Rinn sighed to herself as she stirred her bubbling pot of homemade curry.
Late again.
Sasuke should have been back a few hours ago. He was always late these days, training later and later every night, and Rinn was starting to worry. Although she admired his work ethic and determination, it was starting to take over his life. He was obsessed, and she knew exactly why.
Ever since the chunin exams, he had been different. He was jealous of everyone's abilities, and he felt weak. Rinn tried to reason with him every now and again, but it fell on deaf ears. He told her she didn't understand. It was OK for her, he said, she was strong enough already. She tried to get him to see the positives – his sharingan, Chidori and such, but it was never enough. She was sure there was more going on than Sasuke would admit to, and as her hunger started to turn to anger, she grew even more determined to find out.
Rinn's stomach grumbled as the delicious smell of dinner crept up her nose. She frowned.
How much longer does he expect me to wait?
She slammed her stirring spoon down onto the kitchen counter in frustration.
"Screw this," she said to herself, grabbing a bowl from the cupboard and spooning out some curry into it for herself.
I am not going to starve myself waiting for him to come home, like a sad little puppy!
Rinn angrily pulled up a stool to the breakfast bar and scooped up a generous spoonful of food. She was about to put it in her mouth to finally satisfy her hunger, when:
*Knock knock knock*
Rinn exhaled in frustration, putting the spoon back into the bowl, looking at it longingly before getting up and walking to the front door.
Has Sasuke forgotten his key again?
As she unlocked the door, she was ready to give him a hefty scolding, only to find her visitor was not Sasuke at all.
"Shi..chiro?" Rinn said, perplexed, as she opened the door.
"Hi Rinn, sorry to bother you so late at night. Is Sasuke here?" He asked, his sapphire eyes searching behind her for said ninja.
"No, he's not come back from training yet," Rinn said curtly.
"Right. I thought so. I couldn't sense him here, but I had to be sure," he replied.
"Do you want to come in and wait for him?"
"No. Thank you Rinn, but I must get going," he said, smiling kindly at her.
He's trying to hide something from me…
Rinn's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"Shichiro, what's going on?" she asked sharply.
He shuffled awkwardly.
"Look, I know you two don't get on, but – "
"NO. It isn't like that, Rinn, I'm trying to help him."
She looked at him curiously, now even more confused.
"With what?" she asked, still suspicious.
"Training." He stated simply. It was the first thing that came to mind, and he couldn't very well tell her the truth.
"Training?"
He nodded in response.
"I don't believe you," Rinn replied, looking him dead in the eyes.
"I'm helping him with his chakra control, the idiot keeps burning his hands with Chidori," he said as convincingly as possible.
"You expect me to believe that Sasuke asked for your help?" she said, scoffing at the idea.
"No, Toru-sensei asked me to go. Sasuke doesn't know anything about it yet."
"Well good luck to you when you get there, I can't imagine he will take too kindly to that," Rinn replied, seemingly convinced.
"Thanks," Shichiro mumbled, awkwardly scratching the back of his head.
"Play nice," Rinn told him accusingly, poking him hard in his solid chest.
"I always do!"
She rolled her eyes at him.
"Tell him to hurry up or his dinner will be cold. I'm not leaving the pan on all night," she instructed, causing Shichiro to smile slightly.
"Sure thing, Rinn. See you tomorrow for training," he said, starting to turn to leave.
"See you tomorrow – and don't spend all night staying up teaching that ungrateful bastard chakra control! You need some sleep too!" she yelled after him as he walked down the street, Shichiro lifting an arm up to wave in response as he disappeared into the night.
Rinn wandered aimlessly back to her stool and finally managed to eat some of her scrumptious curry. As she ate, she felt a sense of relief that maybe, at last, Sasuke and Shichiro would get along.
- X -
Shichiro had a gloomy look on his face as he tore through the village searching for Sasuke. He felt so guilty for lying to her. He made a mental note to work harder on his sensory jutsu in the future. If his range was wider, he could've pinpointed Sasuke's location without even having to talk to Rinn. He couldn't sense him at all, even from one of the tallest trees in the village, and he did not have the luxury of time to spend looking for him.
Shichiro cursed at himself for the situation in which he found himself.
Itachi is here. I must locate Sasuke as quickly as possible.
He had informed Toru as soon as he realised the village had been infiltrated. After a very brief discussion, they had reasoned that Itachi's most likely target was probably Sasuke, and Shichiro had been sent after him whilst Toru informed as many other jonin as he could find.
Shichiro came to an immediate halt as he sensed two presences up ahead.
It's them!
Silently, he snuck close enough to hear their conversation, concealing his presence completely. He eyed their Akatsuki robes disapprovingly as they spoke quietly, both figures sitting on the forest floor and leaning against a tree trunk nonchalantly.
"We need to find the nine tails as quickly as possible," he heard Itachi say.
"That ninja with him is strong, Itachi, I don't fancy my chances in a head on battle," Itachi's companion replied. He was a strange, reptilian-looking ninja with a giant wrapped-up blade.
"Then we wait until he's alone, and take him then," Itachi stated simply.
That was all Shichiro needed to hear. He let out a quiet sigh of relief that they weren't actually after Sasuke, because by extension this kept Rinn safely out of trouble.
However, these ninja were clearly planning to harm Naruto in some way. He didn't take kindly to this – Naruto was a nice kid and was a friend to both him and his squad.
Shichiro knew that he probably couldn't take both ninja down on his own, whilst leaving at least one of them alive for interrogation. He needed to get back to Toru, and tell him what he had learned, and make sure Naruto was protected as soon as possible.
Deciding there was only one course of action, Shichiro closed his eyes for a moment in concentration, drawing his chakra to a few of the sigils and runes on his left arm. They began to glow, and as he opened his eyes, they too were alight. Using a simple hand sign, Shichiro released a flash of aquamarine light, immediately knocking Itachi and his companion unconscious. He had to get back to the village centre quickly. He was unsure how long they would stay this way, and he knew how dangerous they had the potential to be once they woke up.
- X -
A mentally and physically exhausted Sasuke fiddled with his key as he tried to align it with the lock on Rinn's front door. She usually left the light on for him in the porch, but not today.
"I'm home!" he called weakly, as he stepped inside the house, removing his shoes.
Rinn, who was sitting on the sofa watching the TV, simply glared over at him before turning her eyes back to the screen.
Sasuke over to the clock on the wall.
1am…. Shit.
He looked over to the kitchen guiltily, where he saw a plate of cold curry laid out for him.
"Sorry Rinn, I just… Lost track of time again," he said feebly, walking over and sitting down next to her, body turned to her to gauge her reaction.
"Sasuke. It's 1am," she stated, not taking her eyes away from the screen.
"I know, but…"
"Every day I ask you if you'll be home for dinner. Every day you are late. If you have no intention of having dinner with me, I'd rather you were honest, so I don't waste my time cooking something we both like," Rinn said, cutting him off.
"I don't mean to be late, I just…." Sasuke trailed off, struggling to explain how he was feeling.
Rinn continued to look at the TV screen, arms folded.
"Your dinner is on the side, I'm going to bed," she announced angrily, about to get up off the sofa.
"Wait!" Sasuke said, turning to her and placing one hand on her thigh, pushing her back onto the sofa. He raised his other hand shakily to her cheek, resting it there gently.
Rinn felt his fingers shake against her skin and finally turned to look at him.
"I don't… want to miss dinner. I love being able to come home and eat dinner with you every night. I just can't stop once I'm out there…" he tried to explain.
Rinn didn't say anything, but carefully took both of his hands in hers and placed them onto her lap. She sighed in frustration as she inspected them. His arms and fingers were now shaking violently, from sheer exhaustion. He kept pushing himself way too hard.
"Sasuke, these bandages are all burned, we need to take them off," she said, turning his hands over as she inspected the bandaged wrapped from his fingers all the way to his elbows.
Sasuke looked away for a moment.
"I'm fine Rinn, please just leave it," he said, looking back at her whilst trying to pull his hands away.
Rinn tightened her grip on his hands, causing him to wince.
"You're clearly not fine Sasuke. And if you're burning yourself like Shichiro said, leaving these dirty bandages on an open wound will cause it to become infected," she said curtly, her emerald eyes glaring at him for trying to lie to her.
Sasuke's eyes narrowed in response.
"Shichiro?" he said venomously.
"Yeah, he was looking for you earlier," she explained, earning a very confused look from Sasuke.
"…"
"Sensei sent him to help you with your chakra control? So that this," she began, gesturing to his damaged hands, "Doesn't keep happening."
"I… must have missed him," Sasuke responded, unsure if he was more surprised or irritated that Shichiro was willing to help him.
"Anyway, we need to get these filthy bandages off. We'll clean you up then I'll fix you," she decided, letting go of his hands to get up and run up to the bathroom to get a flannel, some water, and some ointment.
Sasuke exhaled in relief and laid back onto the sofa, glad that it hadn't turned into a bigger argument. He had been late most nights recently, and he knew he was lucky to have any morsel of food plated up for him when he arrived home. His training was beginning to consume him - it was all he could think about. In all honesty, he didn't even know what day it was most of the time, let alone what the time was!
He heard descending footsteps and awkwardly half-smiled at Rinn as she approached him with her homemade 'first aid kit' and a fresh set of bandages. She sat down next to him again, and they turned to face each other.
"Right then, I need to disinfect your wounds first. No point healing you until we've cleaned it, or you'll be in a worse state with an internal infection…" Rinn explained, taking his hands in hers once more.
Gently, she found the end of one of the bandages and started to unravel it very slowly from Sasuke's right index finger. She felt him tense a little as she did this, obviously in pain but too proud to show it.
As she got halfway down the finger, the bandage wouldn't unravel anymore. It was stuck to the wound, which had wept and fused it to his burns. Rinn tutted, examining each finger in more detail. Sure enough, it was a similar story for each of his digits, and she knew she couldn't simply rip them off; it would be excruciating, like tearing a new wound each time.
"I need to soak your hands in some water to get these bandages off," she said, getting up and grabbing a large glass bowl from the cupboard, filling it with lukewarm water.
As the tap gradually filled the bowl, she found herself becoming increasingly exasperated. She looked out of the window behind the sink, drumming her fingers on the counter either side.
"Sasuke, you should've stopped when you burned yourself the first time. The bandages are all congealed in your wounds and you have made it so much harder to fix," Rinn said in annoyance, still staring out of the window.
"I'm sorry…." She heard Sasuke mumble guiltily from behind her.
"It's not me I'm worried about, you idiot. If I wasn't here, who would sort that out for you huh? I mean your fingers…. could…. could FALL OFF COMPLETELY!" she exclaimed, turning around and glaring at him accusingly.
Sasuke's eyes widened, and he looked down at his battered hands in horror.
"And you won't be able to do many hand signs with no fingers, will you?" she continued, threateningly.
Sasuke shook his head frantically in shame, not daring to look at her.
Rinn let out a deep sigh.
"Look, just go careful, OK?" she said calmly, "I worry about you."
She brought her bowl of water over and placed it on her lap, turning to face Sasuke once more.
"I don't mean to make you worry, Rinn. I'm sorry," Sasuke said genuinely, looking at her through his bangs with his head bowed down guiltily.
"Just don't do it again, OK? Why are you pushing yourself so hard?" she asked with concern.
Sasuke knew the answer of course, he just couldn't bring himself to tell her, so he merely shrugged instead.
Rinn rolled her eyes.
"OK then, maybe some other time," she said slightly sarcastically.
"…"
"Anyway, back to getting you cleaned up. I need you to put your hands in the water. It will probably sting a little…" she instructed, flashing him a caring smile.
Sasuke bit his lip slightly, before plunging his hands into the bowl.
"Shit!" he cursed under his breath through gritted teeth, hoping Rinn didn't hear him.
"Sorry…" Rinn apologised.
She did hear me, great.
"Sasuke, feeling pain is nothing to be ashamed of, you know…" she began, reaching for her tweezers as Sasuke kept his hands submerged.
He stared at the TV as if it were the most interesting thing on the planet.
"It's actually very normal," she continued, placing the tweezers into the water and taking the half-unravelled bandage surrounding his index finger in its teeth.
"Our nerves are in our bodies for that very reason… So we can feel pain, touch, warmth, the cold, and so on," she said, trying to comfort him as she began to tug the bandage away from his charred skin.
Sasuke flinched and cursed some more under his breath.
"Please try and hold still," Rinn pleaded, gently caressing his wrist with her free hand to try and soothe him.
"See, nerves aren't all bad," she said cheekily as he let some of the tension leave his body.
Sasuke smiled weakly in response and nodded at her to continue. Just as she was about to go in with her tweezers again, his left hand shot out of the bowl with a woosh of water and grabbed her wrist to stop her.
"Please…. can you…. can you use your hands instead? Those are very sharp…" he asked nervously.
"The tweezers are clean, Sasuke…"
"So are your hands."
"Well yes, but…."
"Please," he begged again, giving Rinn most gorgeous puppy eyes she had ever seen.
"Gah! As long as you're sure," she said in defeat, as he nodded in response.
"OK…" she sighed, very carefully and gently removing each bandage, one by one.
Every time she got to a particularly large wound, Sasuke felt like thousands of scabs were being ripped from his skin as she wiggled the dirty bandages free. Not to mention the entire time his hands were in the water it felt like they were on fire.
His only saving grace was the young woman sat in front of him, who he shamelessly stared at in admiration whilst she worked. Sasuke was sure she got more beautiful by the day, even though she was currently sat there in the ugliest pyjamas he had ever seen.
I'll have to give her something of mine to wear… he mused as he watched her intently.
- X -
Once Rinn had finished cleaning his wounds, an exhausted looking Sasuke exhaled in relief. She did feel slightly sorry for him – he had been holding in his pain the entire time, despite her protests that he shouldn't.
As she activated her healing chakra, her hands started to glow with a green aura. She clasped Sasuke's right hand first, healing his wounds completely. Just as she was about to finish his left hand, he cleared his throat.
"Rinn… I know that I've been unfair to you recently, but there is a reason I need to become stronger. It's not just my own vanity…"
Rinn paused for a moment, shocked but very glad that he was finally being open. She said nothing, but continued to look at him, signalling to him to carry on his explanation. She didn't want to risk interrupting him in the slightest, as she rarely got a glimpse into what he was thinking.
"I need to become stronger so that I can kill my brother."
Rinn's brows furrowed for a moment.
"Itachi?" she asked, although she already knew the answer.
"Yes. I must avenge my family. At the moment I'm falling behind everybody… even Naruto," he replied, clearly seething inside.
Rinn frowned again.
"You understand why I need to do this… don't you, Rinn?"
"If he's already ruined your life so much, why let him ruin it even further? You're giving him power over you which he doesn't deserve to have…"
Sasuke's eyes narrowed angrily at this.
"Sasuke, you should live your life for you. Not this. If you let this consume you and it becomes your only purpose, then what else is there afterwards?"
"I knew you wouldn't understand," he said angrily, snatching his hand out of Rinn's grasp and glaring at her hatefully.
"HEY I'm not done yet!" she shouted, eyeing his last remaining burnt finger.
"Listen, I get that revenge can feel really really good, but why not use your strength to do something great? Like helping others, or protecting your friends?" Rinn said frantically.
Sasuke scoffed sarcastically.
"Killing Itachi will be great, I can assure you," he spat back at her patronisingly.
"Don't waste your life on this, Sasuke. Besides, I would be careful if I were you. I don't think everything is as it seems with Itachi…" she mused, not quite realising what she was saying.
Sasuke stood up in a flash, his hands balled into fists and his jaw clenched tightly.
"What?" he said menacingly.
"When he left that night… he said something to me… what was it now," she continued innocently, blissfully unaware of Sasuke's growing rage.
"I remember – he said: 'Look after my brother'," she began, "Now if he wanted you dead that badly, why would he say that? There's definitely more to this story Sasuke, I just know it!"
"SHUT UP!"
Rinn fell silent as Sasuke's sharingan activated. She couldn't tell if it was voluntary or not.
"You're lying," he said, glaring down at her as he stood over her.
"No, I am not. Why would I lie about something like that?"
"Well you must've dreamt it then. You were a silly kid you probably imagined it… Unless… unless," he answered, feeling the seal around his curse mark starting to weaken as his emotions ran rife.
"Unless what?" Rinn responded, with a little too much attitude. She was starting to get wound up herself. Both she and the young Uchiha were very passionate people, and they never backed down when they thought they were right.
"YOU. You're on his side! You're trying to keep me away from him to keep him safe!"
Rinn let out a snort of laughter, simply because his statement was so utterly ridiculous.
"DON'T YOU LAUGH AT ME!" Sasuke yelled, the curse mark erupting into patterns up his neck and down his arm.
"Sasuke, you're being ridiculous. I have no interest in Itachi whatsoever, I only have interest in what is best for you. All I'm saying is that maybe he's not the monster you think he is," she tried to explain, but Sasuke reached his limit, the curse mark poisoning him further still.
"He murdered my FAMILY!" he yelled furiously.
His eyes widened angrily as he threw the water bowl off the sofa in a blind rage, smashing it into tiny pieces and slightly flooding the wooden floor. Rinn looked at him in disgust.
"All right Sasuke, get the fuck out of my house," she said calmly, standing up.
Sasuke scoffed at her, as if to say: 'Are you gonna make me?'
Yes, she was going to make him.
Activating her red chakra, Rinn's eyes turned a deathly white.
"I'm not going to ask you again Sasuke," she said ominously.
"Doesn't bother me. If I'd have known you loved my brother so much, I never would've bothered with you when you came back. You disgust me. Never speak to me again," he spat back, slamming the door behind him as he left.
Rinn felt her eyes burn as the tears threatened to come, managing to get herself to the sofa before they took over completely. She sobbed at her stupidity, but at the same time why shouldn't she be able to have an honest conversation with him? Isn't that what friends are for? To be truthful and guide each other to a path of happiness? Now Rinn wasn't so sure.
Grabbing a pack of tissues, she bolted her front door and switched off the downstairs lights. As she dragged her tired body upstairs and into bed, sobbing into her pillow was her only comfort. Although Sasuke was only behind a few walls next door, she had never felt further away from him.