"Orochimaru?" Rinn repeated back to her sensei, blinking.
"Yeah, he's the one who gave Sasuke that mark, remember?" Tatsuo responded.
"Oh yeah, sweet! I look forward to giving that bastard a taste of his own medicine!" she said, already fired up that she was getting the chance to go after the man who hurt her friend.
"Firinne, let me remind you that this is a reconnaissance mission only," Toru stated sternly, slightly raising his voice.
Rinn furrowed her brows in confusion.
What gives? Usually he acts more immaturely than Shichiro and Tatsuo combined. Today he's actually acting like our sensei…
"Hey Rinn, shall we go and do some more work on combining your jutsu? We can let Shichiro hang back to listen to the boring stuff, and he can let us know the details when we have lunch later," Tatsuo said, interrupting her thoughts.
He already noticed Shichiro getting visibly stressed about the situation and knew he needed to get Rinn away, so that Shichiro could have a much needed conversation with their sensei. In private.
"Yeah, sounds good. Shichiro, do you mind? You've got a better memory than us anyway," Rinn said, completely oblivious to Tatsuo's true motives.
Shichiro shot Tatsuo a grateful nod as he spun Rinn around and marched her away to the centre of the training field, leaving Shichiro and Toru alone and out of her earshot.
Toru studied Shichiro carefully, acutely aware of what was coming. He decided to break the silence first.
"Now, I know what you must be think- "
"What the hell is this?!" Shichiro interrupted. He was fuming.
"This is an official mission, Shichiro."
"But surely there was something you could have done?! You know this puts her at risk."
"She's a ninja. She's at risk every day, it comes with the territory."
Shichiro scoffed.
"You know what I mean, sensei," he replied sarcastically.
"Shichiro, we can't hide her from him forever."
"Then why make me conceal her for all of these years? During the chunin exams, I spent every day making sure she couldn't be found! And now you're having us lead her straight into the lion's den?!"
"So, you think you shouldn't have wasted your time, is that what you're saying?" Tatsuo asked, raising a blonde eyebrow sceptically.
Shichiro looked at his feet in defeat, face pulled into a scowl.
"Of course not. It's just that we've been protecting her for so long, and now we're taking her right to him - I just can't accept this."
"You don't have a choice I'm afraid. Neither of us do. You really think I want my squad going anywhere near that man?"
"Then why?"
"The council demanded it. You three are some of our strongest."
"Can't you go back to them and explain why Rinn can't go?"
"They are aware of her situation."
"And they still agreed?!"
"The events of the chunin exams have left the village at an incredible disadvantage. Vulnerable. As I said, you three were selected due to your abilities, and the council felt the benefits of using Rinn outweighed the possible risks."
"Well, it's not them sticking their necks on the line, is it?! And what about Rinn? She doesn't even know the risk. The true risk!"
"Look. I'm no happier about this than you are, but it's out of our hands. You will be going on this mission and that's final." Toru stood up from the rock he was sitting on, squaring up to Shichiro threateningly.
"Tsk. This… This is bullshit." Shichiro retorted, pointing at Toru as he spoke.
"Need I remind you that I am your sensei, and I will not tolerate such insubordination," Toru replied.
Shichiro sneered angrily in response. He was half tempted to fight his own sensei at this point. How could he do this to her? Realising he was losing control of his temper very quickly, Shichiro inhaled deeply, quelling his fury for now.
"Please, sensei… Is there nothing you can do?" he pleaded.
Toru looked thoughtful for a moment.
"Maybe we don't have to tell her everything," he mused, eyes meeting Shichiro's.
"What do you mean?"
"You're absolutely right that we can't send her in there uninformed… But it doesn't necessarily need to be her own risk that we pitch to her," Toru replied.
"I'm sorry, I don't follow…"
"Well, I was held captive there for years. My story should be enough to encourage her to proceed with caution."
"Sensei, I don't think…"
"I'll leave out anything… potentially inflammatory."
Shichiro raised an eyebrow sceptically, causing Toru to yelp in exasperation.
"Agh! Sometimes I wonder who's in charge here," he said, smirking.
Shichiro looked at the floor in embarrassment, his sense of duty finally returning to him.
"Forgive me sensei, I… lost my head again there for a second," he apologised, bowing slightly.
"You always do when it comes to her," Toru teased, making Shichiro's cheeks grow even redder.
"I… um… well," he stuttered, still looking at the ground as Toru walked closer to him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"She's lucky to have you," Toru said, a genuine smile appearing on his lips.
He then started to wander over to where Rinn and Tatsuo were already knee deep in a sparring match, flames and sparks darting around them as they launched their attacks.
"Come on," he called behind him to Shichiro, gesturing to him to follow.
Tatsuo and Rinn were so engrossed in their makeshift battle, that they didn't even notice their teammate and sensei approach. Tatsuo launched a boulder-sized fireball at Rinn, followed by a wall of thick steam with shuriken hidden within it.
"Hey! Guys!" Toru tried to interrupt.
As Tatsuo's blistering smoke was about to hit Rinn, several red projectiles shot out from behind it, one of which struck him directly in the heart. A moment later, she darted through the smoke, part of her turquoise forcefield protecting her passage to the other side. Grinning, she was just about to strike Tatsuo in the shoulder with her red chakra, forcefield still active, when…
"HEY! TOO far Firinne!" Toru scolded unhappily, grabbing her wrist just as she was about to make contact with Tatsuos shoulder girdle.
"Eh? What's the matter sensei?!" she asked innocently, freezing in her current position.
"Tell me, were you planning to fix Tatsuo's arm after you broke it in half?!" he huffed in disbelief, wondering if this entire mission was destined to fail.
She simply shrugged in response, and Tatsuo snorted in amusement.
"You don't even care, do you?" Toru asked him, face completely deadpan.
"Nope! I mean... she breaks things, she heals things, she breaks things, she heals things… yada yada…" Tatsuo responded, as he relaxed out of his defensive stance to firmly plonk his bottom on the grassy floor, waving his hand around dismissively as if he were swatting away an annoying fly.
Shichiro sighed at the utter stupidity of his teammates. Rinn shot him a glare before she too joined Tatsuo on the floor, trying not to catch her sunny-haired teammate's eye as she knew she would be in a fit of giggles if she did.
Toru eyed them suspiciously, and eventually decided to join them on the grass, forcibly pulling Shichiro to the ground next to him by the hem of his cloak. As he crash-landed face first from the momentum, Rinn and Tatsuo exchanged another glance and continued to try to stifle their laughter. This was the worst situation for Rinn and Tatsuo – if they found something funny and they had to hold it in…. well, that just made the whole thing even more hilarious. Especially when it was the time to be serious. Even more so now their usually uptight teammate was lying in a crumpled heap on the floor, positively seething.
Toru cleared his throat as Shichiro straightened himself out, indicating that he wanted to speak.
"Nice chat, ladies?" Tatsuo said in between giggles, but the mood of the conversation changed drastically when he saw Toru's face. Now was no longer the time for jokes, and their sensei's expression was enough to wipe the mischievous grin off Rinn's face.
"We need to talk about your mission," Toru began.
"What? Weren't you just sorting that out with Shichiro?" Tatsuo interrupted, a confused look on his face.
"Yes… Well, I haven't been entirely honest with you," Toru replied. Tatsuo quickly looked over to Shichiro, worried that he was going to tell Rinn the truth, but Shichiro subtly shook his head to reassure him.
"What do you mean, sensei?" Rinn asked, leaning forward in concern.
"I need you all to appreciate the risks involved in this mission. It has the potential to be very dangerous – for all of you," he said, pausing to check that he had their attention.
"Orochimaru is a very bright and capable ninja, which makes him a formidable foe. He hasn't achieved the power he now possesses through training alone. He… experiments on people… whilst they're alive," he continued, grimacing in disgust as he spoke.
"Despicable," Shichiro muttered under his breath, as Rinn and Tatsuo listened intently.
"I know how truly deranged he is, because I was held captive by this man for several years. And I… was one of his… 'test subjects'," he spat, the mere memory of it clearly causing him pain.
"Sensei?" Rinn spoke meekly, sad to hear that her teacher had suffered so much.
"I was lucky enough to avoid having any of that wretch's chakra inserted into me in a curse mark, but he did make some modifications. My clan, amongst many other things, had the unique ability to make anything poisonous simply by using our chakra. As a lover of snakes, you can imagine how keen he was to add me to his collection. Before I knew it, I was his latest lab rat – shackled to a metal table with no way of escaping. Day in, day out, he drained my blood and put it back inside me, each time adding something new to the mix. Sometimes, I would see things… horrible things that weren't there. Other times, I would feel like my skin was burning off over and over again… He would drop chemicals into my eyes to see their effects and dissect my neck whilst I was fully conscious."
"That's awful! How could someone do that to another human being?!" Rinn exclaimed furiously.
"He saw potential in my clan's jutsu that we could not. What he discovered was that our skills actually change the chemical construction of different elements, and it could be utilised for a range of things – not just poison."
"How did you escape?" she prompted.
"One day, my skin did start to burn. Physically burn. It wasn't just a feeling anymore. Poison had become one with everything my body was producing, from sweat to saliva to… tears. It was excruciating to start with, but through the pain I was able to remember my clan and their teachings. I used my chakra to modify the poison my body was excreting to create a chemical strong enough to corrode my shackles and free me. However, I couldn't control this newfound power and my skin began to burn even more ferociously. It was like I was bathing in acid. I… couldn't move. I collapsed on the floor," he explained, taking a deep breath before he continued.
"There was another prisoner there. A powerful ninja that he had kidnapped for even greater tortuous endeavours, chained by her ankle to the floor. She healed my disintegrating skin as if it were nothing, transferred some of her chakra to me and told me to run. She said it would stop the poison secretion for a few hours and that I needed to get to the nearest ninja village before it started again, or I would likely die. I tried to release her shackles and bring her with me, but she declined…" he trailed off, glancing at Shichiro knowingly.
"So, I ran. I made it to the leaf village just in time," Toru finished, reaching a gloved hand into one of his cloak pockets to pull out a glass vial filled with pills.
"Your vitamins?" Rinn asked, puzzled.
"These are the only things currently allowing me to control where and when poison comes out of my body. If I miss enough of these, my whole body becomes a threat. Both to itself, and to you."
"Us?!" Tatsuo blurted out.
"Why do you think he always wears glove you moron?!" Shichiro cut in harshly, causing Tatsuo to promptly shut his mouth.
"I'm so sorry that this happened to you, sensei," Rinn said sadly.
"You do not need to be sorry," he replied firmly, getting to his feet and glancing wistfully at a fluffy cloud in the sky.
"It's funny…" Toru muttered, "to this day, I don't know if what happened to my body was his goal all along, or whether it was just a happy accident. But I can't imagine I'd have been much good to him if I'd carried on burning," he mused.
"Oh, I'm sure it was no accident. Just like it was no accident which prisoner he had placed in the lab with you," Shichiro spat, crossing his arms and scowling.
"What do you mean?" Rinn quickly enquired.
Shichiro froze. He hadn't mean for anyone to hear him, let alone Rinn. He had to come up with something - quickly.
"I just mean with someone that calculated, nothing is ever an accident. He's a conniving bastard," he replied, hoping that would satisfy her.
Thankfully, he was in luck.
"Yeah, you're right. This Orochimaru guy is a nasty piece of work. What a disgusting, horrible, cowardly human being! I'm gonna rip his throat out for what he did to you and Sasuke, sensei!" she retorted, already getting worked up about the situation.
"FIRINNE!" Toru shouted, demanding her attention. He looked down at her menacingly from his standing position, whilst his students still sat in a circle beneath him.
"What did I just say to you? This man is dangerous. I had hoped by telling you about my past that you might have a bit more sense!" he continued, starting to lose his temper.
Why couldn't they see that he was trying to protect them? He couldn't send them in unprepared, and he had already been told he was needed for another mission, so couldn't go with them himself. The whole situation made him feel uneasy.
Realising how much this meant to her sensei (he very rarely lost his temper) Rinn stood up to address him formally.
"I'm very sorry sensei. Thank you for sharing your story with us, I will make sure we are careful on our mission," she said, bowing respectfully.
The jaws of her teammates almost hit the ground in disbelief. Rinn, listening to orders?!
Toru's eyes softened as he brushed some of his blonde hair away from his eyes with a gloved hand.
"No apologies needed, Rinn. I just want you to be aware of what you might face during this mission. If something were to happen to any of you, I would never forgive myself," he replied, chuckling nervously.
Getting to their feet, Shichiro and Tatsuo dusted themselves off.
"So, when do we leave?" Shichiro asked.
"As soon as you have readied your supplies," Toru replied.
Rinn visibly stiffened and looked at Shichiro, wide-eyed.
"Sensei… any chance we can nip into the hospital on route to getting our supplies?" he asked on her behalf, reading her actions perfectly as usual.
Toru sighed, before nodding reluctantly.
"Make it quick."
"Thank you so much sensei! I really appreciate it!" Rinn squeaked, already starting to run off to make sure she was as efficient as possible.
As the two boys turned to follow her, Toru spoke again.
"Just a quick word, gentlemen… Time is really of the essence here. We have received intel that Orochimaru has temporarily vacated his closest hideout to the village. I can't be sure how long a window you have before he returns, but I need not remind you that it is in everyone's best interests for you not to engage with him under any circumstances," he said gravely.
"We understand sensei," they replied in unison.
"Now, go after your teammate and make sure she does as she's told!" Toru instructed, shooting them a playful smirk, which was welcomed by his students after the intensity of their previous discussion.
Nodding at their sensei, the two ninja took off after Rinn, leaving their packed lunches abandoned in the middle of the field. Checking nobody was looking, Toru snuck over to the bag and disappeared into the nearby forest with its contents…
- X -
By the time Shichiro and Tatsuo caught up with Rinn, she was already having a heated conversation with a receptionist at the desk. The boys came to a halt several feet behind her, to give her some space.
"She's getting even faster, you know," Tatsuo commented, grinning smugly at Shichiro who was constantly bitter about Rinn being the fastest member of the team.
"Yeah, whatever," he grumbled in response, "What do you think is going on over there?"
Tatsuo scoffed.
"What?" Shichiro asked.
"You mean you honestly can't work it out?" Tatsuo asked, revelling in the fact that he actually knew something Shichiro didn't.
Shichiro merely glared back at him with a slightly perplexed expression.
"Look at the clock, dumbass," he said, pointing at the small white clock face hanging behind the receptionist.
Shichiro looked at the clock intently, the cogs in his brain turning at breakneck speed.
"WHERE IS THE LITTLE HAND POINTING?" Tatsuo yelled in his ear patronisingly.
"I CAN TELL THE TIME IDIOT!"
"THEN WHAT DOES IT SAY?"
"10:30?"
"Which means?"
"…"
"Visiting doesn't start til 1pm." Rinn finished before Tatsuo could get a word in, as Shichiro dropped his head in shame that he couldn't work out something so simple on his own.
"What are you going to do?" Tatsuo asked.
"We can't wait around for 2 hours…" Shichiro interjected, as Tatsuo shot him a dirty look.
"I know…" Rinn said, sighing.
"They really won't let you in?" Tatsuo pressed.
"Nope."
"Did you tell them you were going on an important mission that could take several days?"
"Yep."
"Oh…" Tatsuo replied, defeated.
They stood in silence for a minute or two, trying to come up with a work around.
"Hey, Shichiro…" Rinn said.
Shichiro narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Yes?"
"Can't you just do your thing on them so I can sneak into Sasuke's room?"
"What 'thing'?"
"You know… hide me or something if you can… or just… blind them or something?" she said, almost a little too sweetly.
"You're kidding right?"
Rinn shook her head.
"You want me to use up a chunk of my chakra that we might need during this very risky mission we're about to go on?" Shichiro asked, making sure he understood, as it sounded absolutely crazy to him.
She nodded enthusiastically.
"Please? I know you have plenty to go around, you have loads stored in all your rune tattoos…"
"That's for emergencies, Rinn," he snapped back, already feeling his resolve weakening.
"Come on… It's just a reconnaissance mission…" she persuaded, giving him the biggest puppy dog eyes she could muster, whilst Tatsuo sniggered at her shameful emotional blackmail.
Shichiro tried to avoid eye contact with her for as long as he could, but he eventually cracked.
"Ok fine. But I'm only going to conceal you down the corridor. I'm certainly not going to make these good people think they've gone blind, even if it's just for a minute," he surrendered.
"Thank you so much, you're the best! I won't be long I promise!" Rinn said, planting a peck on his cheek in gratitude.
Shichiro froze for a moment, but then followed Rinn over to the corridor that led to Sasuke's room. He felt slight flutters in his stomach as he activated a rune on his forearm. As it glowed mystically, he was able to hide Rinn's presence for a moment as she ran down the corridor.
Luckily for Rinn, there was nobody in Sasuke's room when she arrived. She quietly pulled a chair up as close as she could to his bed, reaching out and taking his hand in both of hers.
"Hey Sasuke. Sorry to drop in on you like this," she joked, starting to trace circles on his palm with one of her thumbs.
"Listen… I've been given a really important mission, so I won't be able to visit you for a few days, I'm really sorry. We're going to gather intel on that creepy Orochimaru guy who hurt you in the chunin exams. I swear to you Sasuke, if I find that bastard I'll kill him myself."
Sasuke's grip on her hand noticeably tightened.
"Sasuke?" she said hopefully. This was the strongest sign of 'life' he had exhibited so far, and the team at the hospital said he was recovering much more quickly than Kakashi.
Rinn leaned in a little closer, expectation plastered all over her face.
"Sasuke?" she called out again, rubbing his forearm a little vigorously to try and illicit a response.
Still nothing.
Exhaling in frustration, Rinn flopped back onto her chair. Interestingly, Sasuke was still maintaining a reasonably sturdy grip around her hand. Remembering that she was on a quick turnaround, Rinn gently began to prise Sasuke's fingers off to free herself from his grasp.
"I'll come and see you the second I get back, I promise," she said, standing up and placing a soft kiss on his forehead.
As she moved away, she saw a small tear escaping from each of Sasuke's eyes, and her heart shattered. She tried to reassure herself that there was no way he knew what was happening right now, and that people's eyes always water when they sleep, but it did not quell her feelings. Rinn hated that she had to leave him like this, when he needed her the most - but there was nothing she could do to heal him anyway. It was just a waiting game.
"I'm so sorry, Snapdragon. I'll be as fast as I can," she said sadly, this time reaching around his neck as best as she could to give him some sort of hug. She kissed his cheek, and was gone in an instant, waiting at the end of the corridor to signal Shichiro.
- X -
Meanwhile, whilst Rinn had been tied up visiting Sasuke, her teammates saw this as an ideal opportunity to formulate a plan. Shichiro was still unhappy with the precarious position that this mission was putting her in, and with her anger towards Orochimaru only growing by the day she was becoming a liability.
"We need to take her out," Shichiro decided.
"Umm… what?" Tatsuo said, unsure he heard correctly.
"The only way we can avoid her getting hurt is if we eliminate her from the fight completely."
"She won't listen to us dude. You know what she's like. If we tell her not to do something, that only makes her more likely to do it - just to spite us."
"You're not wrong…"
"GAH. These sound ninja are a becoming such a pain in my ass…"
"Tatsuo – that's it!"
"My ass?" Tatsuo repeated, still completely confused.
"No you fool, they're sound ninja."
"And?"
"And what is sound?"
"….."
"Sound is a wavelength, Tatsuo. And guess what's also a wavelength – light. It's not that much of a stretch to say that a sound ninja might be able to manipulate light and sound in such a way that they can blind or deafen their opponents. Just like I'm able to with my chakra control…" Shichiro said, smiling slightly at the prospect that he could have found a way around it.
"Before you even think it dude – she will know it's you. You realise that, don't you?"
"Just pretend you're affected too – simple," Shichiro said, smirking.
"OK… then what? You're just going to leave her outside Orochimaru's base, blind, deaf and utterly defenceless, whilst we go in and gather intel?!"
Shichiro's cocky smirk quickly fell. He hadn't thought that far ahead. Crossing his arms, he furrowed his brows thoughtfully as Tatsuo silently waited for an answer.
"I guess I'll just have to go in alone. You can watch Rinn." he concluded matter-of-factly.
Tatsuo's eyes widened.
"No." he replied, folding his arms.
"What do you mean, 'no'?" Shichiro said, closing the gap between them in a threatening manner.
"Look man, I know you're strong, but we have no idea what we might be walking into. This plan of yours puts all of us in danger. And I don't want to lie to Rinn," Tatsuo reasoned, refusing to back down.
"If you are guarding her, I will be the only one in danger. And I can take care of myself."
"Oh stop pretending you're somehow superior to us! We're a team. I don't like this Shichiro – it stinks!"
Shichiro relaxed his stance and sighed in frustration.
"Tatsuo… please. You know how I feel about her. I – no we – have to stop her entering that base at all costs."
Tatsuo also relaxed slightly and studied his teammate for a moment.
"Argh! OK! You win. But just so you know, I think this is a stupid idea," he grumbled.
Shichiro smiled back at him gratefully.
"Noted," he responded, grinning.
They stood quietly for a moment, still awaiting Rinn's signal as they thought about the mission ahead, and what it might entail.
"Hey… Shichiro…" Tatsuo began.
"Yeah?"
"What are we gonna do if Rinn's par-"
*WHOOSH*
A red projectile shot past him, mere inches from his face, before he could finish his question.
"Shit Rinn! You almost took my damn nose off!" He yelled down the corridor angrily, as both Rinn and Shichiro looked at him in disbelief.
Shichiro quickly grabbed him from behind and placed a hand over his mouth.
"Will you shut up?!" he scolded him quietly, as a few people started looking over.
Activating his rune once more, he looked over to Rinn and concealed her from passers by until she reached her teammates close to the reception desk.
"Tatsuo you idiot! You almost got me caught!" Rinn said, whacking him over the head with her palm.
"Yeah, and you fired your weird bone-breaking shit at my face!" he retorted accusingly, as he wiggled free from Shichiro's restraint.
"Don't be such a baby! You know I have to get you in the heart with it first before I can do any damage. Plus it takes time to circulate – remember? I'm still only down to 30 seconds transit time…" she said, slightly disgruntled that her jutsu wasn't perfected enough to take effect immediately.
"Hey, don't sweat it," Tatsuo said reassuringly, now a little embarrassed that he'd reacted like such a drama queen.
"Yeah, Rinn. Think about it, you've halved the time in only a matter of weeks," Shichiro reminded her.
"I guess so… anyway, I'm ready when you are guys," she said, now keen to get the mission underway as soon as possible. The quicker they left, the quicker she could get back to Sasuke.
"What does everyone need to get?" Tatsuo asked.
"Just the usual kit, all my stuff is at home," Rinn replied.
"Same here," Shichiro chimed in.
"Right, let's get a move on then!" Tatsuo said enthusiastically, linking arms with his teammates and dragging them outside through the entrance to the hospital. Reaching the paving that led away from the building, the three young ninja took off to gather their supplies.
- X -
By the time Team Toru reached the base, they had already travelled for nearly three days. The first two days they had spent around twelve hours travelling, then twelve hours resting or sleeping. Rinn was desperate to keep going, but Shichiro insisted that being well rested was just as important as getting there quickly, in case they had engaged any enemies. Each evening, she could see him reserving more and more chakra into his runic tattoos. Now, on their third day away from the village, it had already taken them a few hours to find Orochimaru's base, which was located underground amongst some old, sturdy-looking trees.
Shuddering slightly as she eyed the snakes illustrated over its entrance, Rinn was sure they had the right place. The team exchanged nods of agreement, but before Shichiro could even take a breath to discuss any sort of plan, Rinn was already racing ahead of them into enemy territory. She was so determined to get back to Sasuke that it was starting to cloud her judgement.
"Rinn!" Tatsuo whispered urgently, hoping to halt her advances. When it became evident that she hadn't heard him, he was about proceed after her to physically stop her, but Shichiro stuck out an arm in his path, signalling to him to wait. When Tatsuo looked back at him in confusion, he motioned to Tatsuo to keep quiet.
Shichiro's eyes started to glow a mystical mint green, and he quickly made a hand sign with his left hand, activating three of his runes. In a matter of seconds, Rinn came to an abrupt halt.
"Right, now get over there. And make it convincing," Shichiro instructed, as he watched Rinn turn left and right looking for her attacker.
"What about you?" Tatsuo asked under his breath.
"It's a simple reconnaissance mission. I'm very good with sensory techniques, so I should be able to move through the entire base undetected."
"And your jutsu on Rinn?"
"I've improved my range – I should be able to maintain it for long enough remotely. Unless I need to refocus my chakra elsewhere…"
"As in, if you get into a nasty fight."
"In which case, you take Rinn and you get the hell out of here."
Tastuo shot him a look. Clearly, he wasn't considering the fact that Rinn would be very difficult to take captive against her will, if they did indeed need to make a run for it.
"Tatsuo?!" Shichiro whispered sharply, gesturing towards Rinn.
"Alright I'm going! Jeeez…"
Tatsuo sulkily wandered over to Rinn, ready to put on his performance.
"Rinn? Where are you?" he said reluctantly as he approached.
"Tatsuo?" she responded, reaching around for him. She couldn't see a thing.
Tatsuo waved his arms around as if he were as blind as Rinn, not making contact with her for a little while to make it seem more convincing. Eventually, he brushed his hand against her arm as if feeling his way around, and she grabbed onto him.
"Shichiro? What do you think you're playing at?!" she whispered angrily.
"No Rinn, I don't think it's him this time. I can't see either. It must be some kind of defence for their base," Tatsuo offered.
"Rinn, this is a base for sound ninja. It makes sense that they are able to manipulate light waves as well as sound waves," Shichiro said.
"And yet you're miraculously unaffected?" Rinn said doubtfully.
"No, I'm using my own jutsu to counteract theirs," he lied.
"Well can't you do the same for us then?" Rinn prompted, calling his bluff.
"Not an option. That will empty my chakra three times faster. The safest course of action is that I go in alone and gather intel as quickly as possible. Rinn, you can use your jutsu to protect yourself and Tatsuo until I come back, or until I eliminate the ninja responsible. Whichever comes first."
Tatsuo gave him a confused look when he mentioned 'the ninja responsible', to which Shichiro merely shrugged awkwardly and grimaced. He was starting to panic, and as such he was getting a little too carried away with his lie.
"Tatsuo. Do you think he's telling the truth?" she asked quietly.
Tatsuo was relieved for a short moment.
At least she thinks I've been blinded too. That's half the battle. She also doesn't know why we want to keep her away from Orochimaru, which also works in our favour.
"Yeah, I think he is. Why would he deliberately put himself at a disadvantage on a mission like this?" he responded, glaring a little at Shichiro as he spoke. He still felt this was a stupid idea, and that someone was going to get hurt.
Rinn was quiet for a moment as she considered Tatsuo's reasoning.
"I guess you're right. Shichiro, can you lead us to somewhere out of the open to wait for you?" She asked sensibly, holding out her free hand, the other still holding on to Tatsuo.
Letting out a quiet sigh of relief, he took her hand and led both her, and a fully capable Tatsuo to a nearby secluded area. The entire time he was pulling them along, he could feel the angry glare he was getting from Tatsuo burning a hole in the back of his head.
"This looks like a good spot," he finally said, steadying Rinn as she sat down under a branch with lots of foliage for camouflage. She pulled Tatsuo down gently to sit beside her, and he rolled his eyes at Shichiro as he pretended to trip as he sat down, to keep his act convincing.
"Are you OK?!" Rinn asked him, concerned.
"Yeah, all good Rinn," he replied, shooting a dirty look at Shichiro.
"Ok guys, I'm gonna head in. You'll be OK out here, right?" Shichiro asked, aiming his question more to Tatsuo than Rinn.
"Yeah, just… don't be too long OK?" Rinn said, the reality of being stuck in enemy territory without her sight finally dawning on her. If Orochimaru was anything to go by, the ninja that followed him must be formidable opponents. In theory, her forcefield was impenetrable to all attacks apart from wind style, but it would only last as long as her chakra reserves.
"I won't," Shichiro replied, bending down to her level and giving her shoulder a reassuring squeeze. He then stood up, Tatsuo's eyes following his every move with a very unimpressed look on his face.
As Rinn heard his footsteps disappear into the distance, she pulled Tatsuo closer to her.
"Come here, I'm going to activate my jutsu," she said, creating a forcefield around the both of them. Rinn found it difficult to imagine the size of the barrier she needed to create, so she tried to make it a little bigger than she thought, just to be on the safe side.
"Do you feel like you're safely within the field?" She asked him, reaching out in front of her to check she hadn't brought the parameters of her justu too close to them.
"Umm… Yeah? I mean, I can't feel anything," he replied. He could clearly see her protective jutsu encasing them, with a metre wide birth around them. He was about to tell her to bring it in a bit, but quickly remembered that he was supposed to be pretending he couldn't see either.
"So… how was Sasuke – "
"SHH!" she cut him off, rather abruptly.
"Eh?"
"Tatsuo, if we can't see we have to rely on sound to notice if an enemy is approaching!" she whispered in annoyance.
"Right – sorry," he whispered back.
Rinn completely lost track of time after that. It felt like they had been sat there for hours, but she really had no clue. Every little sound had her on edge, even something as simple as a bird leaving a nearby tree, or a twig snapping far away in the distance. Tatsuo, on the other hand, at least had the changing angle of the sunlight to go by. He imagined they'd been waiting for Shichiro for around 4 hours, as it was starting to get dark.
Tatsuo was casually letting out a lazy yawn, when Rinn suddenly stood up. She looked directly at him.
"Shichiro must've got the bastard!" she said, pulling him to his feet.
Tatsuo started to panic. If Shichiro's jutsu on Rinn had been released, it must mean that he had engaged in a fight or…
"Come on – let's go and help him!" she urged, unsure as to why he was hesitating.
He couldn't think of an excuse to stop her quickly enough, and before he knew it she was approaching the lair. As they got closer, Tatsuo noticed a shadowy figure starting to stumble up the stairs exiting the hideout and signalled Rinn to halt. She nodded in response and activated her red chakra ready to attack.
"I'll go and investigate, you cover me?" he suggested. Rinn was an even more useful member of the team now that she could hit targets from a distance.
She nodded once again and hung back slightly as Tatsuo edged forward, not making a sound. They had an advantage from either side as there were high walls surrounding the staircase, making them harder to spot.
However, the figure soon fell over without Tatsuo even throwing a punch. Seeing this as a sign that the figure was injured and less of a threat, Tatsuo approached them. As he got closer, his demeanour soon changed.
"Shichiro?!" he exclaimed, bending down to help his teammate from the ground.
Shichiro frantically grabbed Tasuo's shoulders, shaking him forcibly as he spoke.
"Get. Her. OUT. NOW!" he panted, looking behind him then back to Tatsuo.
"What happened to you man?!" Tatsuo asked worriedly – it was fairly dark, but he was sure that he could see blood glistening on Shichiro's face. Seeing the commotion from a distance, Rinn was beginning to approach and Shichiro suddenly became even more panicked.
"Her parents are in there! I tried to help but… Argh we don't have time for this! We need to leave now!" he pleaded, continuing his way up the steps.
"Is that Shichiro?!" Rinn called out.
"Rinn – we have to go!" Shichiro responded desperately, now grabbing on to her instead of Tatsuo.
"Shit! What happened to you?!" she asked, putting her arm under him to support him.
"No…time!" he said, his breathing becoming more laboured.
She considered arguing with him, but she'd not seen him in this state for a long time. Rinn trusted him, so if he thought they should go, she would respect that.
"Tatsuo, help me move him!" she instructed.
He ran over, and supported Shichiro from the other side. He let out a groan of pain as Tatsuo manoeuvred his arm, causing Rinn and Tatsuo to exchange worried looks.
"Shichiro, is this OK for you? We're going to head off," Rinn checked softly.
He nodded weakly and winced as they took off into the forest once more. It had taken them almost thirty hours to journey here from the village, and he couldn't help but hope the journey home would be swifter.
However, no longer than an hour after they set off, Shichiro was starting to lose consciousness. Rinn noticed first.
"Tatsuo – Stop!" she yelled, slowly coming to a halt as to not cause Shichiro any further pain.
He cursed under his breath as he noticed Shichiro's state, concern on his face. They carefully jumped down from the tree branch they were on and put their injured teammate down gently onto the forest floor. Unashamedly, Rinn knelt beside Shichrio and made quick work of undoing his cloak, discarding it to the side, finally able to take a decent look at his injuries now that he was unable to protest. He had several gashes across his torso and abdomen that were bleeding profusely, as well as many bruises all over his body and broken shoulder.
"No wonder it hurt when we lifted your arm," she said to herself, as she activated her healing chakra.
She started with his shoulder, reasoning to herself that it would make him easier to carry back to the village. After she had healed this damage, she treated a deep gash across his chest. Just as the wound was about to close, the green glow around her hands fizzled out.
"No no no! You've got to be kidding me!" she cursed, shaking her hands as what little was left of her chakra flashed on and off like a broken lightbulb.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Tatsuo asked, coming closer to her.
"I think I'm out of chakra…" Rinn said, defeated, "I can't believe I was so selfish!"
"Selfish? What are you on about?!"
"I was so concerned with keeping us safe, that I didn't even consider keeping a reserve of chakra in case anyone was injured… I just panicked when we couldn't see. Absolutely pathetic!"
Rinn was furious with herself.
I'm no better than those other useless girls playing ninja in the village… How could I be so stupid?!
She clenched her fists in frustration as she continued to sit by Shichiro's battered body.
"R…Ridiculous," she heard someone rasp.
"What?" she asked, not quite catching what was said.
Shichiro let out a pained groan as he sat himself up, leaning against a tree trunk a few inches away. He clutched his still open wounds and winced. Rinn's eyes darted to his wounds, then back to the forest floor guiltily.
"I said… Ridiculous. What you… did… was… the right thing. You… protected your friend…" Shichiro managed to croak out, still breathless.
"But… You're my friend too! And now I can't help you… Just like I couldn't help Sasuke!" she snapped back.
"Rinn," Shichiro began, flinching as he leaned forward to take her hand, "I chose… to go in there alone. Me. That's… not… your fault."
He paused for a moment to catch his breath, then looked her dead in the eye.
"Just like… Sasuke chose to go after… his brother. That… That also wasn't your fault," he finished, eyes flicking over to Tatsuo for some further support.
"Yeah – everyone runs out of chakra eventually," Tatsuo reasoned, earning him a look of distain from Shichiro. He had to admit it had sounded better in his head…
Rinn nodded curtly and was silent for a few moments as she reached into her bag for some bandages. Even if she couldn't heal him with her jutsu, she was still very skilled in medicine, and expertly dressed Shichiro's remaining open wounds.
"Guess I'll just have to train harder," she eventually concluded, "Anyway, we don't want to hang around here too long, we're still quite close to enemy territory. Shichiro, can you move?"
He nodded in response, so Rinn moved over to him and placed an arm under his shoulder once more, hauling him to his feet.
"Tatsuo, can you get his other side?" she instructed.
Once Shichiro was fully supported, Rinn turned to Tatsuo.
"What do you think? Head home as quickly as possible, no breaks unless absolutely necessary?" she suggested.
"Sounds good," Tatsuo called across Shichiro's body.
With that, they darted up to a nearby branch and headed back to the leaf village – full speed ahead!
- X -
There was already a sense of hysteria when Rinn and Tatsuo arrived at the hospital with their injured friend. The whole area was buzzing with chatter, and there were a few jonin gathered in the reception area. Unfortunately, their sensei wasn't among them.
The young ninja swiftly carried Shichiro past this gaggle of sensei, earning a few raised eyebrows along the way, and headed for the emergency department. Finding an empty trolley in the corridor, Rinn started to unload her teammate onto it.
"Hey! Rinn! You can't just do that!" Tatsuo protested.
"It's fine, they know me here. It'll make things quicker in the long run, I promise. Stay with him, I'll go and check him in."
As Rinn left the two boys to approach the check in desk around the corner, Tatsuo immediately turned to Shichiro.
"See?! I told you it was a stupid idea! But nooo you wouldn't listen to me…" he quietly lectured, angry that Shichiro had put himself in this position in the first place.
"I made the right call," Shichiro said angrily.
Tatsuo merely raised a sceptical eyebrow in response.
"What do you think would have happened if she'd gone in there and seen her parents?" Shichiro continued.
"That's not your choice to make."
"It is when it puts her life at risk!"
"Don't you understand how much worse our position is now?! When she finds out about this, she will hate both of us! And it wasn't even my idea!" Tatsuo retorted, angry and frustrated about their predicament.
"If she finds out."
"What the hell did you say?!" Tatsuo retorted sharply.
"I said, If she finds out."
"You plan on keeping this a secret?!"
"Absolutely. If we tell her the truth, she will go back for them. And she will more than likely be killed."
"No. Not if we go with her."
"Listen to yourself! What if Orochimaru's back? You're being stupid."
"Oh yeah, that's me! Stupid Tatsuo!" he replied sarcastically.
"We can't tell her, and that's final. Besides, at this point you're just as implicated as me. It's in your interest to keep your mouth shut," Shichiro said threateningly, glaring at Tatsuo sternly.
The corners of Tatsuo's mouth curled up into an angry sneer.
If he wasn't injured right now, I'd wring his fucking neck!
He could feel his temper bubbling, furious that he'd managed to get himself trapped in another of Shichiro's messed up schemes, and now he couldn't get out of it. Tatsuo leaned forwards, locking eyes with Shichiro, who stared back indignantly.
"Fuck. You." he stated bitterly.
Then, he turned around and stormed off down the corridor, leaving his friend alone on the trolley.
"Idiot." Shichiro grumbled through gritted teeth, as Tatsuo disappeared from his sight.
A few moments later, Rinn reappeared with a small entourage of medical ninja, having already explained to them exactly where and what Shichiro's injuries were. Before he knew what was happening, Shichiro was already being wheeled down a nearby corridor, Rinn keeping pace alongside him.
"Where's Tatsuo gone?" she asked, looking around for her orange-haired friend as she spoke.
"He went to grab a snack," Shichiro lied.
"Honestly… You can't rely on that boy for anything," Rinn tutted disapprovingly, piling yet more guilt onto Shichiro's shoulders. This lie was starting to snowball faster than he could keep up with.
The trolley trundled along one more corridor, turning a corner to the right at the end when:
"OOF! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Rinn apologised, as she collided with someone with reasonable force.
"No, it was my fault!" The person replied, who Rinn quickly recognised as the nurse that had been looking after Sasuke. They both straightened themselves up, blinking slightly at one another as they reorientated themselves.
"Firinne!" The nurse exclaimed, in what sounded like relief.
"Yes?" She replied with a confused look on her face.
"Come with me," she instructed, bolshily grabbing Rinn by the wrist and trying to drag her away from Shichiro's trolley.
"Wait! I need to make sure my friend is OK!" she protested, glancing down at Shichiro, who was still looking rather pale and clammy.
"It's Sasuke – there's somebody here to help him!"
Rinn froze and her eyes widened, mouth slightly agape.
What? There's someone that can help him? Who has that kind of power?
Although Rinn had hoped and prayed that her best friend would recover, she hadn't held out much hope that anyone had that level of medical knowledge. Now faced with an impossible decision, she looked down at Shichiro once again.
"Go," he said, smiling.
"But – "
"I have plenty of people to look after me. All you'd be doing is standing around waiting whilst they patch me up anyway," he insisted.
Rinn huffed, still unsure of what to do. The nurse tugged on her arm a little more impatiently.
"Come on – don't you want to be there when he wakes up?" she persisted.
Rinn nodded.
"Then let's go," she said, now physically pulling Rinn down the corridor.
"I won't be long Shichiro!" she called back, as he weakly waved at her in acknowledgement.
Dropping his arm back down, he sighed as the hospital staff wheeled him towards a nearby consulting room. No matter how many times he got his hopes up, he knew where Rinn's heart truly lay – she would always pick Sasuke over him. In some ways he wanted her to. He'd rather she experienced the true happiness of being next to her best friend as he regained consciousness, than unwillingly stayed with him as he got stitched back together.
Shichiro shut his eyes and finally let his body give out, relaxing fully onto the hospital trolley, defeated.
Even though I'm trying to do what is best for her… It doesn't make it hurt any less.
- X -
Rinn burst into Sasuke's room just in time. There was a small crowd gathered at Sasuke's bedside: Sakura, Naruto, and two women she did not recognise. There was also a rather adorable little… pig?!
Rinn looked on in confusion as everyone turned to look at her.
"Lady Tsunade, this is the ninja I was telling you about. Firinne Flynn," The nurse introduced.
"Ah, the skilled medical ninja? Excellent," The blonde woman responded.
"RINN! Come here quick – she's gonna heal Sasuke!" Naruto shouted excitedly, getting up and pulling her closer to Sasuke's bed. She was beginning to feel like a rag doll – she'd been pushed and pulled around the hospital ever since she left Shichiro in the corridor.
Rinn pulled up a chair on the other side of the bed to Sakura and Naruto, sitting directly opposite Tsunade. She watched in awe as Tsunade placed her palm over Sasuke's forehead, a green mist, similar to Rinn's own, glowing around her hand. Although Rinn's eyes were locked on Sasuke, she could hear sniffles coming from Sakura's direction as Tsunade worked, so made a mental note to catch up with her fellow kunoichi later to make sure she was alright.
After a few long and tense moments, Sasuke's brows furrowed and his eyes slowly opened. Tsunade moved her hand away, and Sasuke blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted to the light. Rinn studied him with worry.
Even though he's been asleep for this long, he still looks… exhausted. He can barely keep his eyes open!
Rinn desperately wanted to let him know she was there but didn't want to push him so soon after waking up. He looked so fragile. As he sat up in his bed, his tired eyes were already searching the room for Rinn, but just as he locked eyes with her:
"SASUKE!" Sakura screeched out through her sobs, flinging her arms around him.
His eyes suddenly became filled with panic, and his arm shot out to grab Rinn's hand tightly. The entire time Sakura was embracing him, he was looking only at Rinn, and his breathing was quickening as if he were about to have a panic attack.
"Hey Sakura," Rinn said gently, lightly placing a comforting hand on the young girl's back as she continued to cry onto Sasuke. His knuckles were getting whiter and whiter as he gripped Rinn's other hand more and more tightly.
"That's enough now, OK? Sasuke is very weak and needs his rest," she prompted carefully, trying to be as diplomatic as possible. Rinn looked around for support, but unbeknownst to her the others had all escaped in the commotion. All except for the kind nurse, who was already looking a little uncomfortable with the strain Sakura was putting on Sasuke.
Rinn looked at her pleadingly, still rubbing Sakura's back. Without even exchanging a word, the nurse swept over to Sakura, sitting next to her on Sasuke's bed and placing an arm around the pink-haired ninja's shoulders, peeling her away from him.
"Come on dear, how about I get you a nice hot tea," she offered, ushering Sakura away from the bed and into the corridor, giving Rinn a knowing wink as she shut the door behind her.
Sasuke exhaled sharply the second he heard the door close, after which he just couldn't seem to catch his breath. It was getting faster and faster, as he struggled to fill his lungs with air, gasping with every breath. He gripped Rinn's hand even more tightly and clutched the sheet with his other hand as he got lost in his own panic. Was this just another trap? Was Itachi still toying with him?
"Sasuke! Look at me – hey – it's OK. You're out of there now, nobody's going to hurt you," she said soothing. Sasuke frantically used her arm to pull himself forward and bring his knees to his chest, still panting.
Rinn didn't like this at all. He was losing it, and she couldn't get through to him.
"Sasuke. Look at me," she said a little more sternly, placing her free hand onto the side of his clammy face and forcing him to look her in the eyes.
"You're OK," she said as she looked at his terrified expression, his chest moving up and down rapidly.
Rinn managed to free her hand from his and place it on the other side of his face, gently brushing some of his hair out of the way.
"Focus on me, Snapdragon. You're in the hospital. He doesn't have you anymore, I promise," she said, dropping one of her hands to his upper arm and rubbing it soothingly.
Finally, what she said seemed to have clicked, as his arms shot out and pulled her close to him. Sasuke held on to her for dear life as he tried to calm his breathing, inhaling her scent and realising that at last that he was safe. He placed his forehead against hers and closed his eyes, placing one hand gently on the nape of her neck and the other over the hand resting on his cheek.
Once his breathing was fully under control, he opened his eyes again. Looking back at him were one of his favourite things in the whole world – the beautiful emerald eyes of his Rinn. However, her expression was full of worry.
"I've missed you," she whispered to him, eyes watering slightly as she brushed yet another stray chunk of hair away from his face. She beamed at him, then pulled Sasuke into one of the most loving and comforting hugs he had ever experienced. It made his whole body feel warm, and butterflies danced in his stomach.
As she pulled away, he started to remember the events leading up to his fight with Itachi and was mortified.
"Rinn…" he tried say; but having not used his voice for such a long time, he struggled to make much more than a croak. Rinn quickly grabbed him a glass of water from the bedside table, which he gratefully accepted.
"Rinn," he attempted again, much more successfully.
"Mmm?" she hummed back absent-mindedly, still sitting directly facing Sasuke.
"I'm… sorry. For being such a jerk," he said, looking at his sheet sheepishly.
"Oh shush!" Rinn replied, "That's all in the past. I'm sorry too, for what I said about your brother."
Sasuke looked up at her apologetically, and Rinn's heart melted. She just couldn't look away. Sasuke too was in a similar predicament, until he spotted something red on her clothing.
"Rinn – you're hurt!" he said, worry apparent on his face.
"What? No, I'm fine!"
"There's blood all over you!"
Rinn looked down at her clothing, finally noticing traces of blood both on the front of her top and on her arms.
"Well… it's not mine," she said.
Sasuke continued to look at her, his eyes alone demanding an explanation.
"It's Shichiro's," she said, causing Sasuke to raise his eyebrows in curiosity.
"He's in the hospital too, that's how they found me and brought me to your room. I said I'd go and check on him later," she continued, Sasuke looking away angrily at Rinn's mention of checking on Shichiro.
"Right. But you're not hurt, are you?" he repeated, looking back up at her.
"No, Tatsuo and I ended up being blinded outside Orochimaru's base, so I used up all of my chakra keeping my shield active for like 4 hours…" she said casually.
"Wait – WHAT? They sent your squad after Orochimaru?" Sasuke interrupted, utterly horrified.
"Yeah. Toru warned us it would be tricky but really it was Shichiro who did all the work. I feel quite bad about it actually…"
"And where was your sensei during all this? Couldn't he have released the jutsu?"
"Oh, he wasn't there. He had some important stuff to do elsewhere."
Sasuke didn't know what to say. They had sent genin out for a mission like that without their sensei? He just couldn't fathom it.
"And you feel bad, why?" he prompted, already convinced that she had once again taken on some unnecessary and unfounded guilt about something.
"I… I keep letting people down, Sasuke," Rinn said, turning her body away from him to sit over the edge of the bed, facing the window in his room.
"Don't be so stupid, why would you say that?" he asked, also (slowly) swinging his legs over the side of the bed to sit next to her, as close as possible.
"Healing is my 'thing'. Yet when you and Shichiro needed me the most, I couldn't help you," she said, biting her lip.
Sasuke's eyes closely followed this action as he draped his arm around her back, pulling on her waist to encourage her to rest the side of her head on his shoulder. He was desperately trying to think of something helpful to say, but as she gently rested her hand on his thigh his thoughts started becoming fuzzy.
And then he had it.
"But you did," he said, now leaning his head sideways so it was resting on Rinn's. He reached up from her waist to stoke her hair a few times, before placing his hand back down on her hip.
"Huh?"
"You did help me."
Rinn scoffed at him, unconvinced. Sasuke, getting quickly fatigued, gently laid back down onto his hospital bed. He studied Rinn's melancholy form from behind for a moment, not liking the distance that was now between them.
Suddenly, he grabbed her by the waist and pulled her down next to him. She let out a yelp of shock to start with, but quickly made herself comfortable by laying her head on Sasuke's strong chest, as he placed his arm around her body.
"You know, this probably isn't appropriate in a hospital," Rinn said, wrapping an arm around his waist.
"Well, I'll just have to let them know that this is essential to my recovery," he said cheekily, his classic smirk forming on his face as he absent-mindedly played with her fiery hair.
However, his smirk soon faded, and his hand slowed to a stop as his mind began to wander elsewhere.
Talking about your feelings is good… Sasuke reminded himself as he took in a deep breath to calm his anxiousness about voicing them.
"Rinn… Can I talk to you about… what happened…? When I was stuck in there?" he asked tentatively, turning his head slightly to look down at her face to gauge her reaction.
"Why are you even asking me that? Of course you can," she replied kindly, giving him a gentle squeeze of encouragement.