All of your support astounds me. To show you my gratitude I, of course, am going to give you a 7k chapter…That will break your hearts.
You're all going to hate me for this chapter. I can already tell. B)
Shiroi is 15. Kakashi, Rin, and Obito are 13. Minato is 23. This is the Kannabi Bridge Mission.
Reply to Fellow: Jiraiya and Shiroi have such good, student/mentor banter. And everything's better with adorable children to balance out the death and destruction of this universe.
Reply to Random Reader: Thank you! I decided to write Third Person just because First Person is so common in the SI-OC genre, and I wanted to spice it up a little.
Fun fact... I was inspired of posting chapters in random order from the great fanfic, How Long Is Forever? by tradition. If you all haven't read it, I highly recommend it. It's a Naruto Timetravel AU fic, and it's done very well.
Rin: Kannabi
This mission has gone very, very wrong very, very quickly.
One moment, Rin is with her team, heading to Kannabi Bridge in the Land of Grass for an important mission. The next moment, Iwa shinobi are upon them.
She's not sure what happened to her boys. The last she saw, the two were furiously battling through the horde that ambushed them.
Rin is a medic-nin before everything else. She has never been a frontline fighter. It was truly too easy for the enemy to kidnap her.
In a confusing whirl of movement, Rin was taken to a secret base. Interrogated. Thankfully, they don't do much to her, barring making her undergo a high-level genjutsu. She had almost resigned herself to having to regulate the last amounts of her chakra in her pelvis for when—
Well... It was a good thing a medic's skills were so valuable. Rin was much more useful, healthy and well. It would be easier to heal the wounded she was presented with, as per what the Iwa shinobi gave her; she heals their comrades, they won't torture or hurt her further.
She's in a dank cave. Typical base for ninja who have Earth affinities, really. It is dark, and stuffy. She's bound and exhausted, and has a concussion. There are many Iwa-nin and strong opponents between her and freedom.
Not a good place to be in. It could most certainly be worse—almost all the ninja in the cave are grown men, and she is a helpless teenage girl… But as it is, things are looking very much bleak.
It's doubtful that Kakashi-kun will want to rescue her. Obito will probably come for her alone. He won't be able to beat the Jonin level opponents guarding the entrance. There's a high chance that Obito will die trying to save her, because he never abandons those that need his help; that's his ninja way.
With Obito trying to save her, Kakashi-kun will go alone and fail in his mission of blowing up Kannabi Bridge. There could be more enemies between him and the bridge, and could get overwhelmed.
Or, Kakashi-kun could succeed. Then what…?
He'll report back home. Mission accomplished. But Obito will be dead, and Rin will still be captured.
If, by some miracle, the two come, plow down all the enemies, and save her…If there's no casualties on their end, no life-threatening wounds, they can accomplish the mission and go back to Konoha. That's the best case scenario, but Rin isn't sure if it's the most accurate.
So, Rin just closes her eyes, and waits for her fate.
They're here.
At first, Rin thinks they're a figment of her imagination, something her brain created in order to keep her from losing hope.
But the figment is much too realistic, with the exact nuances of their clothing, their voices, their weapons, their movements. They're real—the two teenage boys who are sneaking in, working in tandem to silence the guards and kill them quietly.
Her boys have come to save her.
The two crouch before her, taking off her bindings. Obito's arms are instantly around her, hugging her to him. And Rin can't help but cry in relief, just for a few precious moments, safe within his arms.
She then breaks the hug, instantly asking them if they're okay. Her hands automatically move into the seals for the Mystical Palm jutsu, in order to heal her concussion.
One of Kakashi's eyes is gouged out—the left one. By Obito's quick recount of events, the ninja named Taiseki was responsible. When Rin finishes reorienting herself, she instantly shifts to heal it.
But then, enemy ninja rush into the cave. There are so many, and—
The two boys are instantly on their feet, kunai leaving their hands. Her teammates are readying themselves for a second round, despite their utter fatigue.
Kakashi and Obito are like a hurricane, working in perfect tandem, deflecting and throwing weapons and slinging jutsus. Obito's eyes are bright crimson, glowing so distinctively bright in the dark atmosphere that even Rin can see them from her position in the back of the cave.
Rin stumbles to her feet, leaning against the cave wall, despite the weakness in her legs. She hasn't stood in many hours, and the initial interrogation methods had been primarily heavy hits to her legs, so it would minimize the chance of her running away.
Rin takes that time to rush into the foray, behind her two teammates, in order to support them. Hope wells within her chest—hope that the best case scenario will happen, and they will get out of this situation alive and well— before it is dashed.
One of the Iwa shinobi—Kakko, the man who had primarily kept her imprisoned, the bastard who had kidnapped her— goes through a quick series of hand seals. "Earth Style: Rock Lodging Destruction!" he yells.
In that instant, Rin takes her teammate's arms, surging forwards.
Kakko's jutsu causes the cave to collapse around them.
Her team bolts for it, as if one entity. Nothing matters, but getting out. Not even the pain in Rin's legs can slow her down.
The ceiling is collapsing around them. Rocks, boulders, dust—they all rain down upon their heads.
The entire debacle shouldn't have lasted more than a few seconds. But before she can react, it's over.
After the smoke and panic clears, Rin stumbles over a few paces to the debris. Kakashi is sprawled on the ground, staring in horror at a particularly large boulder.
Rin looks over at where Kakashi's one-eyed gaze is frozen, and she instantly claps a hand over her mouth, tears springing up in her eyes.
Obito is trapped. The right side of his body is crushed under the boulder.
The next few minutes are as excruciating as her interrogation, from hours before. The emotional pain manifests claws and rips through her chest and heart.
Seeing her best friend from childhood like that…The pain it causes her is unbearable.
Obito loses hope. None of them know an Earth jutsu that can get him out from under that boulder. They don't have any tools to help.
The Uchiha offers his intact Sharingan eye to Kakashi as a late present for his Jonin promotion. Rin performs the surgery.
She wills her hands to still, to not shake. Wills down her tears, so they don't cloud her vision. Wills down her rampant emotions, so that they won't interfere with her chakra, making it fluctuate and ruin the chakra control needed for the procedure.
It is nerve-wracking. Doing this operation in a dark, dank cave is completely unsanitary. The rest of the cave could collapse, or there could be enemy reinforcements. Every second the operation lasts, is one more second of excruciating pain for Obito and Kakashi.
They only have enough time to say goodbye, before Kakko comes back into the fray. Enemy reinforcements start to manipulate the earth of the cave, causing Rin and Kakashi to abandon Obito. Their teammate. Their friend.
Kakashi uses his newly acquired Sharingan to cut through the enemy forces like a machine of war. Six Iwa-nin hit the ground, dead, before another figure jumps into the fray.
Kakashi almost lobs a kunai at the newcomer, aiming for a hit between the eyes. But the cloaked figure slashes open two throats of the enemy ninja, and he instead flicks the kunai at an enemy that is three meters behind the figure's left shoulder.
The cloaked figure is attacking the Iwa shinobi. It doesn't matter if they are an unknown. For now, it's obvious that they are an ally.
Rin has a passing thought of the cloaked figure being vaguely familiar, before she rushes in to engage three enemies that are advancing on her.
The entire debacle can't have lasted more then ten minutes. Despite the ridiculous number of Iwa-nin that the small trio engages, they somehow manage to come out victorious.
There is only a short moment of peace, before Kakashi whirls, rushing at the cloaked figure with a kunai in hand.
The cloaked figure parries his initial blow. The two kunai grind against each other, causing sparks to fly.
"Stop!" a voice cries. Rin realizes belatedly that it came from the cloaked figure.
"Who are you?" Kakashi snarls, entire body tensed, yet his voice has an undercurrent of fatigue.
"I just helped you fight off the Iwa-nin, you jackass. At least stop attacking, so I can answer…!" the cloaked figure says in frustration. The voice is strangled and high pitched. A girl.
"Kakashi-kun, she helped us," Rin speaks up, slowly moving forwards. "Maybe even saved us."
A tense moment passes, before Kakashi finally pulls back, disengaging. He still keeps his kunai out, in his hand, but at least he's not attacking the newcomer.
Rin can see the girl better, when she is standing at Kakashi's side. The cloaked girl has bright red eyes—reminding Rin of the Sharingan, and sending a jolt of pain and guilt within her heart.
Disheveled, white hair also peaks from under the hood of the cloak. The girl is wearing men's clothing in dark colors, and looks to be carrying an entire armory on her person, as if geared up to fight an entire war alone.
"I'm an…ally," the red-eyed girl says, slowly and cautiously. Her voice is low and calm.
"Why would you help us…? You're a total stranger," Kakashi asks, trying to grill the newcomer.
The cloaked girl's gaze drifts over, to the corpse-littered cave floor. "I don't… particularly like Iwa ninja. I saw a large group mobilizing, and found it suspicious, so…I tried to follow them. And here I am."
Bells are ringing within Rin's mind. This cloaked girl seems familiar, in a hazy sense. Where has she met this girl…?
"What is your name?" Kakashi presses. "Your affiliation? I don't exactly see you wearing a hitai-ate in plain sight."
An odd look comes on the pale girl's previously blank face. One that is almost nostalgic. "I'm no one important. And I live in Grass."
The dots slowly connect, despite Rin's mind being muddled and addled with pain and guilt and adrenaline.
"You're—you're that girl from before!" the girl with the tattooed cheeks gasps. "The one from Kusa's Capitol, who gave us directions…! You said just about the same thing a year ago, and you look almost identical to before. Except for, um, getting even taller…"
The tall girl confirms Rin's assumption, when her red eyes widen in surprise, pale face paling further. "Shit—you actually remember that…?"
Rin is too tired to be able to properly read and interpret the expressions on the girl's face, and the different tones in her voice. But her teammate—her only teammate left, now that Obito is, is—sneers suspiciously at the red-eyed girl.
"What are the chances, of you coming to our aid, when a year has passed and you've only met us once…?" the young Jonin grits out, hand twitching, looking like he really wants to chuck the kunai at the newcomer. "It's incredibly…convenient."
The cloak-wearing teen gives a tired huff. "Look. You may be wary of me, but I tried to save your lives," she grouses, slowly putting her hands in a peaceful gesture. "Shouldn't you worry about…Oh, I don't know—more enemies coming? Your squad?"
"Minato-sensei is at the front lines, and Obito is dead. Worrying about them can't help the two of us here," Kakashi replies, voice tired and dead, before shifting into something more scathing. "Maybe if you'd tried a little earlier, you could've stopped the cave from collapsing, and—"
"Kakashi," Rin snaps, abhorred at his behavior, as the red-eyed girl stiffens defensively. "She isn't to blame!"
"The man who did that—Kakko—is already dead…We've gotten our revenge," she goes on, voice quiet and melancholic. She grasps her teammate's arm gently, and he deflates, head ducked down.
A burning begins once more in Rin's eyes. She has to forcefully blink the tears down, so that she won't break into hysterical sobbing, and never stop.
A heavy silence befalls the group, before the cloak-wearing girl breaks it. "I understand."
At the two Leaf ninja looking at her, the girl goes on. "Iwa shinobi wiped out my entire village...And every day, I wonder…What if I was faster? Stronger? Could I have been able to save someone…?"
The Grass girl looks over towards the wall of fallen boulders. Her pale face seems pained. "I…Was late again, it seems," she says quietly. "Whether you blame me or not, I'll still blame myself…For not being able to help more."
"No, no—You've done enough," Rin insists, voice weak and tired. "We would have been overwhelmed, if you didn't help us. Then the three of us would be dead, with nothing to show for it."
The cloaked girl suddenly tenses, her head snapping over to stare at Kakashi.
Rin and Kakashi share a quick look of confusion and unease, before a familiar flash of yellow is before them.
"Minato-sensei!" the two young teens chorus together, in relief, at the sight of their teacher appearing before them in his signature jutsu.
That was right…Sensei had left one of his Hiraishin kunai with Kakashi…
"I came as quickly as I could," the blonde man explains, as he looks the both of them over. His brows furrow, eyes searching, and turns to the girl with the cloak.
"Who's this…? Why are we in an Iwa base? And where's Obito?" Minato-sensei asks slowly, voice full of concern.
"This is, um…" Rin trails off, realizing she has no name to connect with the face.
"Shiroi," the cloak-wearing girl answers. "And, yes, it's my real name. My mother was very uncreative."
Kakashi gives a small snort at that addition, crossing his arms. Rin considers it somewhat ironic, considering his name means 'scarecrow of the fields'.
"She engaged against the enemy, and fought alongside us, soon after our squad had tried to rescue Rin. We have met her previously, in Kusa's Capitol city, one year prior," Kakashi tells sensei after a few moments, voice perfectly professional, as if giving a mission report.
"…Right," the blonde man says, somewhat dubious. "That doesn't answer my other questions. Actually, it brings more up." He looks around the cave, brow furrowed. "Is Obito knocked out somewhere, or…?"
A melancholic air settles upon the small group. Both Rin and Kakashi avoid his eyes, and the subject. Minato looks between his two students, realization dawning upon him.
He was their sensei. He knew his squad better than most people would.
"If I may make a suggestion?" Shiroi-san speaks up cautiously. She waits for the three Leaf shinobi to look at her, before going on. "You should leave this area. It seems to be a hotspot for Iwa-nin, and all of you seemed to have used a lot of chakra in combat."
Kakashi's head instantly snaps over to Minato-sensei. "The mission—"
"We'll get to that," the man says soothingly, placing a hand on both of his students' shoulders. "But Shiroi-san is correct. We're all tired, and the both of you are injured. We probably need to leave this area, and rest a bit, to get our strength back. Then we'll finish up our mission."
"I can keep my senses pealed for enemies," Shiroi-san offers. "If it's something that'll help against Iwagakure, then I'll do my best to assist you."
"Thank you, Shiroi-san," Minato-sensei answers, cocking his head slightly, scrutinizing the girl closely. "I assume you're a Grass native, correct…?" The cloak-wearing girl nods her head. "Have you been to Kannabi Bridge?"
Shiroi-san gives a bitter laugh. "Murasaki Village—my hometown—was not that far from Kannabi Bridge. I believe it's why Iwagakure had destroyed it…So, yes. I do know the way, although I'm not familiar with the area inside the Land of Fire's borders."
"That's fine. You still know more than we do, about the bridge," the blonde says. "Your assistance will be greatly appreciated, if you can help direct us there."
Shiroi-san's face is one of shock. "You…Want me to help you on this mission?"
"Sensei…!" Kakashi hisses, voice strained. "She isn't part of this mission! She's Grass—"
"Grass and the Leaf are allies," Minato-sensei states. "Shiroi-san knows of the bridge, the best way to get there, and is a sensor. She'll be a valuable ally for this mission, when our squad is fatigued, and…And one man down."
The last part is barely pushed past his throat, full of grief. But their sensei still has a front full of firmness and charisma, strong, for his students. It's comforting, in a way; sensei always seems to know what to do.
Shiroi-san gives a low noise in her throat, catching the three Leaf shinobis' attention. "I feel an enemy squad passing through the edges of my sensory field. We should pack up and move out soon."
The red-eyed girl doesn't spare them another glance, as she instantly goes over to the nearest corpse, crouching. With quick, practiced movements, she searches the body. She ends up with a small pile of supplies, after empting pockets and unclasping holsters, and quickly starts refilling her own holsters with the pilfered weapons.
Rin can't help but stand frozen, and stare. No one else makes a movement.
After a few awkwardly silent seconds, Shiroi-san looks over her shoulder, at the three Leaf shinobi. "What…?" When none of them had an answer, she went on. "Do…Do you people not search bodies for supplies…?"
Rin feels completely and utterly horrified at the other girl's actions and subsequent question. There's a lot of…unpleasant implications, there.
Did other villages really rob the corpses of their enemies for weapons…? Is Konoha just too soft and respectful, to do so? Is this some sort of common practice?
"Um…Not particularly. Unless it complies with certain mission parameters," Minato-sensei says weakly.
Shiroi-san says something suspiciously like "Well, fuck me" under her breath. She turns to them, awkwardly rubbing the back of her neck, avoiding eye contact. "Then…How do you all expect to replenish your kunai and shuriken?"
There is an uncomfortable pause, where no one speaks up to make suggestions.
The red-eyed girl goes on. "They don't exactly grow on trees, and these ninja are dead. The dead has no use for weapons, so, well, it's the most logical thing to do..."
Rin recoils, seeing sensei give a minute wince besides her. She tries very, very hard, not to let her face scrunch up in disgust.
In a macabre way, Shiroi-san is right. Low on supplies, the best way to replenish those supplies would be to pilfer them from nearby sources... And there were many bodies to do so, in the cave and area.
Kakashi—who has been silent, and hasn't had any outward reaction—moves forwards. He crouches down to an Iwa shinobi's corpse, rips the kunai from its flesh, unhooks the holsters, and stands back up.
He does this all with a casual, unaffected air. As if he has done do many times before. Rin doesn't believe he's every done so. Maybe Kakashi is just much better at adapting to situations, than she is.
The cloak-wearing girl sends him a small nod, before taking out a scroll with a black band around it, and sealing the two cleared bodies within.
"It's good to seal the bodies," she explains, when given questioning looks. "To turn them over to the shinobi villages later, for bounties or burial."
"That's…A good idea, actually," Minato-sensei admits. He looks at all three teens. His entire body shifts subtly, into something more commanding. "We'll just have to do this, then. Gear up, and seal the bodies. We're leaving in ten."
"Hai, sensei," Rin and Kakashi chorus, standing at attention. Shiroi-san gives a firm nod, from her position next to a third corpse.
The four get to work. The Grass girl removes the valuables from the bodies so quickly, Rin finds it particularly disturbing. It's mesmerizing, in a way; bile fascination just can't let her look away. Meanwhile, she herself can't help but hesitate, carefully moving each enemies' body, touching it the least she is able.
Rin Nohara is most certainly familiar with death, and dead bodies. She's a medic-nin. She's had anatomy lessons in the hospital, working on many different types of cadavers.
But manhandling and robbing the corpse of a ninja—even an enemy one—just feels…wrong. Different. Her hands—hands of a healer and killer, hands that are always calm and steady—waver. They feel dirty, every time her warm skin touches the cool one of the corpse.
"Rin-san," the red-eyed girl eventually calls out. The tattooed-cheeked girl jolts her head up, from her position of awkwardly hovering next to one of her targets. "Can you please assist me in sealing the bodies?"
Shiroi-san has accumulated almost two dozen cleared bodies, working even faster than Minato-sensei. Rin skitters over to the older girl, gratefully taking the scroll that's offered to her, and begins to do as Shiroi-san asks.
Rin can't help but pick up the low murmur of Kakashi's voice, a bit like background noise in the ominous quiet of the cave. It seems like he's giving a report to their sensei over what had happened, to derail the mission so far.
Sealing up the bodies of the enemies she helped cut down helps to remind herself that she actually contributed some good things in this entire mess. And she thinks Shiroi-san knew this, and gave her the task for this very reason.
The allotted ten minutes pass. Shiroi-san and Minato-sensei end up sealing the last of the bodies, even the ones not touched previously. They both seem to have some sort of understanding of the action, that doesn't seem to extend to Rin or her teammate.
The squad's holsters are bulging with fresh weapons, when they prepare to leave. But the cloak-wearing girl hesitates, steps halting, before she turns around and dashes to the caved-in rock wall.
Rin watches as the older girl unwraps a roll of explosive notes, and plasters them all across the uneven surface of the fresh cave wall. A few seconds later, and she's rushing back towards them, while they linger outside of the cave's mouth for her. "Just in case," she murmurs in an undertone.
"Let's go," the blonde says, a frown on his face.
The four start forwards, bounding into the nearest trees. Sensei is at point, most likely since he has the most energy out of all of them, and is the leader of their group. Shiroi-san is right besides him, in case her expertise is needed for directions.
Kakashi takes the back position, essentially having swapped places with Minato-sensei in their usual formations. He's the most worn out of them all, but his heightened senses will help in watching their group's backs. Not to mention the Sharingan eye…It's an impressive tool, with its capabilities.
If Obito were still here, maybe he'd—
But, no. Obito is dead. He's never coming back. She has to remind herself that.
Rin takes the middle, because that has always been her place. She's a medic-nin, not a front line fighter. Not to mention, running on her wobbly legs makes her definitely the weakest of the group in terms of travel.
Maybe she's just the weakest member altogether…
No, no. She can't start having those doubts and feelings. It'll just drag her—and their squad—down. She's already done enough of that.
No more.
Their group has gotten quite a bit of distance between themselves, and the cave, after a twenty minutes straight of rushed travel through the treetops. Rin's legs are burning with fatigue, and Kakashi is starting to lag behind as well.
Kakashi is no doubt running on fumes, from having been part of Rin's rescue effort, had an eye gouged out, having a Sharingan eye implanted, and then using the chakra-draining eye for its powers. It's a miracle in itself that he's still conscious at this point, and hasn't passed out from chakra exhaustion.
But, he doesn't speak up, to ask to rest. Maybe the masked boy thinks he'll be dragging the squad down—is dragging the squad down.
Or maybe Rin herself is just projecting her feelings and doubts onto him. Kakashi is an enigma that she never thinks she'll figure out, even with all the years of knowing him; he could be having wildly different thoughts, right now.
But…Well, it would be nice to take a break. Just a small one, to catch her breath, maybe wrap some bandages around her legs…That would be nice.
Not even five minutes later, after this thought, Shiroi-san slows. The cloak-wearing girl pivots in place, stopping gracefully on a branch of a sycamore tree. She stares out intensely with her red-eyed gaze, off in the direction they've come from.
Sensei pauses, body tensing, muscles bunching and coiling. Prepared for a fight, despite the nonchalant stance. "Are we being pursued?"
The two younger teens stop on a nearby branch, panting, with shaking legs. They watch the silent young woman closely.
Shiroi-san closes her eyes, brow furrowing harshly. She brings a hand up to make the Seal of Confrontation, seemingly focusing on her sensor abilities.
She slowly uses her other hand to take out a small slip of paper from one of her pockets—a seal?— putting it between her two hands, making the Tiger hand sign. But instead of having it point upwards, the cloak-wearing girl levels it, making her fingers point out in front of her. Her hands start to lightly glow blue.
The next few moments are tense and dead silent. The three Leaf shinobi watch the Grass native, weapons out and at the ready, in case they needed to fight their way through another ambush of enemy forces.
Shiroi-san cocks her hand in an upward motion, and the chakra around her hands visibly spikes. "Bang."
There is an enormous explosion that suddenly erupts, off into the distance. The pillar of flames, smoke, and debris can be easily seen from their position, a grand thing that looks like a miniature volcano blowing up.
That was too perfectly timed, to be a coincidence.
If Shiroi-san has this type of power…Well, that's quite frankly terrifying. Rin is fairly sure that her eyes are bugging out, as she gapes at the older girl.
"I think I've delayed any pursuers," Shiroi-san says mildly, opening her eyes, and lowering her hands. She turns to face the Leaf-nin. "We should get going. The explosion could draw attention there, so we should put as much distance as possible between us, and there."
Rin looks over at sensei, confused and hoping for some type of guidance and clarification on what just happened; Kakashi does so as well. The man's jaw is going up and down, but no sound above an incomprehensible murmur is coming out.
"First, Shiroi-san," he finally starts, seemingly trying to gather his thoughts. "…Why, and how, did you do that?"
The cloak-wearing girl stares at the three of them, her red eyes feeling like they were looking straight into Rin's very core. After a few heartbeats, the girl tilts her head slightly to the side.
"I'll tell you on the road," she says simply. "Or else we'll be wasting more time."
"I disagree," Sensei rebukes, voice cold and firm, friendly blue eyes turning into chips of ice. It's chilly, something that demands obedience. A reminder that Minato Namikaze may be a nice man, but he's also the Yellow Flash of Konoha, someone who bulldozes through enemy forces like a one-man army.
"My students are tired and injured, and deserve a break. We've gotten enough distance, to be out of the range of immediate danger from enemy forces. And… You seemingly just blew up the entire cave that we've just absconded. The very same cave where one of my students was buried alive."
"I think I—and the rest of this squad—deserve an explanation," the man says, voice low and dangerous.
The atmosphere is like a freezer. Or maybe that's just her.
Was this…Was this Minato-sensei's killing intent? That's the only explanation for why the air feels tense enough to cut with a kunai.
Rin can't remember the last time—if ever—that Minato-sensei has spoken in such a terrifyingly cold way, when his students are right besides him. The man can even be mild-mannered in the face of enemies, so this turn in tone from him is…
"Well", Rin muses idly to herself, as a shiver goes down the back of her spine, "I'm glad that sensei is on our side".
Shiroi-san, meanwhile, is frozen in place. Her red eyes are wide, full of fear. Her pale skin pales further, until she looks near translucent, like a ghost. Her entire body is trembling.
The cloak-wearing girl looks like she either wants to make a run for it (understandable, but ultimately futile, considering that Sensei is one of the fastest men in the Elemental Nations) or wants to commence a nervous breakdown of some sort (also very much understandable, since Minato-sensei is a terrifying man, when he shows just how much of a threat he really is).
Shiroi-san lets out a shaky, choked breath. Her knees wobble dangerously, her legs buckling under her. The red-eyed girl slowly sinks down onto the branch she had been standing on, looking like she's barely keeping herself from falling off it and plummeting painfully to the forest floor.
"A-Alright," the tall girl chokes out, voice a terrified squeak.
From Shiroi-san's vantage point, Minato Namikaze probably looks like the most daunting person is existence. Him looming over so tall over her, glaring down at her with sharp Killing Intent.
Minato-sensei just stares down at the girl for a few more heartbeats, assessing. Then, he crouches down on the branch he was previously standing on, motioning to Rin and Kakashi to sit down. The two give each other a look, before jumping to sit in branch of a tree adjacent to both sensei's and Shiroi's perches.
"Explain," the blonde states to the red-eyed girl, tone firm.
"O-Of course," the cloak-wearing girl replies immediately. She lets out a slow, shaky breath. "S-Shit, Namikaze-san, you're…You're fucking terrifying."
Sensei gives her a bland, benign smile. But there's a sharpness there that usually doesn't belong in his usual, genuine smiles.
"I get that," he says casually. Rin doesn't doubt it.
Sensei's teeth are bared slightly more than they need to be, canines glinting ominously. "Now… would you like to start from the beginning, or first give an explanation on why you blew up the cave?"
'Or should we do this the hard way?' goes unsaid.
Personally, Rin finds it impressive that Shiroi-san doesn't outright spill her guts in a blubbering mess, in an instant.
Instead, the red-eyed girl takes a deep breath, seemingly trying to settle her nerves, before she starts speaking in a surprisingly even voice.
"Ever since the destruction of my home, I've trained and became a bounty hunter," Shiroi-san starts, licking her dry lips. "The War—Iwa's blitz into Kusa—has been getting worse. I saw a large group of Iwa-nin mobilize, and thought, maybe… Maybe I can help fight against them. So, I followed them. They led me to your students. I helped them fight the enemy."
"You showed up… after the cave-in, correct?" Minato-sensei asks. He does so calmly, casually. But Rin feels like he is almost…interrogating the red-eyed girl. If, in a light, probing manner.
"Right," Shiroi-san nods quickly, nervously giving a grimace. "I was fighting through a trail of Iwa squads, so by the time I was able to help you Leaf-nin, the cave was collapsed. Rin-san and Kakashi-san were surrounded."
"I see," the blonde states, as if he's just figured out several different things from the short explanation, that have escaped his students' notice. "And, the explosions…?"
Shiroi-san flinched. She looks wary. Scared. As if sure that her explanation would be one that would end very, very badly.
"I planted the explosive tags…Just in case. To eliminate any enemies in the area," the cloak-bearing teen explained. "Kill them when they got in range, and bury all the bodies."
"Was this before or after you remembered that one of our squad member's bodies was stuck, buried under the collapsed cave?" was sensei's airy question. There was a low menace laced in his words, and his smile turned sharp and icy.
The Kusa native gave a shaky exhale. Her gaze slid off of the blonde man—as if her bravado finally left her, and she couldn't keep looking straight at her interrogator—and over to look vaguely at Rin and Kakashi.
Vaguely, because the girl's red eyes were unfocused, as if thinking of something haunting. Or simply remembering something.
"…I was doing you a favor, really," the Shiroi-san breathed out, voice barely above a murmur. "It killed Iwa-nin. And in the process, made sure that… bad people wouldn't be able to get his body."
"Bad people?" comes the dubious question, slipping past Rin's mouth, before she can help herself. "Why would they…Why would they want Obito's…?"
"He's an Uchiha, isn't he? He would be very valuable, for multiple parties. If he falls into the wrong hands…" was Shiroi-san's tired answer. She sighed, a hand going up and running over her hood, shifting it back slightly and letting more blinding white hair peak out.
"How," was sensei's pointed statement, so forceful that lost its (probable) original intention of being a question.
Shiroi-san's posture stiffens, as she looked warily over to the blonde. "I figured he was an Uchiha, because the Sharingan eye Kakashi-san has is obviously not his own. The scar is fresh, and, well…He must have got it somewhere..."
An uncomfortable silence descends upon the ragtag group. Rin feels the tension and regret coming off of Kakashi in nearly palpable waves.
"Right," sensei sighs, passing a hand through his unruly blonde hair. "Right. Okay…That doesn't excuse your actions, Shiroi-san, despite your good intentions. We won't ever be able to recover his body, now that…Well…"
The white-haired girl gave a snort. The three Leaf-nins attention snapped to look at her, offended. An incredulous expression was on the pale teen's face.
"You wouldn't have recovered his body in the first place," she said bluntly, before going on bitterly. "This is war. There's too many enemy ninja in the area, not enough resources or manpower to recover every body of your comrades in the field. By the time the enemy leaves, or the war ends, the bodies would already be gone. Decomposed… If you're even able to go and find the bodies, in the first place."
"We would never abandon—" Kakashi starts, with a snarl.
"That's how things work," Shiroi-san snaps in return, effectively silencing the silver-haired Jonin. "Sending forces to out-of-the-way places just to recover bodies, when there isn't a cease-fire to collect them, just results in more deaths. No other force is going to put their soldier's heads on the chopping block, just to clear out the dead—even if the dead are allies.
Do you honestly think Kusa will send out a squad to collect your teammate's body, when Iwa's been stomping their forces to the ground? Or that the Hokage would use people to do things other than fight and directly fuel the war effort, when Iwa's been getting closer to Konoha?"
"That…That can't…" came the masked teen's shocked murmur.
"Even when the war ends, it won't happen," the red-eyed girl said lowly, before letting out a sigh. "Each countries' borders are gonna be shut tight, and it's unlikely they'll allow other nations to troop in to poke around, on the off-chance they can recover the remains of any of their casualties. It could shake the tentative peace, give the openings for another breach or attack."
Rin watches as Minato-sensei's previously straight posture droops, wilting like a flower. "It's happened before, Kakashi. In the Second Shinobi War," the man tells her male teammate. "The exact same thing, as Shiroi-san has just explained."
The masked boy goes silent and still. From what Rin can see of his expression, it's almost as if Kakashi feels…betrayed.
"Honestly…? The best you'll get is if the enemy doesn't pick up your comrades' bodies, for experimentation," the white-haired girl adds, giving a dark frown, as she looked at the three Leaf ninja. "Just think of the consequences of Iwa—or any other faction, really— getting a hold of an Uchiha."
Rin felt herself tremble, staring at the older girl with wide-eyed horror. She clamped a hand over her mouth, trying to fight down the distinct need to hurl.
The girl with the purple clan marking can most definitely imagine it…She can just see Iwa ninja bent over Obito's half-crushed body…Cutting him open with scalpels…Taking out someone's eyes, tampering with them with Obito's DNA, until they gain the Sharingan…
It's…A nightmare. A horrifying image, but—Oh Kami. Oh Kami, it could really, really happen.
Rin would have never thought of that possibility…Because she had just assumed that later, they would be able to bring back Obito's body for a proper funeral.
She never thought of the consequences, of leaving someone's body behind for enemy forces to find. Of how many nations would literally kill to have the body of a foreign Clan shinobi…
Rin chances a glance over at Kakashi. Instead of his usual, stoic self, he also looks pale and shaken. Like he's going to be sick, as well, even though most of his expression is covered by his cloth mask he perpetually wears.
He's never showed so much emotion so blatantly in the past. Obito's…death must have really hit him.
Without being able to go back for his body…Kakashi won't ever get any closure. None of their team will. They'll have to live with the guilt.
And Obito's funeral will just be another general one, amongst the stream that pass through Konoha. No actual casket to bury, only flowers placed when they carve his name on the Memorial Stone for KIA shinobi.
"I believe you," Minato-sensei says, taking Rin's attention from worrying over Kakashi. The man is frowning as he stares down Shiroi-san—but the furrow of his brow is more worried and contemplative, than angry or distrustful. "As far as I can tell, you've been telling the truth. And your motives are…noble."
The red-eyed girl gives a relieved sigh, her shoulders sagging, the tenseness seemingly leaving her cloaked form. "I…Thank you. For believing me."
"No, I should be thanking you," the blonde retorts, firm. "For going through all this trouble…For helping Rin and Kakashi…"
His blue eyes soften. "I'm not sure how I'll ever repay you, Shiroi-chan," sensei says earnestly. His gaze wanders over to Rin and Kakashi, sitting in a branch above him. "You were there for my students, when I was unable…"
Shiroi-san's pale complexion flushes, pink spreading across her features. Rin watches in slight amusement, as the cloak-wearing girl ducks her head, and the pink morphs into red with startling quickness.
"Oh. Er. Um," she mutters, voice strained. "It's, um…You don't, ah, have to…thank me?"
Apparently, the other girl has little grace when it comes to receiving someone's gratitude.
"I insist. There must be some way…" sensei hums, an amused gleam in his bright blue eyes.
"I, ah…Think that can wait later, Namikaze-san," Shiroi-san coughs awkwardly, avoiding eye contract with all three Lean-nins. "We've been having this discussion for quite a while, and many signatures are starting to swarm the cave like ants…"
"Hmmm. I suppose that's our cue to keep going, then," the blonde muses, smoothly standing up from his prior sitting position. With some effort, Rin scrambles up from her spot, following her leader, as does Kakashi. "Which way, Shiroi-chan…?"
The red-eyed girl slowly rises from her previous perch, hand on the trunk of her tree. She mutters a few things under her breath, tilts her head, and finally jerks a thumb over to direction Rin vaguely thinks is north-west. "From our current positions, I think that's the way to Kannabi. I'll probably be able to be more accurate, when we get closer to a more Grass-native terrain."
"Alright. We'll move out, and then take a break again later," Minato-sensei decides, voice taking up a familiar, comforting firmness of leadership. He bends his knees, and then bounds off with Shiroi-san at point, in the direction she gave. Swiftly, his students followed behind him, in formation.
"Ideally, we should get there, destroy the bridge, and then leave as quickly as possible. But with all the setbacks—" and wasn't that an understatement?—"I wouldn't be surprised if we can't get that far. If so, then we'll at least set camp nearby and stake it out, at nightfall. Come morning, we bring it down, and get out of dodge."
"Hai, sensei," Rin and Kakashi instantly confirmed.
"It's a solid plan," Shiroi-san gave a nod. "I'll help find a good spot for camp. The terrain around Kannabi Bridge is too open to hang nearby, even with the tall grasses near the paths. Too many of us to be able to hide thoroughly in them."
"Ah…We'll be counting on you, then, Shiroi-chan," Minato-sensei says.
"…I'll do my best," she replies. A small smile starts to unfurl on her lips, and Rin feels like the teen is very pleased. It's as if Shiroi-san has just been vindicated about something, as if she's found a purpose.
Rin feels a flicker of jealousy. This girl is strong, and wise, and noble. She hasn't even been part of this mission until half an hour ago, and yet she's done much more good than any of the younger ones of the squad. Or…Or her.
Rin feels ashamed, the feeling chasing away the wisp of ugly, green emotion. Shiroi-san's entire home was destroyed, and everyone she knew died, just because her home was near a useful tactical point. She's had to become strong to survive the hellish battlefield that Grass has turned into. That's nothing that Rin should be jealous about.
The Nohara girl lets out a long, low sigh. She's letting petty things blind her judgment, letting the stress of the situation get to her.
She's just…She's just tired of everything, at this point. She wants this nightmare to be over with.
The sooner they get to Kannabi, the sooner they can rest. The sooner they get to Kannabi, the sooner they can finish this Kami-forsaken mission. The sooner they get to Kannabi, the closer they are to going back home.
…The sooner they get the entire ordeal over with, the sooner Rin can have a nice, long cry.