Hello!

Omg, I'm sooooo sorry that I haven't updated in so long! I had to rewrite this chappie about six times, and i hope this is good enough. Hopefully, the next few chappiues will come quicker, ne?

Also, I'm going to, possibly, write a short, purely fluffy/crack-ish fic about Rini and the others, I've started, but i'll only continue if ppl want to read it. Basically, Rini tries to show off in front of Gaara and the Jutsu backfires majorly, i wont say anything else, coz it'll spoil it.

Enjoy!

Slash


Rini dropped the last box in her room and grinned, wiping her brow and sighing, leaning against the cool wall. She had adapted to the cooler climate when she moved from Suna, now that she was back, readapting would take some time. Her old room seemed huge after her small house in her old town, but it also seemed somewhat empty. Though, that would soon change.

She sighed happily and brushed the interlocked wing necklace at her throat affectionately. It meant more to her than almost anything in the world. She'd received it on her fifth birthday, it was the only thing that she had of her sister, who had died nearly fifteen years ago. The necklace had once been hers, and was the only thing that Ayame Hikari was able to give her much younger sister.

There was a clink of metal against metal and Rini smiled, looking down at the silver bracelet at her wrist. It was just slightly overlarge, and looked as though it was about to fall off, though Rini knew it wouldn't. It looked like a charm bracelet, with four small charms attached. The first was a small but detailed feather, engraved was the kanji symbol, Rin. The second was a three dimensional kanji for Suna. The third was a swirling orb of silver-blue chakra, it had been there for almost four years now, and it never faded away, it was solid, and yet intangible. The last was something special, something that was rare to get, and this was something that she'd worked herself half to death to get. A ball of gold chakra.

The gold chakra was the highest token a medic could receive, it meant that they were allowed to teach others, and to open their own practice, it also meant that she was fully capable of anything that was thrown at her, within reason. She'd trained for almost three years to get that sphere, and had managed it after three failed attempts.

She'd passed the Gold exams, which were actually similar to the Chuunin ones, only they were taken as a two man team. She and Taro had passed with ease, though their first three attempts had failed, they'd mainly been information collecting strikes. Taro had beaten her score-wise, but he'd fainted from exhaustion at the end, while she still had some of her chakra left, albeit a very small fraction.

She'd done everything from stamina training to practicing one-handed seals to prepare for the exam. On the seals front, she could manage a few weak healing techniques and most of her blood-line related jutsus. The one handed seals were harder to use, as she found it harder to mould her chakra, often using too much and becoming drained. She sighed and opened the box.

She smiled softly at the small wooden box sitting atop the neat pile of her personal effects. It was made of mahogany wood, a rarity, and had intricate, swirling patterns carved into the lid. She was about to lift the lid when.

"Rin-chan!" her mother's voice called up the stairs. "Rin-chan?"

"Hai, Kaa-san?" Rini poked her head through the door to look down at her mother.

"I need to run to the markets to organise a few things… would you like to come? You might get to see… oh what was her name… Temari?" the blue-haired woman smiled up at her daughter.

Rini felt a pang at the unintentional jab about Temari, but smiled back anyway and shook her head.

"No thanks, Kaa-san. I have to finish unpacking and head to the hospital to turn in my application," Rini replied.

"Oh, okay," Daija disappeared for a moment, and returned holding a handbag. "I'll see you later. And don't forget to lock the door when you go out!"

"I won't!" Rini called as the door clicked shut.

The medic sighed and leaned against her doorframe, her head tipped back and her eyes shut. She hadn't been lying about the hospital, she actually did have to turn in an application form, but she also didn't really want to take too much of a chance of seeing Temari or Kankuro so soon after arriving. After all, she had lost contact with the two siblings over the years, and they probably didn't want to talk to her. She sighed and set the unopened box on her desk, which had been one of the first things she set up, after her bed.

She looked down at the bracelet on her wrist sadly. At what price had she gotten her dream? Would she lose the best friend she ever had because she left to follow her own dreams? She turned her hand over and looked fondly at the scars lacerating her knuckles. She hadn't expected them to scar, but she was glad they had, because it was a reminder of the first time she met the blonde kunoichi. She sighed again and let her hand drop to her side. She'd changed since then, changed a lot.

She opened the second drawer on the right side of the desk and pulled out a file. She tucked it under her arm and bumped the drawer shut again with her hip. She set it on the desk beside the box and began to unpack her belongings. She pulled books, photographs, trinkets, small gifts, a diary, a half filled sketchpad, and a mirror.

She looked calculatingly at her reflection. Her now long blue-hair was held back in a braid that reached her hips. She made a mental note to get it cut some time soon. Her sapphire eyes looked up at her curiously, their innocent, childish look hadn't yet faded despite the fact that she would turn fifteen in a few months. She sighed and looked over at her full length mirror. Her hands were still soft due to the lack of physical training she did. Her white tank-top hugged her curves, and her flat, taut stomach. Her camouflage cargo pants hung from her hips, revealing just the slightest fraction of her belly.

She was actually slightly taller than she'd expected to grow, but, she thought, somewhat sulkily, she wasn't likely to grow much more now. Her skin, despite having lived in a cooler, forest enclosed town for the past six or seven years, was still tanned, though not to the same extent as it had been when she was living in Suna.

With a sigh she set the mirror down on the desk, completing the room. She smiled with satisfaction and grabbed the file again and walked out of the room. She leapt down from the top of the stairs, feeling slightly smug as her chakra allowed her to land perfectly. Yes, her training had payed off. She half skipped, half walked into the hall, wrinkling her nose at the layer of dust that had managed to accumulate over the past few years, obviously her parents hadn't thought to get someone in to clean it.

Yes, they had moved back into their old house, as they had only moved to one of the small summer houses her family owned. The Hikari's, despite their dwindling numbers, were quite rich and wide-spread as the family had no set allegiance to any shinobi village, like the Hyuuga's had with Konoha. That, however, did not mean that her family didn't work. Her mother was an amazing musician and gave lessons, her father, meanwhile, though he had given up his ANBU status like his wife, bred some of the top hunting birds in the Five Nations, and many people paid high prices for one.

She sighed and pinched her nose to avoid sneezing. She made a mental note to stop sighing, she'd been doing that far too often. She walked to the front door and pulled it open, patting her pocket to make sure of the key she'd placed in there at the beginning of the move. She nodded to herself, pulled on her shoes, locked the door and pulled it shut behind her.

Now out in the hot, midday sun, the girl found herself elated to feel the intense heat, something that surprised her. In general, she preferred the cold. She shook her head with an amused chuckle. She was a hypocrite, it seemed.

The walk through town was slow, as she wanted to take her time and see everything again, drinking in the details of the town she'd grown up in, and, though she didn't know it, she would fall in love in. People who vaguely recognised her smiled or looked at her curiously. Some of the village children laughed as they ran around her, nearly tripping her, she scolded them half-heartedly and was rewarded with playful pouts. She'd smiled at them and produced a bouquet of brilliantly coloured feathers, at which the girls had squealed and gushed, while the boys stared at the jutsu she'd used.

The technique was simple enough, so she'd only used one hand, and three seals to make it. She'd then split it into five smaller bunches and distributed them. The boys had scoffed and muttered something about giving them to their mother or sister, though their eyes glowed. Rini giggled as the girls thanked her, before running off to show their parents and other friends. She sighed happily. Suna, it seemed, had changed, though for the better. There used to be so much fear and danger, now it seemed bright and happy.

She stopped momentarily to look at the stores; there were toy stores, jewellery stores, a few super-market type shops, a tiny shop, tucked away, that made Rini blush, and a variety of stores she didn't bother to look at. It was nearly half an hour before she reached the hospital, due to her slow pace, and constant pauses, but, she thought to herself, at least she made it.

She padded casually through the doors and up to the receptionist, who looked up, a cheerful grin plastered to her face.

"Hello, miss," she chirped, "How can I help you?"

"I'd like to turn in this application," Rini handed her the file. "It needs to be seen by Kazekage-sama too."

"Have a good afternoon!" the woman chirped.

Rini left the hospital, shuddering at the insanely peppy tone the woman had used. Her journey home was far shorter, as she didn't pause to look at things, and before long she had landed silently in front of the door. She smiled, dusted herself down, and opened the door, removing her shoes in the entranceway.


Temari sighed and dumped the stack of papers on Gaara's desk. Said brother looked up at her wearily. He'd changed greatly over the past three years or so, and was more friendly, if such a word could describe the stoic Kazekage. His eyes fell on the new stack of papers and he sighed.

"More?" he asked.

"Yeah, sorry," Temari replied tiredly. "I can help sort them."

"Mm." She took that as a yes.

She sighed again, and lifted half the pile away. Gaara took the first file and opened it to read. These were all job applications and such that the Kazekage needed to approve, mainly for high positions, or opening their own business. She'd helped Gaara out before on these kind of things, mainly because he refused, point blank, to hire a proper secretary, and she got stuck with the job.

She had three possibilities; definitely not, it'll do, and good applicant. The majority made it into the first two piles, though there was one or two that had been deemed good enough for an almost definite 'yes'. There was everything from a man wishing to open a new weapons store, to a woman after a position in the ANBU. She had sorted both into the middle pile.

She was about half-way through by the time Gaara had even started to sign anything, but that was because he actually had to think about it for a while, then sign or not. She sighed and leaned over to grab the next on the pile, and slipped a little as her knee slid across the polished floorboards. The pile skidded out in an arc, and Temari muttered a few words that Gaara found himself amused by. The blonde kunoichi pulled them back into the original pile, but one file fell from the top, falling open to show the picture and details.


Name: Hikari Rini

Age: 14

Sex: Female

Hair Colour: Blue

Eye Colour: Blue

Place of Birth: Suna Base Hospital

Occupation: Medic

Rank: Gold Medic

Blood Type: O

Speciality: Ninjutsu/Medical Jutsu/Swordplay

Living Relatives (Immediate Family): Hikari (nee Yami) Daija, Hikari Hiroshi


There were many other things, such as what she was applying for, who she'd trained under, how long she'd been a medic, the extent of her training, where she'd worked over the past four or five years, and where she was currently living.

Temari drew the file towards her, looking down at the matured face of her childhood friend. Slowly she picked it up, and placed it on her lap, drinking in the details of her friend's life since she left, or at least what was written.

The blonde somehow managed to swallow past the huge lump that was forming in her throat, and shakily pulled a sheet of plain, white paper towards her. She took a pen from Gaara's substantial collection, and copied out the address. Her heart both rose and fell as she realised that Rini was back, and that she would be staying. At least according to what she was applying for. A six-month trial period as the head of a medical squad, the hospital could then decide if they wanted her to stay on.

Temari wanted both to shove the paperwork at Gaara and dash out the door to find Rini, and to tear the paper to shreds, and forget about her. She wasn't too sure where the latter had come from, but she knew Gaara would likely skin her for leaving him to deal with so much paperwork, so she did neither.

'I'll go find her tomorrow,' Temari told herself firmly. 'No running away. And no hurrying over now.'

The blonde kunoichi sighed and smiled dryly.

'Easier said than done…'


Well, that's another chapter, review and i'll update! Also, tell me what you think of the idea mentioned above, and if you don't know what it is, you didn't read the first A/N, lol

On another note, I'm writing a co-author fic with a good friend of mine, LucyoftheDesert, you ought to read her fics! They're definitely worth it, and have lush descriptions and characters.

Review!

Slash