"This is everything that is left," Mikoto tells Kushina, tone somber, as she carefully hands her a single cardboard box.
It's sad how a whole life can fit inside one box; especially for a boy as bright and bigger than life as Obito had been.
"Thank you," Kushina whispers, holding the box tightly against her sternum.
Mikoto's reply is as graceful as the lady herself, "It is my duty as matriarch to the Uchiha clan. One I am honored to perform."
A moment of silence passes between the two kunoichi, each one thinking of Obito. There will truly be no other like him.
"You will find Obito's personal effects inside the box I gave you. All other items have been donated to the orphanage or low-income families per Minato-san's request."
Kushina's voice shakes when she thanks her the second time. Mikoto is quick to drop her regal composure and envelops the redhead in a tight embrace. Kushina drops her forehead onto Mikoto's shoulder with a shaky exhale, her fingers wrinkling the back of her expensive kimono as she returns the embrace.
"He was...he was a really good kid, Mikoto-chan, he really was." Another shuddery breath. "I mean, sure, he might not have been the sharpest kunai in the pouch but he was good and kind and—and now he's gone ."
"He was a sweet boy. I know." Mikoto says, running her hands comfortingly through the woman's red hair. She watches curiously as the strands begin to writhe like snakes. Kushina's grip tightens, fingers hooking like claws. Luckily all of Mikoto's clothing is made of reinforced, shinobi-grade silk.
Kushina's voice is low and dangerous, rumbling like thunder. "I'm going to make those rock bastards pay ."
"I know you will." Mikoto murmurs, twining the thrashing locks around her fingers. "And I will help you."
Kushina grins against her shoulder, blood-red eyes curling close in pleasure.
Yes, they'll make them pay.
The price?
Their pathetic lives, of course.
An eye for an eye or however that bullshit goes.
Kinoto spends time getting to know his targets. He watches them from afar, memorizing their day-to-routines and habits, trying to figure out the perfect window of opportunity.
In theory, the civilian should be the easiest. Her skills center more on medical-ninjutsu than anything offensive-based. He could eliminate her easily. Kinoto doubts she will put up much of a fight.
In theory, that is.
Reality is much more difficult seeing as her sensei is the Yellow Flash. Rumor has it that he's being considered as a candidate for Hokage. Kinoto is good but against an S-rank opponent, a true seal master? He'd be nothing more than a pebble in the man's sandal.
Unfortunately for him, the Nohara is almost always in some kind of proximity to her sensei. When she isn't, she is with the Hyuuga and the asset. He can take down all three, but not without alerting at least one patrol. Something he can't risk with how well-connected his targets are.
(There are random intervals where both targets go to pick up an orphaned Uchiha for treats and visits to the village park. On the surface, it looks like a good time to pick them off—the shortcuts they traverse are out of the way of any interlopers and his targets will be forced on the defensive with the child present—but Kinoto is wary.
The child, a mere genin, yes, but there's just...something off about him and those eyes of his that make his skin prickle. A reaction he thought was programmed out of him.
[maybe he really should turn himself in for reconditioning]
Kinoto freezes when the Uchiha looks right at him despite the tree foliage and the seal hiding him.
"Hm? What is it, Shi-chan? You see a pretty bird?" One of his targets asks when the child stops midway in their stroll through the park's forest.
"There are a lot of crows this season." The Hyuuga adds.
The boy shakes his head slowly. Kinoto exhales deeply when the child turns his eerie gaze away.
The child beams brightly at his targets.
"Nah," he shakes his head, "just a big ugly bug."
Kinoto twitches.
The Nohara's face scrunches in disgust, "Ew. I hate bugs."
"They're not all awful, Rin-chan."
"Well, this one is." The Uchiha says, glancing once more in his direction. Kinoto's eyes narrow. "C'mon," he tugs on their joined hands, "let's go."
"You don't have to tell me twice." His civilian target mutters and goes easily. The Hyuuga giggles but allows herself to be pulled along.
Kinoto watches them leave the forest, his eyes trained on the shorter one.
He will keep his distance for now.)
When the Nohara isn't with her team she is either in the hospital, a building brimming with witnesses not to mention all the veteran shinobi in various states of healing, or in the company of Lady Kushina, the nine-tailed beast's current host.
Kinoto knows he stands no chance against her. Any fight with her would be akin to an ant going against a god.
Ultimately, that leaves catching her where she's most likely to be alone, where one's defenses are at their lowest due to a false sense of security the village conjures.
(Kinoto knows better. He'd been taken while within these very same walls)
Home.
That is when he will find her at her most vulnerable.
Kinoto finds the target's address in the information packet his lord gave him and goes.
Infiltrating civilian compounds is easy.
…
…
...
Infiltrating civilian compounds covered in Uzumaki fuinjutsu and patrolled by the hounds of the Hatake clan is the opposite of easy, however.
Kinoto has to restrain himself from touching the chaotic yet neat sealing lines on the compound wall. This particular seal releases a—
Kinoto squints.
—paralytic (? he's not sure what exactly what it is) gas to intruders who are not keyed into the security system.
Kinoto takes a step back.
Impressive. While he has a wide immunity to most poisons this one is unknown to him. Considering where its creator hails from, Kinoto would guess it's a native poison from Uzushiogakure. Possibly derived from a venomous squid or some other oceanic creature. He'll have to send in a request to investigate the ruined island's native fauna. Danzo-sama is always on the lookout for viable specimens and he has no doubts the trip will prove fruitful.
A small Shiba-Inu rounds the corner and Kinoto is quick to leave lest the small animal alert its summoner. He could kill it but it's absence would just prove that the Hatake's vigilance is warranted.
Instead, Kinoto redirects his energy towards the Hyuuga.
Kinoto's specialty is in stealth and assassination, the two going hand-in-hand. As such he's confident that he can succeed...if she were any other Hyuuga.
As heiress, the target has substantially more eyes keeping an eye on her. The eyes of the byakugan, no less.
Her personal guard (in-training, he has yet to pass his clan's strict graduation requirements) is never far from his mistress, a silent companion. Kinoto has noted that while most, if not all, those on the clan council and those belonging to the main house dislike her, the clan's side branch is much more amiable. While in the compound she is never without a servant close by, the branch members preferring to serve his target more than the others.
Kinoto revises his plans.
It looks like he'll have to wait until both targets are out of the village, preferably without the Namikaze or Lady Kushina.
That would be the most efficient route. With both targets missing members of their squad and having a history of teaming up together, it will not be long until they are sent out by themselves with the asset as team captain. Namikaze is too valuable of a tool to be sheathed for so long and the jinchuuriki is the village's trump card and rarely leaves unless approved by the Hokage and the council.
With the chaos on the war front, it will not be out of place for two young chuunin to die.
All he has to do is wait and watch.
Easy.
Hinata is doing routine maintenance on her weapons when Kou knocks on her door.
"Come in," she calls, putting down her oiling cloth.
Kou slides open the door and bows politely in greeting.
"I am sorry to disturb you my lady but you have…" Kou's cheek twitches. "...a visitor."
"Who?" Hinata asks, curious.
Kou's eye twitches next.
"Maito-san."
Hinata holds in her laughter, not wanting to insult her most loyal protector. Gai can be a little...much for the likes of someone as reserved and as stoic as Kou.
"I understand. Thank you for informing me. Give me a moment."
Kou nods, "Very well. I will inform...your guest that you will be out momentarily." He leaves and Hinata neatly stores away her weapons. The two branch members guarding the gates to the compound bow deeply at her presence and open the gates. Hinata looks for Gai and finds him loudly conversing with a blank-faced Kou.
(Hinata knows Kou as well as he knows her and she can tell he is slowly losing his patience, the tick in his eye betraying his otherwise detached aurora.)
"...I have the utmost faith in your success, Kou-san!" Gai yells encouragingly, "You will make a fine bodyguard for Hinata-hime, I am sure of it!"
"Yes. Thank you." The other boy responds tightly.
Gai presses his fists under his chin and begins to tear up.
"You will be like the great branches of the tree that guards the bud of Hinata-hime's youth!"
"...yes...well said, Maito-san."
Kou spots Hinata approaching and she almost laughs at the relief that shines in his eyes. He turns to Gai and politely dismisses himself, retreating into the background.
"Good afternoon, Maito-kun," Hinata greets pleasantly.
Gai's entire being lights up and the sight makes Hinata break out into a smile.
"It is a GREAT afternoon! One made even better by being in your sublime presence, Hinata-hime!"
Hinata blushes and lowers her eyes bashfully.
"Ah, you f—flatter me, Maito-kun." She clears her throat. "What can I do for you today?"
"I want you to join me for a round of training!" Gai says. "I was just about to run my laps around the village when I remembered I have not seen you for some time. And what better time to renew our flames of friendship than when training?"
"How thoughtful," Hinata replies. "Thank you for thinking of me. I would be honored to join you.
Gai lets out a victory cheer before immediately darting off. Hinata coughs and waves away the cloud of dust. She takes a moment to smile fondly at Gai's fading figure before and doing a few quick stretches. Ready, she takes off after him, her greater speed allowing her to catch up with him easily.
(Kou doesn't bother joining them, choosing instead to observe the pair with his byakugan from one of the guard posts stationed on the village's wall.
Kotetsu and Izumo take one look at him then at the blue and green blur racing below before scooting over.
Kou sits down gracefully and politely declines the half-eaten granola bar Kotetsu offers him.)
Gai flashes Hinata a competitive grin and she nods back in acknowledgment. The two increase their speed, each one trying to stay ahead of the other. Hinata takes the lead by a large margin for the first sixty-two laps but eventually slows, thus allowing Gai to overtake her by their eighty-third lap.
Hinata frowns, staring at Gai's back. It looks like she'll have to work harder on her endurance.
Gai ends their impromptu training session after their one-hundredth lap for which they lightly jog the last half of it allowing Gai to fall back in step with Hinata.
Hinata is a panting, sweating mess, her hair sporting all manner of leaves and twigs, and her clothes rumpled and dirty. The elders would have a fit if they saw her like this.
Luckily, there is no one around to bear witness to her disheveled self save for Gai who neither notices nor cares. He hands her a bottle of water and Hinata empties it. She refills it with a simple water jutsu.
This is how Hinata finds herself, body sore but spirits high, with her back against a tree, admiring the soft clouds floating above their village with Gai at her side.
"Everything is so...peaceful," Hinata says into the silence. "You wouldn't think there is a war going on."
( The earth and the gods that rule it care not for the petty squabbles of man, Kinoto thinks, reapplying the concealer seal with a smooth stroke of his ink-brush.)
Gai hums thoughtfully, "Right you are, hime, right you are."
They go back to admiring the evening sky. Silence settles atop them like a winter blanket, thick and warm despite the chill, cruel world they live in.
"Thank you," Gai says ever so quietly. "Thank you for being his friend."
Hinata reaches out and squeezes his forearm.
"Thank you for being his friend."
Gai sniffs, tears pooling in his eyes.
Hinata sighs fondly and moves her hand up to pat the top of his head.
Soft, she thinks.
"I hope I can continue to count on you in the future as a fellow comrade."
Gai genuinely bursts into tears and springs to his feet.
"YOSH!" Hinata squeaks and falls on her back. "It will be this green beast's honor to join you on such a noble mission!"
He looks down at her, his grin somehow brighter than the sun in the backdrop.
"Rest assured, hime, if you should find yourself wilting—even if only for a moment—you can always count on me to support you!"
"Ah, thank you, Maito-kun, likewise. Let us work hard together."
Gai cheers and excitedly pulls Hinata to her feet. She stumbles at the abrupt action. Hinata tries to right herself but her legs are too sore and weak to hold her weight so she ends up crashing against Gai's chest. She blushes when she feels his elbow hook around her waist, holding her up.
"Yosh! Let us celebrate by running two hundred laps around Konoha."
Hinata's legs collapse from under. Her face burns when Gai hugs her to him, supporting all her weight now.
"Ano, I'm so sorry, but I don't think I can run anymore."
Undeterred, Gai responds, "Then I'll just have to carry you!"
"T—that really isn't necessary, Ma— eep!"
Gai hoists Hinata up into his arms bridal style.
"Hm," he lightly jostles Hinata up and down, testing the new weight, unaware of the girl's rapidly redding face when the action causes her breasts to bounce.
("Uh, Kou-san? You okay?"
"Yeah, you're looking a little flushed there, kid—wait, w—what's this killing intent!?")
"Like this...I will be getting TWICE the training! Yosh!"
With that, he takes off running. Hinata yelps and throws her arms around his neck, head spinning.
"GAI!" Kou yells furiously behind them. "YOU PERVERT! RELEASE HINATA-SAMA THIS INSTANT!"
Gai laughs in delight, "It seems Kou-san has decided to join us! Excellent! Let us fan the flames of our youth together!" He speeds up his pace. Hinata takes note of how her chest is rubbing against Gai's and makes a high-pitched garbled noise before she goes limp in a dead-faint.
"HINATA-SAMA!"
(Kinoto follows the three, his admiration for his target's networking skills growing. Not only does she have the asset, Uzumaki-sama, and the Yellow Flash ensnared in her web but she now possesses the son of the man rumored to be able to open all eight chakra gates?
Kinoto looks over her deceptively weak appearance as she flops bonelessly in the young chuunin's arms.
Now he understands why his master wants her gone. She isn't just a hindrance. She is a threat.
As such she cannot be allowed to continue.
A pity. Kinoto would have liked to see what kind of monster she grew up to be.)
Rin fidgets in place, her sweat slowly seeping into the cardboard box in her hands. She's never been inside a boy's room much less Kakashi's. Yet here she is. Inside Kakashi's room. Just her and him.
Together. Just the two of them.
Alone.
Rin drops the empty box and slaps her hands to her cheeks.
She's so excited! And nervous but mostly excited!
"...Rin? You okay over there?" she hears her teammate call from the kitchen.
"Y—yeah! All good over here!" she replies. Rin hears him grunt in acknowledgment before the metallic sounds of pot and pans being packed refill the quiet apartment.
Kakashi had mentioned his plans to move from the chuunin housing block over to the jounin apartments and like the good teammate she is, Rin had jumped at the opportunity, offering to help out with the move. Kakashi had looked at her for a long moment before slowly agreeing.
And now here she is.
Rin looks around curiously. The bedroom has been mostly cleared, but even so she can tell her teammate usually keeps it clean and tidy. There's not a speck of dust anywhere. The only flaws she can spot are the small scratch marks on the floor and the messy mountain of blankets and dirty clothing piled high on Kakashi's bed.
Rin shrugs.
Meh. No one is perfect.
Rin picks up the box and, with a deep breath, makes her way over to Kakashi's bookshelf. She starts pulling books and scrolls off the top shelf before making her way down, packing them neatly so their spines don't crumple and the pages don't bend.
Rin is on her knees, working on the last shelf, when spots a small row of five pastel-colored books, their handheld size setting them apart from the larger educational tomes and scrolls.
Curious, she pulls them out.
Immediately, she clamps her hands over her mouth, her face going red and eyes bulging out as she struggles not to laugh.
Pfft, oh my god, Kakashi actually reads this kind of stuff, Rin breathes in sharply, I never would have guessed.
(And she knows they're his, each of the worn, well-loved copies bearing his henohenomoheji on the inside of their covers.)
Kakashi, her straight-laced, stoic, I'm-so-cool-I-shit-ice teammate owns not one but five of the cheesiest romance novels she's ever seen in her whole life.
Rin inspects the first book, its title reading Love at First Stab, and snorts out loud. She shifts through the rest, their ridiculous titles popping out at her.
Prisoner of Love
Kunoichi in Scarlet
The Kiss of a Stranger
Dogs and Goddesses: Puppy Love
The last one threatens to undo her because it's so Kakashi?
Rin takes a moment to compose herself before packing them inside the last box. She picks it up and with a quick application of chakra, drops it inside a sealing scroll.
Rin dusts her hands and rests them on her hips, turning to face the monstrosity that is Kakashi's bed.
"Alright, let's do this," she mutters and starts dismantling the mess.
It's as Rin is sifting through everything that it dawns on her that this isn't just a random pile of dirty clothes and blankets. It's actually some kind of...nest? Like a bird's but instead of being made out of dried grass, twigs, and moss it's instead shaped by all sorts of fuzzy blankets, small throw pillows, and worn-out clothing.
Rin pulls out a green apron, the Uzumaki clan symbol stitched onto the corner.
More specifically their clothing.
(What!? She's been looking for these shorts everywhere !)
She digs through the pile earnest recognizing various articles of clothing belonging to Sensei, Kushina, Hinata (hers make up a good chunk of the pile), her and—
Rin holds up a familiar navy-blue jacket.
A bittersweet warmth blooms in her chest at the sight.
She carefully folds it and places it inside the box. Rin has barely set it down when Kakashi walks in with an armful of sealing scrolls.
He stops when he doesn't immediately see her. He tilts his chin up and sniffs audibly. He turns to her and stares at her, Rin peering back at him from inside the nest, her body obscured from the waist down by its plush walls, her missing shorts clenched in her hand.
There's a beat of silence before Kakashi blurts:
"I can explain."
And she can't hold it in anymore.
Rin falls back out of view, her laughter filling the room.
Hinata activates her doujutsu. Satisfied that no one is around and that she was not followed, she deactivates it and strips down.
She sets her folded clothes on a nearby boulder and stretches, relishing in the feeling of the cool air on her skin. Nights like these are her favorite for two reasons.
First and most importantly, there is no one around to judge her and she is free to go at her own pace. She has all the privacy she can ask for which is a blessing.
The second reason is...harder to explain. The best way she can put it is that here, at night, with the moon and stars her faithful and only companions she feels powerful. Like she can do anything. Hinata never feels like that during the day.
She takes a deep breath and begins slowly swinging her arms around in arcs, making a grid pattern. Hinata has been working on her flexibility and speed with Gai and it's paid off. All she needs to do now is add the thin blades of chakra.
I need to make it sharp. Sharp enough to cut through bone and steel. Sharp enough so my enemies can't get back up. Sharp enough so I don't ever have to lose anyoneever again.
(If she was a better Hyuuga, able to perform kaiten, maybe she would have never lost them in the first place)
This is all I can do, Hinata thinks, It will have to be enough. Hinata goes faster with each pass, spinning and twisting atop the water's surface. She closes her eyes and imagines herself soaking in the moon's rays, letting it power her.
It will be enough.
Kinto watches entranced as his target dances with an imaginary foe.
"Kai," he whispers to himself, but the image before him does not change.
She is glowing.
Literally and figuratively, a light sheen enveloping her and spreading outward gently. She is ethereal; untouchable. Kinoto doesn't know if he's ever seen anything more enchanting.
It occurs to him that he can complete his mission right now. Kinoto palms a kunai. It would be so easy.
Kinoto takes a step forward just as Hinata opens her eyes.
The kunai drops to the floor and he isn't far along behind, his knees hitting the ground hard. There are stars falling and crashing inside of him, tearing and smashing and burning through everything he thought he knew. There are fractures in the sky above and the ground beneath him, and the light pours in and it stings and it hurts. But for the first time in years or maybe ever, he can see .
He sees a goddess made of flesh and bone. A true deity.
Kinoto slowly touches his eyes and looks at his wet fingers in disbelief. He swipes his fallen weapon and flees.
"Seeing as I won't be joining you and this mission requires a...full squad—"
Rin tries not to wince at her sensei's words, at the blatant reminder of Obito's absence.
"—Hinata-chan will be temporarily rejoining our team again." Sensei finishes informing them. Hinata slowly walks out from behind him and bows quickly at them, visibly nervous, and probably believing herself to be some kind of interloper, taking Obito's place
Rin rolls her eyes.
Seriously. What's with her and Kakashi always taking the blame? Always so ready...
Rin moves to reassure Hinata of her place on their team but Kakashi beats her to it.
He sidles up next to her and casually asks, "Bronchitis?"
"N—no. It's the, um, flu this time.
Kakashi shrugs, "That was my next guess."
Rin watches curiously as Kakashi scratches his masked cheek.
"Bull really likes the pockets you added."
Rin feels her heart warm when Hinata finally relaxes, a pleased smile on her pink lips.
"I'm happy."
And Rin is too, seeing her two precious people bonding.
She steps up beside Hinata and locks their arms together, and leans forward and to the side so they're face-to-face.
"We're a team now so let's do our best, okay?"
"H—hai!"
"Hai." Rin's eyes widen when Kakashi clasps her shoulder. She stares at him in shock as he nods back at her. "A team."
Heat blooms in her cheeks as Minato comes up behind them, ruffling their hair.
"Hai," Rin whispers, "a team."
Yeah, her team is a little broken, each of them grieving Obito in their own way, but they're hers and she'll guard them just as fiercely as her best friend did in life.
("Rin!" Hinata screams over the sound of a thousand birds chirping.)
And if the cost of keeping them all safe is the same as Obito's?
(Rin looks down at Kakashi's pale face, his horror increasing when her body twitches as the residual lightning makes its way out of her body.)
Then so be it.
It is a price she will gladly pay.
("...K—ka...kashi…")
Rin will not let Obito's sacrifice be in vain.
Kakashi will live to see this war finished.
(It's up to you now, Hinata, is her last thought before she falls back into oblivion. )
"Father!? Nii-sama!? Help!" A young boy's voice wails. "Please, I—I don't want to die!"
Author Notes: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)