Chapter Eleven: Team Ro - Complete
With Itachi returning to the ranks of Team Ro, the legendary three man squad returned on their relentless undertaking of S ranked mission after mission. Their mission success rate was still at an all time high of 98%, their record only marred by the one time that they had been ambushed on the way back.
Yet Minato hated the feeling of constantly sending three kids - they were still kids in his eyes, even if they didn't think so - to complete suicide missions. It was for the good of the village; someone had to complete the job, and it helped numbed their own pains. For Kakashi, the missions kept him distracted to the point where he only got nightmares thrice a week rather than daily. For Shisui, he needed the income to support his family as he was the sole earner for his large family. For Itachi, it was an opportunity for him to escape his overbearing father and his responsibility as clan heir. As Itachi grew older, the more responsibilities his father began to shove onto Itachi, already grooming him to become the next clan leader. Except, Itachi didn't want to become the clan head. Not when he would be subjected to listening to the stuffy Uchihas conservative ideology and having to distance himself from the branch family in order to maintain his "status."
Though unnecessary, Minato would certainly feel better if Team Ro had a medic on their team. And who better to be on their team other than his former student?
Since Rin had been tried before the council for insolence, the Anbu Commander's suggestion still rang in his ears. The Anbu wasn't particularly known for its medical division; there were a few that were always on standby at the hospital in case of an emergency. They had sworn to secrecy to never reveal the Anbu's identity.
There had never been a field medic in the Anbu. There wasn't enough capable field medics among their normal jonin and chunin ranks, much less in the Anbu.
Perhaps, Rin would be the first.
"Ne sensei, do you have another mission for me?" Rin asked, casually strolling into the Hokage's office. No one else was there, a solo mission?
"No. How do you feel about joining the Anbu?"
"Anbu? Wha-" The confusion danced around in her eyes, as her eyes seemed to dart around the room, seemingly unable to settle on one thing. Her body was stiffer than normal, but relaxed moments later.
"What brought this up?" Rin managed to force out, her mind still reeling at her sensei's question. Joining the Anbu? She hadn't really thought about it as she never saw herself as Anbu material. The Anbu that she knew - Kakashi, Shisui, and Itachi - were all leagues ahead of her. What could she, a recently promoted jonin, possibly contribute?
"The Anbu Commander has recommended you to join the Anbu. Your medical ninjutsu will be a great asset to the division."
"I'm not sure…" Rin responded hesitantly. "I'm happy where I am right now."
Minato's expression softened. "You don't have to lie to me, Rin. I know that you've been feeling left out since our team disbanded and Kakashi found a new team."
"I don't like being bounced from team to team," Rin admitted. "It's like we work together out of necessity; we don't communicate about anything other than the mission. Just as we learn each other's names, the mission is over and I'm placed on a new team."
The team dynamic wasn't there. The comfort of knowing that her comrade knew exactly how to cover her blind spot wasn't there. The idea of knowing that if she ever needed anything, she could go bother her teammates and they wouldn't scorn her for it. The fear of the possibility that her teammates could abandon her to complete their mission.
Beyond that, it felt like working with robots. Just a name, but no personality. It didn't matter whether it was Yuki or Dari or Ai or whoever, it was all the same. Just another name, with different skills sets.
There was one thing that remained consistent. Always upon finding out that she was the team medic, she would immediately be pushed to the sidelines. To serve as backup, her leader always said. To be on standby just in case anyone gets injured. It irked her to no end to be reverted back to her younger self, always standing back while others fought for her.
And when she was team leader, her subordinates were always skeptical of her abilities. Now that the war had ended, the newer generation of shinobis were being promoted at a later age. At sixteen years old, Rin was one of the youngest jonins. The chunins on her team doubted her abilities, as they were older and had more "experience," they claimed. Unlike Kakashi, Shisui, or Itachi, Rin didn't have a reputation, one that would command authority.
Hence the slew of barely successful missions, from her subordinates disregarding her battle plan to being ordered to not get involved in the fight, only to be able to help when they were already heavily injured.
Rin voiced all of her complaints to Minato, unleashing two months worth of pent up frustration. She had done the same to Team Ro, but Itachi didn't have any experience in leading a team, so he wasn't able to give sound advice. The only team, outside of the Anbu, that Kakashi led consisted of her and Obito, then her and Gai. And Shisui had only ever led teams with members that were younger than him.
"You could always consider becoming a jonin sensei," Minato suggested. "You were the only one on our team with the patience for it. You're also teaching Izumi, are you not?"
"No. What would I even teach them?" Rin questioned. "Unless they all want to become medical ninjas, there's nothing I can teach them."
"If you remain a regular jonin, I can't assign you to a regular team. I'm sure that you know your medical talents are useful on every team. However, if you consider joining Anbu, I might be able to pull some strings and put you on Team Ro."
Just as well, Rin would certainly keep the three prodigies alive. Besides, Minato knew that her skills complemented the other three's skills perfectly.
Since forming the unexpected team together, Minato had seen progress among the three prodigies. Prior to the Anbu, Shisui had taken Itachi under his wing, leading to both of them being especially proficient with genjutsu. Yet under Kakashi's tutelage, Itachi immensely improved his kenjutsu, as did Shisui, who could now wield more than just a tanto with proficiency. As a master of all five elements of chakra, Kakashi helped the two Uchiha cousins develop their secondary elements. Water for Itachi and lightning for Shisui. In return, Kakashi's use of the Sharingan had immensely improved, as did his genjutsu. Though nowhere near the Uchiha cousins' level, it was deadly enough to fool an average jonin.
As for Rin, she had skills that the three prodigies could never achieve. Medical ninjutsu and sensory skills. Her sensory skills combined with the Sharingan and Kakashi's ninken, Minato could foresee them to be one of the best tracking units. Not to mention, her vast chakra reserves and ability to transfer said chakra...chakra exhaustion would no longer be a detriment to their team. In fact, Minato would venture to say that in a couple of years, the team would nearly be unstoppable.
"Alright, I'll do it."
And it was in that moment, one of the most powerful teams, was formed. In time, Team Ro would go on to even surpass the Legendary Sannin's legacy as the most powerful team from Konoha. At their peak, all four member's names would be inserted in every Great Nation's bingo book, all shinobis would learn to fear their teamwork. If there was one, there was a marginal chance of winning. But if there were two or more?
Not a chance in hell.
Their first mission as a four member squad was sneaking into Iwa's Feudal Lord's study to steal some important documents. There had been rumors circulating that Iwa's Daimyo was planning another attack on Konoha, stemming from the dissatisfaction of the treaty terms, signed five years ago to end the war. Many Iwa shinobis were rumored to on the Daimyo's side, many of whom felt like Iwa could have won the war if the Tsuchikage hadn't yield. The Tsuchikage's own son was the leader of the revolt, to which the Tsuchikage had simply turned a blind eye, not wanting to engage in conflict with his own son.
Of course, that was all just a rumor.
The first order of business was to confirm the validity of those rumors. If the rumors proved to be true, then Shisui would use Kotoamatsukami to manipulate the mind of the Iwa Daimyo and the Tsuchikage's son to dissolve the faction. After all, underlings were nothing without a spearhead, unless there was another leader hidden in the mist.
And well, they would cross that bridge when it came to it.
As captain, Hound took lead in the formation, while Sparrow took right and Crow took left. Cat made up the rear in a diamond shaped formation.
Team Ro tore through the Land of Fire, rapidly approaching the Land of Earth. Ten kilometers away from the borders, Hound motioned for the team to rest for the night, while they went over last minute strategies.
Cat dug out the scroll, containing a map of the Land of Earth, from her weapons pouch. The location of the Daimyo's castle was marked on the map, about sixty kilometers from their current location. Cat had also managed to secure an old layout of the castle, but no one knew exactly how outdated it was. All that could be of use was the location of the front door, the general size of the castle, and possibly a back door, which may or may not still exist.
"I can guide you through the castle with my sensory skills," Cat suggested. "At least, be able to divert you away from running into anyone."
"Can you sense civilians as well?" Sparrow questioned.
"If I fully concentrate, I should be able to." Civilians still had a chakra signature although nowhere near as developed or prominent as a shinobi's.
The plan was set. The three of them would infiltrate the Daimyo's castle, each of them searching one level of the building. Via radio devices, Cat would guide them from outside of the castle.
In case that failed, each of them would be stuck on their own, relying on their own senses. Their chakra sensing abilities were advanced jonin levels, but was only useful close distance. It didn't reach the range that Cat's did. They were instructed to abort the mission if about to be compromised.
The following night, four shinobis slinked across Land of Earth territory, easily sneaking past the guards with the guidance of Cat's sensory abilities and a little genjutsu. Throughout the journey to the Daimyo's castle, there wasn't a single word exchanged.
Once the castle came into view, Hound shot a look at Cat, who nodded in exchange. Cat slinked off to hide behind a boulder, using a simple genjutsu to make it appear that there was nothing but rock there. For a good measure, Cat also casted a sound barrier and henged into a plain looking civilian.
Pressing one hand to the radio device in her ear, Cat asked if they were able to hear her. All three of them replied with an affirmative.
Leaning back against the boulder, Cat sat cross legged as her eyes closed to concentrate on her the various chakra signatures. She locked on her comrade's signature easily, having spent so much time in their presence. Then she moved on the scatter of chakra signatures and began to pinpoint rough locations for them.
"Front entrance, three guards. Two at the entrance, one scouter from above. Check if there is a back entrance."
"Back entrance confirmed. Twenty meters east of front entrance and seventy two meters south."
Based on Crow's instructions, Cat locked on to the location of the back entrance. No foreign chakra signatures nearby, but there were some on the level above that.
"All clear, but be wary of any scouters on the floor above you."
Cat felt all three chakra signatures sneak into the castle via the back entrance.
Inside the castle, Hound led the way up the cobblestone stairs, motioning for Crow and Sparrow to continue heading up, while Hound would exit at this level. So far, the old map proved to be reliable, save for the mention that there was a basement level.
At the first level, Hound stopped, awaiting for Cat's all clear as he watched Crow and Sparrow's back as they continued further up the stairs. Through the radio, Cat informed the trio that there was a pair of shinobis descending down the stairs, leading for Crow and Sparrow to retreat. Along with Hound, they went halfway back down the stairs to the basement, suppressing their chakra signatures even further as the two noisy shinobis exited at the first level.
Cat informed them that the stairwell was clear again, but they had two minutes to get to their destinations before someone else would reach the doorway that led to the staircase. Sparrow and Crow sped up the staircase this time, while Hound remained hidden.
Third floor was clear to go.
Second floor contained three signatures, passing right by the staircase, but not opting to use the stairs. Eleven seconds later, Crow was given the all clear.
As for Hound, he was told that there was an unmoving signature to his left, right outside the door. Hound approached the door cautiously, mimicking the appearance of one of the guards he had seen at the front entrance, save for changing a couple of details. Hound slipped through the door, quickly casting the guard in a genjutsu when the guard moved to question him.
The guard blinked, clearly disorientated and Hound took the opportunity to slip into the hall, into the first room. Cat hissed at him through the radio for being careless, revealing that there was a civilian inside that particular room. Luckily for Hound, the civilian was fast asleep, his head buried in the crook of his arm as his torso was hunched over the desk.
Hound whispered a quick update. After placing the civilian in a sleeping genjutsu to ensure he didn't wake up, Hound made quick work of upturning all of the documents that he found, making use of his Sharingan to scan and memorizing the contents and moving on. So far nothing of interest, but that was expected since this wasn't the Daimyo's office.
Hound made a move to leave, but was quickly halted by Cat, who instructed him to hide, as there was someone who was nearing the door. Ducking behind one of the shelves, Hound heard the telltale creaks of a door opening. From his position, he could see the silhouette of a man peering into the room.
"Fucking bastard, always asleep," the unknown man murmured before slipping out of the room. The door clicked shut.
"To your right, your area is completely clear for now."
Capitalizing on that knowledge, Hound made quick work of scouring through the next three rooms on that end of the hallway and even stumbled about the Daimyo's library. His eye had taken in so much information in such a small time frame that his brain was struggling to shift through all of the useless information.
A worn spine to a book that contained the history of Konoha caught his eye. Grabbing the book from the shelf, Hound shifted through the pages, noting that it was the same copy that existed Konoha, except it lacked many details. He was about to put the book back in its place, having deemed it of no interest, when a small folded paper fluttered to the ground. Swiping it off of the floor, he unfurled the note.
A correspondence, requesting to meet. There was no signature. Hound wagered the meeting date might have already passed, but burned the location and meeting hour into his memory before jamming the note back into the pages where he had found it. Placing the book back into its position, Hound whispered to Cat that he was ready to move.
The process continued as Hound moved on to the next section of the castle. After making his rounds through the first floor, other than the lone note, Hound had found nothing substantial. He hoped that Crow and Sparrow had found something, to either prove or disprove the rumors, otherwise the entire mission would have been a waste of time.
Sparrow's soft curse could be heard through the radio. A flare of chakra came from the third floor. Through the radio, Cat was rapidly giving instructions to both Crow and Hound to get the hell out while the shinobis were headed in Sparrow's direction.
Hound and Crow met at the back entrance, exchanging looks, both wondering if they should assist Sparrow. Cat continued to instruct Sparrow, updating him on the number of chakra signatures headed his way.
"When you get the chance, place a genjutsu on them and make them forget," Cat instructed. "The path from your location to the stairwell is clear. Hound, Crow, when I tell you to, I'll need one of you to go back into the stairwell to create a clear path for Sparrow."
Two minutes passed before Cat gave them go ahead, enlightening them that three more shinobis had just entered through the first floor, while two from the second. Pushing chakra to the soles of their feet, it aided the two of them in their descent up the stairs. Crow easily captured the three shinobis in a genjutsu while Hound continued upwards. Sneaking up on them, Hound knocked both of them out with quick chop to the back of the neck. Sparrow came into sight, bounding down the stairs.
Outside, Cat felt all three of the chakras exit the building. Dropping the genjutsu, Cat moved to meet them at the assigned meeting spot when she felt the cool metal of a kunai pressing into her neck. Having been too concentrated on the safety of her comrades, Cat had failed to detect the newcomer's presence.
Pressing her hands to both sides of her head, Cat dropped down to the ground, ducking her head in fear.
"Please don't kill me," Cat pleaded, injecting as much fear into her voice as she could, playing her part as a frightened civilian. Through the radio, the other three members of Team Ro caught on to Cat's situation. Hound motioned for them to stay at a distance to observe the situation.
"What are you doing on our lands?" the menacing questioned, his voice booming in the silence.
Cat pretended to flinch.
"I got lost!" Cat answered quickly. "I was going to rest for a little bit before I continued moving."
The man grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking her towards him. Cat yelped, hands flailing in the air wildly. During her display, Cat managed to pluck the radio out of her ears and crushed it with her bare hands before the Iwa nin caught her.
"I saw you using genjutsu. Don't try to pretend to be a civilian," the nin spat, sending a glob of spit onto the ground next to her. Cat gulped.
"I'm a war orphan from Kusa!" Cat cried. "Please, I only have a bit of shinobi training to protect myself! I was heading to the Stone Village to see if there was anyone who would offer me food and water in exchange for my healing services."
"Healing, you say?"
Cat vigorously nodded.
"Take her back to the village. Perhaps she can be of some use to Kouichi san."
Cat felt a hand hit the back of her neck, hitting hard enough to knock a civilian out. Going along with the flow, Cat pretended to be unconscious, slowing down her breathing and evening out the breaths. She felt herself being tossed over someone's shoulder, a hand on her waist to keep her balanced.
Cat risked cracking an eye open to see the castle fading from the distance. Motioning a subtle thumbs up in the general direction of the rest of her teammates, Cat went back to being unconscious.
From their hiding spot, Hound lifted a kunai, nicking the pad of his thumb before making the necessary hand seals. He slammed his hand down onto the ground. When the smoke faded, Pakkun was standing in front of him, lying lazily on the ground while he awaited for instructions.
"I need you to follow Rin," Hound ordered, jerking his thumb in the general direction of where the Iwa nins were headed. "This is Iwa territory. Be careful; don't get caught." For a good measure, Hound tugged off the Leaf headband that was perched atop Pakkun's head before sending him on his way.
Crow summoned his crows. "They will follow from above."
Hound nodded and waited for Crow to set his summons loose before motioning for them to get moving. All they could do now was wait.
Once they found a secure location to rest for the night, Sparrow put up a sound barrier, before dosing the entire area in a three layered genjutsu. Settling himself in against the wave of the cave, Sparrow took off his mask, tousles of dark hair falling onto his forehead. Besides him, Crow had done the same, carefully setting his mask onto the ground. Hound had chosen to push the mask to the side of his head, revealing his mismatched eyes.
As they waited for their respective summons to return with information on Rin's whereabouts, the three of them exchanged information. Itachi hadn't managed to glean anything useful. Kakashi told them about the note he had found, the one that had set up a rendevouz, but it was glaringly vague.
It was Shisui who confirmed the rumors to be true. He had stumbled upon the Daimyo's office, finding papers detailing their plot to attack Konoha. Stupidly, the plans listed names of those who were involved, confirming that the Daimyo's son, Kouichi was the spearhead of the revolt. The Daimyo had walked in on Shisui before Rin could warn him in time. Shisui was able to launch the Kotoamatsukami on the Daimyo, but the flare of chakra had alerted the Iwa nin of his presence. Leaving the disorientated Daimyo, Shisui turned to flee, only to be intercepted by the Daimyo's guards.
Hence leading to the messy escape.
"Are you sure you were able to erase their memories?" Kakashi asked.
"Yes," Shisui replied. "Even if I failed to, all they saw was my henged form. Nothing to point back to Konoha."
"Well they are planning to attack regardless," Itachi pointed out wryly. "Reason or not."
Cat, turned civilian girl Mai, had her hands bound and eyes blindfolded the entire trip through the Village of the Hidden Stone. Her keen ears could hear the villager's whispers about her captivity, the speculations of what she had done to offend Iwa.
Well a number of things, including killing multiple Iwa nins during the Third Great Ninja War and aiding the infiltration of the Daimyo's castle, but they didn't need to know that. In fact, she preferred the speculation that she had stolen something valuable or had tried to become a missing nin.
All she needed to do was make sure no one disrupted her chakra flow and her henge would stay put. For the most part, Rin looked like herself, minus the purple markings on her face, but if they saw her Anbu uniform, that would raise a lot of questions. She needed to find a chance to shed it, so even if she was exposed, she wouldn't be anyone recognizable. But her captors were adamant in not letting her out of their sight, not even for a second.
When the blindfold was finally taken off, Rin found herself face to face with the Tsuchikage, who was surprisingly a short man. He made up for it though, by being able to float on air.
"This one claims to be a medic," her captor grunted, shoving her harshly. Her shinobi instincts almost kicked in, body automatically moving to prevent herself from landing on the floow, but Rin remembered who she was at the moment. So, she let herself fall, hissing as her knees slammed against the hardwood floor.
"Is that so?" Rin knew the Tsuchikage was addressing her.
Not daring to meet his eyes, emitting fear like a civilian would, Rin nodded in the affirmative. The Tsuchikage waved his left hand, motioning for her captor to do something. Moments later, Rin flinched as she felt the cool metal touch her face, followed by a familiar stinging pain. The move had startled her so much that Rin almost dropped her henge.
Blood trailed down her cheek to her jaw, before dripping onto the floor, drop by drop.
"You say you are a medic? Prove it," the Tsuchikage commanded. Her captors made no move to untie her.
"Without hands?"
The Tsuchikage scoffed. "The best medics can heal without their hands. If you are incapable of doing that, then you won't be able to heal my son."
His son? The one who was rumored to be the spearhead of the revolt against Konoha? Injured or sick?
Whatever it was, Rin needed to find out. The current state of his health would be crucial to their mission and if it meant showing a bit more of her skills than she had intended, Rin would. After all, she had planned to just be an average medic, but she needed access to the Tsuchikage's son.
Green chakra glowed on the right side of her face, knitting together the cut until all that was left was a faint trail of blood.
"Very well. In exchange for healing my son, I will spare you your life and overlook your trespassing. Bear in mind any wrong move and you will be instantly killed."
An idle threat, Rin concluded. If anyone could heal his son, then the Tsuchikage wouldn't be relying on the good will and an idle threat to keep a foreign medic in line. And to allow her such close access to him in such a vulnerable state...the Tsuchikage was desperate. Out of options.
For the first meeting, Rin would play nice. Once again, her captor blindfolded her, pushing her along, through many twists and turns until he shoved her into a room. Taking off the blindfold once more, Rin could see again.
For one, the Tsuchikage had decided to follow.
Secondly, the ill man in front of her looked to be in his mid-twenties, donning the traditional Iwa shinobi wear and forehead protector. Appearance wise, there was nothing wrong with the man, save for a paler than normal complexion, but that could always be chalked up to a simple illness as well.
He was good at hiding his labored breathing, but upon closer examination, Rin found his breathing pattern to be erratic. Breathing was supposed to be seamless, just like an another instinct, but Rin found him exerting too much energy and focus just to breath.
His chakra signature was weaker than when Rin last crossed paths with him, five years ago during the war. On the battlefield, his chakra signature had been like a powerhouse, towering over all of theirs, but now it was reduced to the reserves of a genin. At this rate, if his lungs didn't give out first, his chakra would dwindle into nothing.
"A foreign medic, dad?" the son groaned. "Can we even trust her?"
"Trust me, Kouichi."
Just from looking at his condition, Kouichi had maybe a month to live. Rin wasn't sure, but she suspected he had contracted a type of poison, that would slowly eat away at his organs. He must have inhaled it, if it started from the lungs.
"Well?" the Tsuchikage prompted. She resisted the urge to glare at him; it was an unspoken rule to never bother a thinking medic!
"I'll need access to my hands if you want a thorough examination," Rin responded wryly. "But from my preliminary examination, I noticed troubled breathing, so I believe that there is something attacking the air sacs in his lungs. Perhaps a disease, but I suspect it is poison. Either way, depending on how fast the disease or poison is spreading, I'd wager you have a little less than a month to live."
"You found all of that out just by looking at me?" Kouichi questioned warily. The Tsuchikage nodded at her captor, who went to work undoing the ropes around her hands. Rin made a big show of moving her arms around to get the circulation back into her hands.
"Of course. I'm no novice. I've been doing this for ten years." Considering Rin was posing as someone in her mid-twenties, it was believable. At the same time, it hadn't been a lie either, Rin really did start working on her medical ninjutsu since her academy days.
"Can you heal me?" Kouichi had that hopeful look in his eyes, like many of her patients did when Rin told them she had a cure to their disease.
But should she heal him? It would be much easier to let him die, then Konoha wouldn't have to worry about the attack and only Mother Nature could be blamed for his death. At the same time, Rin knew she could save him; there was enough time for her to figure out a cure.
But would she? What if she healed him, like a good Samaritan, but caused him to be well abled enough to carry out the attack on Konoha? Undoubtedly, they would be grateful towards civilian girl Mai from Kusa, not Rin Nohara of Konoha.
And if they found out she was from Konoha? Who was to say that they wouldn't execute her on site?
"We'll see," Rin responded cryptically. Her hands reached out to him, glowing green as she began to analyze the condition of his body. Just as expected, Rin had detected a foreign substance in his system. But rather than just eating away at the lungs, it had also eaten through some of his chakra networks.
"Poison," Rin informed him. "It's not only eating away your lungs, but your chakra network as well."
For the first time during the meeting, Kouichi showed genuine fear. "Can you fix it?"
Could she? Rin could, but that would reveal too much. Iwa would catch on that she knew too much about the chakra network to simply be a civilian with basic shinobi training. She had two choices: let Kouichi die or expose herself and strike a deal with the Tsuchikage in exchange for healing his son.
Turns out Rin didn't have to make that decision.
Her team did it for her as they showed up at the Tsuchikage's Tower, unconscious and bloodied, bound with chakra suppressing metal. The reaction was immediate, her original captor had drawn a kunai to her neck. Rin didn't flinch this time; instead, letting her henge fall, revealing herself in an Anbu uniform and a Cat mask.
She had no idea how her team had gotten so careless to be caught, but Rin supposed she didn't have much time left, if she was bargain for their lives. It was already good enough that Iwa hadn't killed them on sight.
"Who are you?" the Tsuchikage demanded. Rin carefully removed her Cat mask, revealing the Konoha symbol engraved on her forehead protector.
"Konoha rats," the Tsuchikage spat. "I should have expected that. Your comrades then, I suppose?" The Tsuchikage made a move to kick at Itachi's unconscious form. Rin didn't even flinch.
"If you are looking to provoke another war, we will be glad to reciprocate."
"I do believe that Iwa is planning to provoke a war with us, not the other way around," Rin responded calmly. "Your son should know all about it." At this, Rin jerked her head in Kouichi's direction, who had a guilty expression written all over his face. That was all the confirmation the Tsuchikage needed, but his father still demanded to hear it from his son's own lips.
"It's true," Kouichi admitted. "There's a faction of Iwa shinobi that is dissatisfied with the outcome of the war and I supposed that I believed in them. We have been plotting to launch an attack on Konoha for some time now…including hiring a team of S ranked missing nins to take out Konoha's strongest team." At that, Kouichi's eyes flickered to the three unconscious shinobi on the floor.
Rin instantly made the connection. The ambush, the one that nearly killed all three of them had been Kouichi's doing.
"And here I was debating my loyalty to Konoha if I were to heal you," Rin retorted angrily. "Only to find out that you were the one who almost killed three of my most precious people." Technically, Rin didn't know the Uchihas back then, but if they hadn't lived, then she would certainly never gotten to know them.
"Your shinobis had already taken the life of a precious comrade away from me, but I can put that behind me since the war is over and we have made peace," Rin continued, feeling her ire rising. "Yet this is how you repay us? The Sandaime was lenient in the terms of the contract. If the elders of Konoha had it their way, your village would be in ruins right now."
"And is it not your own Yondaime who took out thousands of my comrades?" Kouichi responded through gritted teeth.
"What happened in war stays there. And did you not admit to plotting against Konoha? In that case, our trespassing is justified as you were the first to break the peace treaty. You will let us go, peacefully."
"Who says I'll do that?" the Tsuchikage responded. "We may have broken the peace treaty first, but I will not let you or your comrades leave, alive with village secrets."
"You can watch your son slowly wither away then," Rin responded, equally cruel. "The poison is a slow acting one, destroying his chakra system inside and out before his lungs collapse on him. Will you be that cold-hearted to watch him suffer or will you kill him yourself?"
His response had been to toss the four of them into jail, citing that he would await the Hokage's response to what he will exchange for them. Rin simply told him he was wasting his time.
Rin bided her time in the cell until her comrades woke up. They did a couple hours later after Rin healed them, but refused to disclose the details of how they had gotten caught in the first place. It had been embarrassing, Shisui told her, but Rin thought she deserved to know, if they were going to die soon.
Still, Rin didn't press the situation any further. Hours turned into days as Kakashi and Shisui attempted to find an escape route. Itachi simply sat there, watching them with his dark eyes almost as if he knew it was futile to try.
Her thoughts were plagued with Kouichi's condition. Many times over, her mind mulled over the last conversation and came to the realization that she had been too harsh with her words. In the heat of the moment and fueled by the nightmares that haunted her from the war, Rin had said things that she hadn't meant. Not when she knew for certain that Iwa was suffering from losses of their loved ones as well. Her loss didn't trump theirs; no, it was equally important.
She knew that she was capable of saving Kouichi, all she needed was some time and the right resources but she doubted the Tsuchikage would let her go near his son again, not after she practically declared she wanted to see Kouichi dead. Guilt plagued her as the days passed, knowing that his condition was getting worse and worse.
Rin had lost track of the days. Her only source of time had been when the guards came by to deliver their meals, once a day. Itachi kept track of the days, using the edge of a sharp rock to carve another line into the concrete for each day that passed. She didn't want to look, didn't want to know how long they had been stuck in captivity.
Some days later, the guards pushed open the cell door in the middle of the night, waking all four of them up. Instinctively, they all reached for their weapons, only for their hands to grasp air. Without much of an explanation, the guard moved to grab Rin's hand, dragging her to her feet. Shisui reached, ready to fight them to stop it, but Kakashi and Itachi held him back. They wouldn't win, not with in their weakened state and unable to access their chakra.
Much to her surprise, Rin found herself being shoved into a hospital room, with orders to help the ailing man. Acting on instinct, Rin pushed aside the Iwa medics, running a hand coated with healing chakra to get a feel of his condition.
Cardiac arrest, from the lack of oxygen in his system, leading to the lack of blood flow to the heart.
Ordering the Iwa medics around her to get a list of supplies, Rin went to work to stabilize his condition. She had no other choice; she would have to brutally remove the poison from the system.
The medics came back with the requested items. Rin shouted at them to keep pumping his heart, to keep performing CPR. Like it was second nature, Rin began making the mixture needed to serve as the medium to forcibly extract the poison from the system. Barking at the Iwa medic to pay attention to what she was doing, Rin continued mixing until all of the salt had dissolved in the water.
Satisfied, Rin channelled chakra to her palm, using the chakra to stick the blob of water to her hands. Left hand forming a chakra scalpel, Rin made a small incision in Kouichi's chest before pushing the water through his chest. Kouichi's chest jerked from the impact, but the Iwa medics held him down. From the other side of his chest, Rin extracted the water, seeing the silvery toxin in the blob. Releasing the blob and letting it splash into an empty pan, Rin demanded the next pan.
She repeated the process again and again until she was sure only 5% of the toxin still remained. Not enough to be life threatening, but Kouichi would live until she worked out a cure for him.
The Iwa medics hadn't been completely useless, having successfully gotten Kouichi's heart starting again. Activating her strength of hundred seals, Rin forcibly pushed her chakra into Kouichi's system, not having the time to mold her chakra flow to match his to ease the discomfort. All that mattered was that her healing chakra was forcing his cells to work in overdrive, fixing the damaged tissue around his lungs.
Rin suspected that Kouichi's condition had gone on for too long for him to remain a shinobi, even if she could fix his chakra network. His lungs had suffered too much damage for him to ever intake the level of oxygen needed to maintain the level of exertion required for a shinobi.
Thoroughly satisfied that his body had healed to the best of its ability, the black marks on his body retreated back to Rin's own, before disappearing to her forehead, covered by her forehead protector. Hovering her hands over Kouichi's torso once more, Rin deemed him to be in a stable condition for now. After giving more orders to the Iwa nin, Rin turned to leave, ready to head to the labs to concoct a cure, when the Tsuchikage blocked her way.
Had he been there the whole time? She didn't even notice.
Rin opened her mouth to threaten the Tsuchikage to let her comrades go if he wanted the cure, but it turned out, the Tsuchikage had been prepared for her request.
"I have already ordered your comrades to be released, but my men tell me that they refuse to leave without you."
"Why the sudden change of heart? Didn't you want us dead?" Rin asked warily.
"Perhaps for the same reason that you had a change of heart to save my son. You didn't need any prompting, any explanation, you just dove in to save him, like you just didn't save the son of the Tsuchikage, one of your greatest enemies."
Rin opened her mouth to interject, but the Tsuchikage continued.
"For that, I thank you for saving Kouichi's life. Not many shinobis would have done what you did today, and for that, Iwa will forever be indebted to you forever. For as long as I am Kage, I will ensure that Iwa will not attack Konoha or harm Konoha shinobis, unprovoked. I have already moved to disband the rebellion and sent a word to your Kage, offering to open up the trading port for Konoha's use."
"Really?" Rin was still skeptical, even if his words and body language screamed genuine.
"You placed your trust in Kouichi. Perhaps, it is time I placed my trust in Konoha."
Onoki was said to be one of the most stubborn Kage, past or present, so imagine Minato's surprise - actually, the entire council's surprise - when they received an official letter from the Tsuchikage, detailing the terms of a trade contract. Thorough examination from the encryption team confirmed the authenticity of the seal.
A small part of Minato thought Team Ro might have something to do with this; it was too much of a coincidence that they were in the Land of Earth and late in corresponding with him. But how?
He got his answer when Team Ro returned to Konoha two weeks after he received the letter, safe and sound, hardly looking like they came back from a mission. And the four of them recounted the details of the mission.
But they wouldn't be the only ones to tell the story. Not long after, the Hidden Stone village was buzzing with the story of how a Konoha medic literally dragged Kouichi back from the brinks of death. The tale began to spread across the Land of Earth, merchants and travellers spreading the story beyond the borders.
It wouldn't be long before Rin Nohara's name would be known throughout the Five Great Nations, as a legendary medic.
The second coming of Tsunade.
The Angel of Life.
A/N: Hi again!
Just so everyone is clear, any time they are on Anbu missions, I will be referring to their identities as their masks. Hound = Kakashi. Crow = Itachi. Sparrow = Shisui. Rin = Cat. Now, I realize that Itachi was the Cat mask in canon, but I think it made more sense to me that they were referred to as their animal summons. Since Itachi and Shisui use the same summons, I had to pick another name for Shisui lol. As for Rin, well I wasn't going to call her "slug" lol. Besides, her being Cat will sort of make sense further down the line...hopefully.
This particular mission has been in my head for the longest time, so it was super exciting to finally be able to put it into words. Let me know what you thought of it because obviously I am not as creative as the writers to create villains after villains.
Aside from that, life update: I haven't been able to write because I am swamped with schoolwork, but I'm going to try my best to finish this story so I can post the chapters faster. To be honest, that's probably not going to be happening until spring break haha. But the good news is that I do have enough chapters written in advance to last until then, so be on the look out for weekly updates!
The next chapter will be called Familial Feelings. Warning: will contain minor fluff because the characters deserve a break. :)
Anyways, thank you guys so much for reading. You don't know how much it means to me. Until next time!
-MM