A/N: I think I need to change the update schedule to once per two weeks just so you guys weren't waiting. I'm currently very busy with real life stuffs to keep the once per week update schedule. Maybe when things calm down a little bit, I can get back to once per week schedule.
For now, enjoy~!
Chapter 10 : Road to Training? Yeah right. More like road to love
Breathe in. Breathe out.
Then, stare at the puppy. Try to not panic. Stare at the puppy. Look at that little ball of fluff—
"Woof?"
Obito whimpered and reached out his arms towards the little fluffball, cradling Fuwa to his chest. Fuwa wriggled and stretched in his arms, only stopping when the pup was able to rest his head on Obito's shoulder. There was a deep rumble that resonated from the puppy—a soothing rumbling sound that actually worked wonders on Obito's shaken nerves.
He held on tight to the small puppy, timing his breathing with Fuwa's calm breathing pace until his panic was toned down to an acceptable level of mild concern rather than a full-on anxiety attack.
But Obito was still reasonably frantic and terrified.
He had thought that Sakuto was a cool decent guy but that—
That was scary.
Obito has never been so terrified of someone's laughter before. Sure, he had heard that some deranged S-class shinobi had horrible habits of indulging in evil or mad laughter, but he never thought that he would ever be able to experience it. Laughter should be the beacon of joy and happiness. It shouldn't sound so unhinged and terrifying.
It shouldn't sound like one was about to descend into rageful madness.
His breathing quickened again.
Probably sensing the rising tension in Obito's form, Fuwa yipped and nuzzled his wet nose to Obito's scarred cheek. The rumbling soothing noise grew louder as the puppy completely curled up against Obito's chest.
Obito cradled Fuwa closer.
Obito took an embarrassingly long time to match his breathing with Fuwa's before he was able to summon whatever remnants of chakra that he had to his eyes, activating his sharingan to look for any opening for an escape from this bleak dimension.
There was none.
He was trapped.
He was trapped in Kamui with no way out.
Tucking the puppy in a one-arm cradle, Obito reached up to hold the edges of one of the floating cubes. He hauled his body up with a grimace on his face, but didn't let the pain overwhelmed him. Staggering, he relied on the cubes for support as he made purposeful circuits around the dimension, attempting to seek for any crack that he could manipulate to escape to the real world.
He couldn't take any risk being held captive by Sakuto any longer. Sure, the guy was fairly nice and decent, but if Sakuto could shift from nice to insane in a drop of a senbon, Obito did not want to take any risk.
Not when he was incapacitated like this.
He has no fighting chance against Sakuto at all in this state.
Stuck in the bleak dimension of Kamui, Obito has no means to keep track of time at all. He has no idea how long he has spent staggering in circuits around Kamui, exploring every nooks and cranny he could find—not leaving a single cube unchecked—but by the time he collapsed against a cube, he was spent and exhausted.
The right side of his body throbbed in soreness, and his joints were attempting to knock him out with blazing pain even with Fuwa's glowing paws resting on his right shoulder. He was shamefully out of breath, as his breathing pace was short and laboured while his chest heaved with every inhale.
There was no way out.
It was almost expected when Obito stiffened and felt his blood ran cold as the air swirled to crack open a now familiar portal. He held onto Fuwa with a little bit more horrified desperation than he wanted to admit—his grip was shaky on the soft fur, his breath was bated with tensed anticipation, his mind chanting comforting words to psyche himself up for the worst—as he waited for Sakuto to enter Kamui.
He wasn't expecting to be tackled into a huge hug, though.
"OBITO!"
Obito could see his death coming to him in slow-motion—no thanks to his sharingan—as Kushina and Mikoto lunged towards him in a poor imitation of hungry wolves on the hunt.
(That might be his Uchiha dramatics describing stuff in an exaggerated manner, but Obito could practically see his death approaching him in the form of those two women.)
This was it. His death would be at the hands of the two people that were the closest thing he had for mother-figures as they tried to break his spine in an ungracious fall while smothering and suffocating him in their embrace.
Obito held Fuwa tighter to his chest and braced himself for the fall.
Thankfully, before Kushina and Mikoto could truly break his spine in an ungracious fall, the air shimmered behind him. It was now an oddly familiar sensation, and Obito couldn't help but tensed up when his back did not meet the ground as expected. His back met something softer instead—much softer than the hard ground yet firmer than the two women who tried to murder him with love—as sturdy arms caught the three of them mid-fall.
"Careful," a deep voice reprimanded. "He is still injured."
Obito rolled his eyes upwards to meet Sakuto's mismatched gaze.
Oddly enough, the older boy didn't look insane or angry at all. Instead, the silver-haired gave him a genuine smile—the kind of smile that crinkled up his eyes and emitted out harmless signal. Fuwa rolled his big golden eyes upon noticing Obito's confusion, but apparently has decided that Obito no longer needed him as he leapt out of Obito's arms to sit by Sakuto's heels. Obito flinched when Sakuto's arm wrapped around his waist, trying to feign calmness when the older boy supported him upright as both Kushina and Mikoto released him from their deadly embrace.
However, before Obito could even think of a witty response (or question Sakuto on his weird unhinged episode earlier), his cheeks were cupped between calloused palms and he found himself nose-to-nose with the mother of Uchiha herself. He blinked, baffled at the sudden closeness.
"Mikoto-sama?"
Mikoto's eyes were glazed when they fluttered open, but her lips were warm and soft when she leant down to plant a kiss on his forehead.
"Thank goodness," she murmured to his skin, her hands slid down from his cheeks to wrap loosely around his shoulders, pulling him away from Sakuto's hold directly into her embrace. "Thank goodness," she murmured again, close to a whimper now, voice muffled against the fabric of his shirt. "We thought you were dead," she whispered, fingers curled to fists in his shirt. "We honestly thought that you were dead."
Obito honestly didn't know how to react.
He stiffened in frozen shock, genuinely baffled at her open grieving. He submitted when she peppered his face with trails of kisses—feeling her tears on his skin with a mix of awe and confusion—and opted to awkwardly pat her back when she buried her face to his shoulder.
She was always nice to him but has never treated him like how she treated Shisui and Itachi, so he honestly wasn't expecting this reaction from her. Slightly freaked out and still so very confused, Obito shot a pleading look towards Kushina, hoping for a lifeline to escape this situation.
Kushina grinned and reached out a hand to ruffle his hair.
"Looking good, pipsqueak," the last Uzumaki grinned.
Mikoto stepped away at that moment, allowing Kushina to stand closer to Obito. The hot-blooded women didn't remove her hand from Obito's hair even as she neared their distance, instead, her hand travelled lower to rest on his cheek. Her fingers lingered a bit too long on the faint scars on the right side of his face, her eyes softened as her gaze landed on the way he was completely leaning against Sakuto.
Obito ignored the lingering touch, knowing that things would be even more confusing if he brought it up and was about to slip back into his boastful mask when he fully registered what Kushina has said.
"Pipsqueak?" he narrowed his eyes at the grinning woman.
Kushina grinned wider and patted the top of his head. "Still so short," she hummed, mischievous and taunting.
Obito's brow twitched. "It was only a month. I can't grow taller that fast."
Kushina's lips quirked to a smirk. "Pipsqueak," she purred. "A cute, adorable shorty."
Obito scowled.
Kushina winked. "Shorty."
That did it.
"I'M NOT SHORT!"
With that fuming yell, Obito wriggled free from Sakuto's hold to lunge at her in an angry fit—all pain be damned.
Kushina laughed, arms opened wide to catch him into her arms. Obito flailed, fumbling in surprise when instead of evading and letting him stumbling to kiss the ground, Kushina has caught and pulled him close, cradling him to her chest in an unbreakable hold. One of her hands came up to the back of his head, pressing him close while the other one wrapped around his waist to rest on the small of his back.
Her embrace was tight and secure—as if she didn't want to let him go—while her nose was buried deep in his hair.
There were raindrops on his hair, while some stray droplets fell onto his cheeks.
(There was no rain in Kamui, though.)
"Kushina-san?" He squeaked, voice muffled to her shirt.
Obito would've missed the tremor in her whispered voice if he wasn't practically crushed to her chest.
"You survived."
Kakashi watched in silence as Kushina and Mikoto smothered Obito with love.
This was it. This was what his dear friend deserved. He didn't know what has changed from this timeline and the ones of his past, but it was heart-warming to see that Kushina was more open in her love to Obito here. The first time around, Kushina's maternal affection towards Obito has been well-concealed from everyone apart from Minato.
Not many people knew that Kushina has wished for her son to be just like Obito.
No one knew that Kushina genuinely liked Obito as her own son.
Not even Obito knew about that.
Kakashi quirked a fond smile.
Perhaps this time around, Naruto would truly grow up with an elder brother to look up to.
"I wouldn't mind that," Naruto murmured, merely an echo vibrating with fondness in his head. "Obito is not so bad when he is not hell-bent on destroying the world."
"I reluctantly seconded that," Sakura chimed in. "He isn't so bad now we keep him far far away from Madara's hands."
There was a soft noise of discontent that might be from Sasuke before silence fell in Kakashi's typically chaotic mind. It was utter silence in his head despite Kakashi has this vague feeling that his imaginary students were interacting with each other right now.
Sometimes, Kakashi wanted to hope that his imaginary students weren't a figment of his mind.
But he knew better than to hope. Things have never been so good to him, so he shouldn't be greedy. Hyperactive imagination was more than enough to make him feel grateful for not being so alone in this changed past. Thus, he remained in silence, watching Kushina smothering Obito while he waited for his delusions to break the silence of his mind.
It was almost an agonising wait before Naruto broke the silence;
"Evil is made, Sasuke. Not born."
There was yet another beat of silence after that grim statement.
Kakashi was stunned too, to be honest. Naruto was never that wise before. Like, this was the village idiot that we're talking about. Since when did Naruto possess sage-like words of wisdom?
"Kaka-sensei! That is soooo mean!"
"He has a point," Sasuke huffed, sounding oddly nasally for some reasons. "Since when are you so wise?"
"Yeah," Sakura murmured. "You used to be so dumb."
"DID NO ONE REMEMBER HOW I SWEET-TALK NINETY PERCENT OF OUR ENEMIES TO SWITCH SIDES AND FIGHT FOR US?"
Kakashi resisted the urge to snort out loud. He was not alone now. Randomly giggling out of the blue would stamp that 'insane' mark on his forehead quicker than anyone could blink. Hiding a little smile, he turned on his heels and shed his cloak, leaving it over one of the cubes as he made his way to the food supplies and quickly whipped out some tea for his guests. He debated on teleporting out to buy some snacks but decided otherwise since this gesture was already too courteous for a shinobi standard.
Tea would suffice.
Obito was frowning at him by the time he returned to them with a tray of tea. Trapped between Kushina's one-arm embrace and Mikoto's hovering presence, his friend seemed awkwardly tensed. Obito seemed to have resigned himself to be inspected and checked by the two females, not even protesting when Mikoto gently manoeuvred him to roll his shoulder as if she wanted to test his level of pain and mobility.
Kakashi made a mental note to check the status of Obito's joints upon seeing the subtle wince that his friend has tried to hide.
Ignoring the confused gaze of his old friend, Kakashi took the spot in front of the trio, serving the tea to all of them and was barely able to restrain himself from quirking an amused brow upon seeing the panic in Obito's eyes when Kushina and Mikoto trustingly took their drinks.
He almost snorted in laughter when Obito's dark eyes morphed to sharingan, as if the boy was ready to act at moment's notice if Kushina or Mikoto showed any signs of being poisoned. Despite his urge to tease, Kakashi let Kushina and Mikoto handled the situation. It was evident that their presence eased up Obito's tension, and considering the inevitable, Kakashi knew that they needed Obito to be calm before they throw the metaphorical paper bombs in his direction.
"How's Rin and Bakashi doing?"
Yep. There it was. The one million ryo question.
Kakashi pulled Fuwa onto his lap and was conveniently distracted by the soft pads of the tiny paws when Kushina and Mikoto shot him an expectant look as if they were expecting him to join the conversation.
Nope. Not gonna happen. He ain't being the one who would drop the news to Obito that Rin decided to defect and join Akatsuki while Kakashi's own younger self was murdered by an unknown assailant.
Nope. He wouldn't be the one who would throw that paper bomb.
Kakashi pointedly ignored the judgemental narrowed golden eyes of the puppy and proceeded to play with the soft little paws as if he was alone in his own world.
(Hey, he was in a teen's body right now. Let the adults do the thing while he happily played with his puppy.)
Fuwa's eyes narrowed even more. Then, the pup has the balls to growl at him and try to injure Kakashi with a sudden claw unsheathing when Kakashi had those paws pressed against his cheeks.
Nasty little pup.
Kakashi made a whiny betrayed noise to the little puppy, of which it was returned with a low growl and a useless attempt of a kick to his chest.
God bless that Fuwa has incredibly short legs.
"Mikoto-sama?" He heard Obito prodded, slightly flinching at the thick worries and dread in that small voice. "Kushina-san?"
"Look, Obito…," Mikoto started, exhaling a deep breath. "We need you to stay calm, okay?"
A quick glance in their direction was a bad decision because Obito's face was contorted in restrained horror and utter denial.
"Did they make it home safe and sound?"
It was more of a squeak than anything else, but Kakashi averted his gaze anyway, feeling heat pricking in his eyes too at the all too familiar hopelessness in Obito's voice.
Quick images flashed through his mind, rendering him shaking and so close to hyperventilating.
The bloody sight of his Obito dying under that rock. Rin's warm blood in his own hands. The cold corpses of Kushina and Minato while infant Naruto wailing beside them. The day Sasuke left the village. The sight of heavily battered Sakura after the battle against Sasori. The moment when Sakura arrived at his battle during the last war with her hand in Naruto's chest, literally pumping Naruto's heart with her bare hand.
The moment when he lost his best friend—his personal hero—for the second time when Obito turned to dust.
It was a montage of memories of the moments when he lost or was about to lose the things that he considered important in his life.
It didn't help him in remaining calm.
It threw him into panic instead.
Kakashi was rescued from breaking into his own panic attack with a small lick over his jaw and a gentle nudge from a furry head to his throat. Fuwa nuzzled his head against Kakashi's throat, letting out the small rumbling noise that worked wonders on Kakashi's nerves, keeping him calm and comforted as Kushina and Mikoto tried to coax Obito to remain calm.
"Kaka-sensei," Naruto's voice was soft, gentle even. "It's okay. Those things won't happen again," he murmured, and Kakashi couldn't help but wanted to believe in Naruto. "We'll fight to keep as many people happy as possible this time. Believe it, ttebayo."
That's a hard mission, Kakashi countered. There are too many tragedies.
"We'll stop them," Sakura piped in. "We'll prevent all of the tragedies. We won't be late again. Your younger self is our first and last casualty, sensei."
Kakashi wanted to point out that his younger self's death was kinda justified considering how much he has fucked up both the first time around and this time. Hatake Kakashi deserved to die, full stop. However, before he could point that out, Sasuke was quick to derail him from that line of thought.
"One more self-blaming thought in here and I'm gonna bombard your head with vivid, extremely obscene imageries of naked Orochimaru," the Uchiha in his head hissed—Sasuke's voice was still hoarse and nasally yet the seriousness of his words was prominent—and Kakashi instantly shivered at that threat. "Not everything is your fault, damn it."
There was another beat of silence.
"Do we want to know why you have memories of naked Orochimaru?" Naruto asked, conveniently derailing their topic to a less depressive track. "Like, why?"
Kakashi could almost picture how green Naruto must have looked right now.
"Missing-nin or not, I still need to have my sex-ed, right?."
That nonchalant evil response was the cue for Kakashi to tuned out of the conversation.
Nope. He was not going there. Never.
But the external conversation wasn't any better than his internal one.
Obito was yelling and crying.
"Answer me!" the injured Uchiha snapped, resisting the comforting restrains of Kushina's embrace around his battered body. "Did my pack make it home safe and sound?"
Mikoto and Kushina exchanged a look.
Kakashi knew that they weren't going to tell Obito the entire truth then.
"They did," Mikoto assured, planting her hands over Obito's cheeks. "They made it home, Obito."
Obito deflated in Kushina's embrace, pursing his lips when Mikoto's thumb wiped his tears away.
"Safely?" he prodded, voice hopeful.
Mikoto lowered her gaze for a brief second, as if contemplating her words. When she spoke afterwards, her words were spoken slowly, as if she was talking to a hysteric tantrum-throwing child.
"There is nothing we could do to save Kakashi's eye," she started, quirking a tiny smile. "And Rin suffered a light wound on her arm."
"But they're fine? At home?" Obito prompted again.
Mikoto and Kushina exchanged yet another look.
Obito's hopeful expression went crestfallen and contorted with fear when Kushina pulled him closer into her embrace, while Mikoto planted her hands firmly on his shoulders.
"What happened?" Obito croaked with a voice so soft and laced with horror.
"Listen here, Obito," Mikoto started, her voice firmer and carried a strange weight of authority that made Obito lowered his gaze in submission. "Rin defected."
Obito gaped.
"What?"
That horrified whisper sounded abnormally loud in their tensed silence.
"She defected?" Obito tried again, slightly louder this time but it was still a horrified whisper. Then, his face twisted to a scowl. "What the fuck is Bakashi doing? Why didn't he stop her?"
Kushina and Mikoto exchanged yet another glance before directing their gaze towards Kakashi, once again silently demanding him to join the conversation.
Kakashi buried his face to Fuwa's belly, pointedly and skilfully avoiding responsibilities they intended for him to take.
He didn't even flinch when he heard Kushina's huff of frustration.
"Kakashi's gone too," Kushina murmured, settling with a vague half-truth.
Obito's jaw slacked open in a disbelieving gape. "Are you serious?" he hissed, shifting his doubtful stare between both women as if he was waiting for one of them to burst out laughing and claimed that it was a joke.
When they remained serious in their silence, Obito's face twisted to one of confusion.
"Why?"
"A lot of things happened during your absence, Obito," Mikoto jumped into an explanation with a bit more enthusiasm than necessary, probably relieved that neither of them had to say it out loud that Kakashi's younger self was dead gone instead of missing-nin gone. "Bad things, Obito. Konoha is growing corrupted. The tension between our clan and the village increased. Innocents were slaughtered," she exhaled, gripping tighter on Obito's shoulder. "You can't return home. It is not safe."
"But, Mikoto-sama—"
"Stay with Sakuto," Kushina cut his protest off. "He's an ally."
"We're betraying Konoha?" Obito squeaked.
Mikoto cupped Obito's cheeks. "Konoha betrayed us first," she hissed, voice dripping with slight murderous tone, though she did soften the edge of her dark smile when Obito's breath hitched upon hearing her words. "They almost made us sacrifice one of our own, Obito. An innocent Uchiha would have been dead if Minato-san and Sakuto-kun didn't interfere."
Obito was evidently confused, but no longer resisting.
"We hope to resolve this before war breaks, but in the means time, you need to stay out of Konoha's radar," Kushina insisted, turning Obito around so that she could meet him eye-to-eye, her hands planted firmly on his cheek. "Travel with Sakuto. Consider it a training trip," she tried to persuade when Obito opened his mouth to protest again. "He's strong and has the sharingan. He can help you grow to your full potential."
Obito seemed to want to protest again, but his gaze met Kushina's persistent gaze and Mikoto's soft hopeful stare and that alone has put him into silence. He reluctantly nodded, bringing his hands up to embrace both women, of which they both gleefully returned the embrace.
"Maybe I can meet Rin and Bakashi again during the travel," Obito mumbled once he separated from the hug. "And then I'm gonna kick their stupid traitors' ass."
Kakashi peeked at Mikoto and Kushina from behind Fuwa's fur and internally winced.
Neither of them made the move to correct Obito.
Kakashi just knew it that he would be the one to break the real news to Obito.
And he wasn't looking forward to it.
Ame was oddly comforting.
It was cold and wet, yes, but it was so comforting.
For each pitter of raindrops on her skin, Rin would remember the lazy rainy days in Konoha. The days she has spent curled up against Obito—warm and safe in the blanket fortress they have made in his nest—as they slowly drifted to sleep in a tangled pile.
For each cold wind against her cheeks, Rin would remember the warmth of Kushina's ramen. She remembered holding on to Obito and Kakashi's hands, tugging them towards the Namikaze-Uzumaki's dining room where Minato would greet them with a bright beaming smile.
For each sludge of mud she waded through, Rin would remember the harsh training with Kakashi. The harsh training in the rain where they would always end up with mud and dirt smeared all over their bodies but with an elated satisfaction after a good spar.
It was odd that this foreign rainy land reminded her more of a home than the village that she left behind.
"Isobu-sama?" she murmured to herself, mainly to break the silence rather than expecting an actual answer from the trapped bijuu insider her. "What do you think of Ame? I think it's nice."
There was no response.
Rin honestly didn't expect anything but silence.
She knew that it would take time before the bijuu would open up and be willing to talk to her. Thus, she kept her brisk travelling pace, knowing that if she could push her limits, she would be arriving at Akatsuki's doorsteps in two days travel. She wanted to be a part of Akatsuki because she knew that apart from the Mokuton, the only other thing capable of restraining a rampaging jinchuuriki would be the legendary rinnegan.
She knew that Isobu was not evil, but with the grief in her heart and the hatred in his—it was safe to say that they were not a good combo for peace should either one of them lost control.
The leader of Akatsuki possessed the rinnegan.
If she ever lost control, Nagato would be able to subdue her from completely giving in to her own grief and Isobu's hatred.
Thus, she ran, pushing herself to her limits as she made her way through the mud and sludge of Ame's terrain. The speed that she was travelling was faster than her usual speed—probably boosted by the strange chakra she knew wasn't her own—and with the heavy rain and mist typical of Water Country, Rin completely did not notice the boy before she crashed onto him.
She saw him skidded to a halt, probably sensing her presence in a very last minute but it was not the same for Rin. She was travelling so fast, and this boy has kept his chakra signature so well-hidden that when she finally noticed him, it was too late to stop. Rin twisted on her heels, attempting to at least avoid a head-on collision but she was a Fire Country native, and the muddy terrain of Amegakure was not at her advantage.
Rin slipped, lost her footing and tumbled onto the frozen boy.
"Ouch," he moaned.
Rin gaped in horror when her hand that landed on his chest was quickly stained with fresh warm blood.
"Did I hurt you?" Rin scrambled off his much smaller body, raising her glowing hands to stop the bleeding. "Oh my god. I'm so so sorry."
"You reopen my wound," he mumbled with a strained voice, wincing as he stared at his blood-drenched shirt. "Mom is going to murder me."
As amusing as it was to hear that whiny complaint, Rin's medic-nin instinct kicked in right the next instant. She didn't wait for his permission to lift his shirt up all the way to reveal his wounded chest. The large stab wound was patched up nicely for a non-medic standard, but Rin could do better. She carefully healed his wounds, trying so hard to not pry on the scars on his small torso.
A shinobi's scars were private and intimate. It was an unspoken social code among shinobi's society to not stare at another shinobi's scars.
But it made Rin's heart clenched—to see this small body marred with so many scars. Most of it was from blade wounds but Rin could see scars from explosions too. With this kind of small frame, he was so obviously younger than her yet already has a body so full of scars.
This war has hurt so many people, regardless of age.
She healed him as best as she could, all the while extending a bit of her chakra to the surrounding to make sure that they wouldn't be attacked. She felt that strange chakra again, mingling with her depleting one as it spread her sensory range far bigger than she has ever achieved.
It felt like Isobu was supporting her from inside.
Rin quirked a grateful smile, emitting a grateful vibe to the bijuu inside her.
Thank you, Isobu-sama.
Isobu didn't respond, of course, but his chakra grew stronger, and Rin felt her previously depleted reserve has been filled with that strange chakra.
That was a good start.
Rin was finishing up her healing when she felt something entering her sensory range. She halted her healing, tuning into her sensory range to determine who it was that was travelling so leisurely in their direction and when she couldn't decide whether that person was even a human, she decided to bolt for a head start.
"Someone is coming," she warned, for the first time looking him straight in the face.
Her heart almost stopped.
Those doe brown eyes were unfamiliar to her, nor has she ever seen the adorable handsome face with that little mole on the chin. It was the face of a complete stranger. She didn't recognise his scent either, so he couldn't be anyone that she has ever met.
Yet, her gaze landed on the single line of scar over his cloudy left eye and she was reminded of her deceased alpha.
A similar scar on a stranger's face got her all overwhelmed with grief.
How pathetic.
Rin squared her shoulders and swallowed the lump in her throat, determined to not give in to her grief. She tugged on his hand, internally whimpering at how similar it felt like when she held Kakashi's hands—smaller than her own, but roughened with the years handling so many weapons.
"We need to leave," she urged, tugging harder when he didn't budge. "Someone's coming, and I don't think they're friendly."
"I'm heading the other way," he smiled instead, pointing ahead where she knew would lead to Kiri instead of Ame. He bowed his head for a moment, brown hair grew darker as the rain grew heavier.
When he lifted his face again, Rin saw a flicker of red in his left eye.
"Run."
Rin's breath hitched at the deep voice in her head.
Isobu-sama? She called back.
"Nohara Rin."
The voice was clearer this time, filled with persistent urgency as the strange chakra that mingled with hers grew restless.
"He's dangerous. Get out of here."
Rin obliged, letting go of the boy's hands and bolted away. She made a show of going slightly northeast from her original path to Ame, planning an impromptu detour to throw him off her track should he decided to pursue her. The rain would wash away her scent, but more precaution is never bad. She risked a glance back to see if he was pursuing her, but he simply stood there, looking far smaller in this distance.
The boy was waving cheerfully at her.
Then he jerked his chin up, revealing gleaming red of his left eye that Rin could see from this distance. The very next second, he vanished.
Her hands moved on its own when he suddenly reappeared directly in front of her. She deflected his blade with a kunai, using her footing on the ground to grab his shoulder and threw him on the muddy ground. However, before she could pin him to the ground, he spun, using her shoulder as leverage while he attempted to drive a long black rod into her shoulder.
"Don't let the chakra rod touch you. And do not look at his left eye."
Rin absent-mindedly nodded to Isobu's warning, sending a kick to the wound that she just healed before she retreated to keep her distance away from the boy.
Despite Isobu's warning, Rin risked a quick glimpse to his left eye and found her breath hitched in her throat again.
She has never seen a sharingan like that before.
And it seemed that she wasn't the only one unhappy with that finding. She could feel the energy inside her grew restless as Isobu's chakra flared, coating her with a deep magenta coat of protective chakra.
Having been in the same pack as Obito for years, she knew how to fight someone with a sharingan. She has sparred with Mikoto and Fugaku before. Hell, some of Obito's own suitors have even offered a spar (probably to gain some dango points from her, and as useless as those attempts were, what kind of shinobi would she and Obito be if they didn't take advantage of that?) and needless to say, Rin has spent most of her childhood learning to fight against sharingan-wielding opponent.
Despite this boy's strange sharingan, the concept should've been the same.
She kept track of his movements using his feet only to be baffled when he halted, seemingly distracted with something.
Isobu was the one who moved her away from danger when sharp tendrils of wood lurched out of the ground to skewer her. She backflipped and landed a good distance away from the boy, still shaken at the sight of the supposedly extinct mokuton only to be baffled even more when the monstrous shape of a horrible mixed-figure of a man and a plant popped out of the ground.
"I thought you said that you're only scouting?" The thing said in a playful voice that sent chills down Rin's spine. "Ne, ne, are you getting into trouble? Is getting into trouble fun?"
"I saw a stray bijuu wandering around," the boy responded with a cutesy smile, tipping his head in Rin's direction. "Why not kill two birds in the same time?"
Rin tensed up, readying her kunai to deflect any attack while Isobu's chakra thickened around her, tainting her whole vision deep magenta.
"Mother says to not rush," the thing hissed again, though this time it sounded raspier and colder. "We have not yet retrieved the necessities. We can't do anything without the proper preparation."
"Yeah, yeah~" the boy hummed with a careless shrug. "Let's consider it a test-run, how about that?"
He then turned in Rin's direction and smiled at her—all crinkled eyes and lips that curved up in an adorable smile. Such an innocent smile would have fooled her to think that he was harmless if she hasn't been attacked by him before. He vanished again, and even when Rin has prepared herself for the incoming attack, she wasn't expecting for him to suddenly appear behind her.
Rin was barely able to evade the chakra rod that he was aiming to her shoulder and found herself cornered against a rock with her palm pinned to the surface by a kunai. The boy huffed—sounding annoyed—but didn't attempt to attack her again. Instead, he leant up, his lips briefly brushed over her cheeks and his breath was warm against her ear as he promised;
"We'll meet again, Sanbi."
With that parting words, both the strange boy and the plantain creature vanished from her sight.
Rin waited to ensure that they were truly gone before she exhaled a long shaky breath.
After calming her frayed nerves, she ripped the kunai out to free herself from the rock, her breathing grew harsher as the adrenaline faded in her system. Despite having been sent to a few warzones, that was single-handedly the most intense battle she has ever been in. It was nerve-wrecking, because Rin had this vague feeling that the boy wasn't even serious. It felt like he was toying with her instead, poking her around to see how she would react to him.
Rin knew that he could've pinned her with that chakra rod if he wanted to.
He didn't, purposely letting she know that she was at his mercy.
Rin gritted her teeth. Steadying her breathing pace and her stance, Rin looked ahead towards her route to Ame. She needed Nagato as a buffer if she lost control of Isobu. She would offer Akatsuki everything that she has—information of Konoha, training against dojustu-oriented shinobi like the Uchiha and the Hyuuga, her medical skills and her own power as a jinchuuriki.
She would offer Akatsuki everything that she has as long as they remained with their dream of peace.
She would offer Akatsuki everything that she has as long as Nagato agreed to supervise her training.
She needed to train hard and she didn't need the conscience of running amok as half-manifested bijuu to disturb her training mindset. The strange boy has made it clear that he would be coming for her again. So, before that time come, Rin would train hard to work with her bijuu. She didn't feel like she was losing herself when Isobu interfered earlier. Even if her bijuu didn't like her, to an extent, she knew that Isobu could tolerate her long enough to fight alongside her.
That knowledge was enough to fuel her desire to be stronger.
The boy could come for her later.
And Rin would be ready for it.
A/N: It surprises me on how similar you guys think. My readers on AO3 are mostly all for RinKonan while my readers on FFnet are inclining to RinNagato. It is interesting. I'm thinking of going with RiNagato though, hence the title.
FYI, Sasuke was messing with them. Orochimaru didn't actually give Sasuke sex-ed. They just had a communal hot spring in Oto and Sasuke occasionally got a glimpse (not that he gonna tell the rest of Team 7 that.)
And boy, Sakuto better be grateful he had Sasuke's nose and SakuNaru's eyes else Rin would have a hard time trusting him.
Also, at this rate, I'm very sure that it is very obvious that the final battle was among Team Minato. And I should probably update the tag with 'Slow Burn' tag.