he could care less. Her misery was her and he accepted that, just like she accepted his. The little occurrence earlier that day was the closest they had gotten to speaking since the Massacre, and he was disappointed in himself. He truly did want to test out her ability, but the true reason he wanted to talk to her was to tell her she needed help. Perhaps she not physically weak, but he often heard her whimper at nights when she was asleep and he knew, from experience, that they were nightmares. He still had them, and as much as he hated to admit it, he hoped that things would get better if he talked about it with someone. But he was too proud to ask for help from people who couldn't possibly understand his position, so by offering to 'help' her, he would be helping himself.
He yawned, a warning that he would soon fall asleep, and so he sat on his bed. Maybe he would draw the courage to ask her, although he didn't really believe it. Surely, he didn't need help; he was an Uchiha after all.
Even as she slept, Rin's subconscious couldn't shake the memories that the day's events were bringing up. She was seven all over again, and it was the first day of the Academy, by then the Hokage had already spoken to her about her choices and she had decided, with the help of Itachi, to enroll into the Academy. It was supposed to be a really exciting experience but Itachi had become more isolated than usual and she was walking into this situation blind. She supposed that she could rely on Sasuke once she arrived, but she wasn't exactly sure about that. The Hokage had warned her that it would be hard for her to get accustomed to all the staring and people whispering about her, since she was, after all, feared for her ability and her seclusion from society. Many people tended to avoid her when she was out, and the rest just looked at her with pity. She was currently getting ready to go, and that's when she looked at her brother's scarf. It was perched on its hanger like usual, but she had never taken it out of the apartment. It was the only thing that silver-haired ninja, Kakashi, was able to recover when he chased them down. Her heart beat with trepidation at the thought of going to the Academy, she knew that Sasuke was going to be accompanied by his parents and Itachi, but unlike everyone else, she was going to go alone. She had no one; even if the Hokage and Itachi always tried their best to help her out, moments like this reminded her how alone she truly was. That's when she remembered what Nazoko told her, 'I'll still protect you, you just won't be able to see me anymore.'
Her expression hardened and she looked at her brother's scarf with newfound determination. She grabbed it and wrapped it around her neck, it was a bit longer, as was to be expected and it almost dragged, but she adjusted it to fit her height. Now she was ready, because her brother was with her, at least in spirit, and she would start her training so she could get Nazoko back and they'd be together again. Rin grinned and made her way to the Academy, but it disappeared as soon as she reached the front doors. There were a lot of people here, from parents to students and it made her drop her gaze down. When she had regained consciousness after getting to Konoha, she was overwhelmed with all the thoughts of the nurses, and doctors; it was a complete nightmare. The Hokage had helped her understand what her kekkei genkai did and how it worked, but it was too late to suppress it. No one else had anymore knowledge on it, and even though Kakashi said he could help her, she turned him away. She was upset with him because he had failed to return her brother. Despite that childish resentment, she had various rendezvous with him by 'coincidence' or so he said, and Rin had grown attached to him and thought of him as an uncle or something close in relevance.
She still didn't accept his offer, regardless of her thoughts of him, mainly because she was afraid to try to advance her prowess, which was needed to control it. She was in such turmoil as it was, and she hadn't scratched the surface of what she could do. Rin took a deep breath and waited for her name to be called, as the masses of students were separated into classrooms. When she heard her name called out into the same classroom as Sasuke, hope blossomed in her, hoping they would talk. Everyone sat down in the classroom as a man introduced himself as Iruka-sensei. He seemed very amiable, but seemed to be strict concerning the rules around here. He asked for a volunteer to introduce themselves. A hand shot up into the air and a boy with bright yellow hair stood on the desk with enthusiasm, without waiting for a response from Iruka, he ran to the front of the room and shouted in a clear voice, "I'm Uzamaki Naruto! And I'm going to be better than all of you so don't be disappointed when I beat all of you, believe it!" Iruka then reprimanded him on respect and humility for a while before he started calling everyone by rows to introduce themselves.
Everyone said their names and eventually he reached her, and instead of standing up and going to the front like everyone else, she stayed in her seat in the back and said, "I'm Kimiko Rin." And that was it. As rude as it was to do that, it was the safest thing to do; she couldn't risk catching someone's eye as she made her way to the front. Iruka looked at her and asked her to please get up and introduce herself properly. She only shook her head and kept her head down, so Iruka asked to see her during the lunch break. At this, many of the kids snickered and made snide remarks. The rest of the day she was stared at with contempt and she was avoided by all the kids, even Sasuke, who chose to train instead of paying her any attention. She waited in her seat when everyone ran out of the room to eat, and Iruka walked up to her, "Listen, I talked to the Hokage, so I understand your situation, but you should participate more, or else you'll fall behind, alright?" She merely nodded her head and headed out. They both knew she wouldn't really participate as much as anyone, unless it was really necessary for her to. Rin was a fast learner and she wasn't going to ignore the lessons, just learn from a different perspective, besides she was better as a hands-on learner.
As she walked outside all conversations stopped, most of the other children were glaring at her, she could feel it, it was a horrible sensation and as she walked by a table a kid tripped her and said, "My mom said I should stay away from you, you're a freak! And you were rude to Iruka-sensei; you shouldn't be allowed to train at all…" She ignored the comment but a lot of kids sniggered at it. She felt horrible and ran away to her apartment were she crumbled in anger. Why was it that people could be so cruel? The worse part was that they were just children. They didn't know the damage their words inflicted, how much it hurt. She promised herself to never make someone feel like that, ever. She stood up with a fierce look in her eyes, 'No one will hurt me like that ever again!"
When Rin woke up the next morning, she gave little thought to the dream she had, but she was glad it wasn't a nightmare like usual. They were horrifying and they had gotten worse, but she refused to tell anyone about it, she could handle it. Now, though, she wore Nazoko's scarf with even more pride, knowing that it fit her better than before, a sign that she was growing up. It was usually a big deal to wear the hitai-ate after receiving it, but she grabbed it and tied it around her hip. Rin made her way to the Academy after a quick breakfast, which was mostly full by the time she arrived. Everyone stared when Naruto walked in, and someone went as far as to tell him that today was only for genin, which is when he flashed his headband with pride.
She tried to ignore everyone until Iruka put them into groups, so she kept her head down. When Iruka walked in she noticed that something had happened between Sasuke and Naruto because they were glaring at each other while all of the girls, except Hinata and me, were staring daggers at Naruto. Slowly kids were called into teams as Iruka explained that we were in teams that would balance out the abilities. I perked up when I heard that Team 7 would have an extra member, knowing this was my team I listened for the names. Naruto was called first, and while it might have been coincidence, Rin sensed that the Hokage knew that she saw what had happened and placed him on her team on purpose. Then Haruno Sakura was called out and she grimaced, I wasn't too thrilled to be on her team. She was okay and got good enough grades, but she was completely daft and part of the Sasuke Fangirl Club, which was enough to make her distasteful. When Sasuke's name was called, Naruto was dismayed, Sakura was thrilled, and I was in shock. Now she was sure that the Hokage was involved in this, and he would get an earful when she got the chance. Naruto then went on complaining that he was better than Sasuke, when the latter insulted him; Iruka stopped him and told him that Sasuke got the highest while Naruto got the lowest.
This much was true, but she made an internal comment that she didn't get the greatest grades either. She lacked in participation, but she made up in performance, which landed her with a fair enough final grade. The rest of the day was uneventful for her, but she heard the other trio in the team had gotten into some misunderstanding. Rin only hoped that this wouldn't delay her. The next day was when they would meet their senseis and came to pick them up and head out. Little by little, the room was emptied and the only ones left were them, Team 7. Sakura was staring at Sasuke for a while before she turned her attention to Rin, "Hey, you're always really quiet. Maybe we can be friends and then you wouldn't have to be so quiet! We could hang out and talk about things we like. Hey don't you live in the same complex as Sasuke-kun? You're so lucky; I bet you get a bunch of chances to talk to him! Hey, Rin, are you listening to me?"
Rin took a deep breath and then proceeded to stand up and walk to the other end of the room and said, "I don't want to be friends with anyone. Don't take it personally, but you talk a lot."
She looked pretty annoyed but she waved it off and continued to look at Sasuke and making a comment about how late their sensei was. Naruto, meanwhile, was being the usual clown, and
Naruto started to get impatient and proceeded to place the eraser between the door and the wall. Sakura warned him not to and Sasuke said, "Our sensei is a jounin, so wouldn't fall for something as dumb as that." Not surprising at all, Sakura agreed with him, and that's when their sensei opened the door. Naruto burst out in laughter when the eraser fell unto silver hair. Sakura apologized and denied having anything to do with it, while Sasuke stared at him. I sighed; of course Kakashi would be in charge of Team 7. "My first impression of you: you are a bunch of idiots." Everyone looked shocked, but in reality, Rin was expecting some kind of remark like that from Kakashi, it was in his nature to do something like that.
They were ushered outside and then to the roof of the Academy. She decided to stay in the room until they were all outside and then she made her way to the rooftop through a different route: the trees. She hid in the high branches of a tree near the roof as Kakashi explained how he wanted us to introduce ourselves. He gave a vague example before he motioned Naruto to start. "I'm Uzamaki Naruto, believe it! I like instant ramen in a cup and I really like the ramen that Iruka-sensei got me at the Ichiraku noodle shop, but I hate the three minutes you have to wait after you pour the water in the ramen cup. My hobby is eating different types of ramen and comparing them. And my future dream is to be the greatest Hokage! Then the whole village will stop disrespecting me and me like I'm somebody. Somebody important!"
Usually, Rin would have just ignored it, but after what she witnessed, she knew that he'd earn respect sooner or later. Sakura spent her introduction staring at Sasuke, and it wasn't hard to guess what she was thinking of, and then turned to insult Naruto, so Kakashi said, "Okay, last one." Sasuke never moved, but he spoke in a clear voice, "My name is Sasuke Uchiha. I hate a lot of things, and I don't particularly like anything. What I have is not a dream, because I will make it a reality. I'm going to restore my clan and kill a certain someone."
"Good, you're all unique and hold your own ideas-" Kakashi started but was interrupted
Naruto sprung up and said, "Hey, wait, what about the other girl? Rin-chan? Where is she anyways?!"
Kakashi turned to look towards my tree, and said, "She's been here all along hasn't she? Why don't you come down and introduce yourself, Rin?"
She jumped down and glared at Kakashi, she knew he wouldn't look her in the eyes. "But, why? You already know me?"
Sasuke tried not to care, but it was impressive that she was giving Kakashi an attitude. Naruto and Sakura were both in shock that she was being so rude and she claimed to know him. "Well, then, why don't you humor me, and introduce yourself to them. I'm sure they know as little as your name." Kakashi replied. She took a breath and walked towards them. If she had to work with them, they had to know a little about her. Perhaps this wouldn't be as bad as she thought.
A/N:
Hope you guys enjoy the latest chapter of The Inside! Unfortunately I will be out of town this next week, but I'll try to post the new chapter next weekend. Also there is a poll on my profile concerning the Update days, so go forth and cast your votes! Also, follow me on instagram to get to meet Rin Kimiko!
Your Raven,
E. I. Lorelai
