Disclaimer: Naruto does not in any way belong to me, it's the property of Kishimoto, etc.
resistance
rinterlude 2: activation
"We're here," Obito whispers, halting on a high branch. He gestures at the cave below them when she opens her mouth to ask him how he knows. "Get ready for a fight."
"They might not have noticed us yet," Rin argues, but she pulls out a kunai anyway. A fight is inevitable if they want to get Kakashi back quickly. She tries not to think about the odds of two chuunin taking on two jounin.
"We don't know if that invisible guy is around or not," Obito points out quietly.
A cry of pain echoes out of the cave, masculine and young - obviously Kakashi.
Rin's breath catches, her hand tightening around the hilt of her kunai.
"Stay calm," Obito whispers. "We can do this."
"Right... Let's go!" Rin agrees, preparing to spring down.
"To where?" the invisible jounin asks from behind them.
Rin gasps, spinning around to face their opponent.
But Obito's already there. He throws himself in front of her, his kunai slicing through the Iwa shinobi's flak vest.
Cursing, the man throws himself away, becoming visible as he lands in the tree next to them. The wound is shallow, non-fatal. The jounin can still fight.
Rin trembles, a traitorous voice pointing out that Kakashi and Minato-sensei aren't here to step in and save them when they make a mistake. It's just her and Obito, the medic and the Uchiha failure.
But she's not just a medic, she knows how to fight, and Obito has proven more than once over the past few months that he's improving, steadily catching up to Kakashi's level.
"Heh. What's with that angry face, little boy?" the jounin taunts, apparently having recovered from the pain of the cut already. "Do you really think you can beat me..? Just for that, I'll save you for last. You'll have a better chance that way, right?" His smile is cruel, and he dodges the handful of shuriken that Obito throws his way, fingers flashing through hand signs too quickly for Rin to follow.
He disappears before Rin or Obito can try to attack again.
Where is he? Rin scans their surroundings, trying to keep her breathing level and calm.
A soft sound, the sole of a sandal striking the branch behind them. Rin ducks instinctively, spinning into a crouch. She feels her kunai slice into something, just as Obito throws himself back. Not fast enough: blood pours out of the wound, revealing the white of bone beneath it - but the jounin's strike missed Obito's eye, and Rin managed to deal a deep cut to the man's leg.
"Fuck," Obito swears, one hand rising in an aborted movement to press against the wound, but he thinks better of it and narrows his eyes.
At first Rin thinks that her mind is playing tricks on her, but no, Obito's eyes are red as the blood leaking down his left cheek.
"Finally," Obito snarls, pushing off from the branch with more speed than Rin knew he possessed.
The jounin doesn't stand a chance after that, and Obito returns a few moments later, bloody kunai in one hand, the other pressed against the cut on his face.
Rin tries not to stare at the three tomoe spinning in each eye. Do Uchiha usually activate fully-formed Sharingan? Obito's a bit of a late bloomer, but still- and he just killed a man without hesitating. Shinobi aren't supposed to show mercy, but the sensitive boy that she knows surely would have shown some remorse-
"Rin. Are you hurt?" he asks, kneeling beside her. When she shakes her head, he adds, "Heal this as quick as you can, then, and we can go after Kakashi."