Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Rin felt her heart shatter into who knows how many pieces. Ten? Maybe fifty? Did it matter though? She held the piece of paper in front of her face, glaring at the large letter D in front of it. What was she doing wrong? Was she that dumb? She had As and Bs elsewhere, no Cs. But this course has been her nightmare since day one. The day she found out that her crazy ex-boyfriend of three months (yes, it was that bad) was the teaching assistant of the class: Ebisu…

"Ms. Rin," said Professor Lang, giving her the creepy smile she hated, "You're off at a rough start this semester,"

She kept quiet, although mentally she thought about crumbling the paper and throwing it at his balding head.

"Why don't you come to my office for some…personal tutoring," he said, and Rin shot him a glare, "Maybe it'll help raise your grades,"

"I'll just get a tutor," she immediately said, turning around while mentally cursing at the sixty-year-old man.

She bumped into the person who was probably her number one enemy - her ex-boyfriend. Ebisu. They had dated for a few months during freshman year, and the experience had been so bad that it caused her to avoid dating. He flashed her a smirk.

"You know, there aren't any Statistics tutors in this university," he told her with a cocky attitude.

She felt like slapping that smile off his face - it made her hate him even more. But instead of letting his teases mess with her brain, she quickly walked past him. She had hoped to never see him ever again. But of course, the universe was cruel to her and made him her TA. She could imagine his smile while watching Professor Lang draw that D on her quiz. Bastard…

XxXxX

Despite her challenges with that course, everything else was as normal as it could be for a twenty-one-year-old college student. She resided in a four-bedroom two-bathroom apartment with three other students, who happened to be her best friends: Anko, Kurenai, and Shizune. She and Kurenai had been friends since they were teenagers in high school. She met Shizune freshman year, and Anko her second year. And since then, the four of them had been inseparable.

Sighing, Rin laid down on her bed and began to text them on their group chat.

Rin: I hate this class….
Kurenai: Another failed quiz?
Rin: Yeah…
Shizune: Have you looked into a tutor? We still have a few months left in the semester. Maybe you can bring it to a B….C+ maybe?
Rin: I don't want a C… I can't have a C! I need a B, but my professor is a creep and my TA is my freaking ex. I think I'm cursed. Also, I checked the library. They have no tutors in statistics.
Shizune: You can always drop the class and take it over the summer with an easier professor?
Rin: But that could delay my graduation…and job… I'm getting so stressed out thinking about this…
Anko: Girl, what you need is to let yourself loose a bit! Maybe you're overthinking things?
Rin: Anko, I don't have time for parties. If I fail this class, my GPA drops A LOT.
Anko: You know, sometimes all we need is some time to clear our minds. And all I've seen you do is study study study…and fail your quizzes. Maybe you need to destress yourself for one night, and then try again with a fresher mind?

Shizune: I can't believe I'm going to say this, but I think Anko is right.

Rin sighed. It was Friday evening, anyway. And no amount of YouTube lectures on statistics was going to help her right away. And personally, she didn't have the motivation to continue watching these online lectures.

Rin: Fine… What do you have in mind, Anko?
Anko: Do you remember Kakashi?
Rin: How could I not forget about him? You two were fuck buddies…
Anko: Well, he has this friend who lives off-campus. Anyway, his friend's roommates are having a party in a few hours and you should totally come! They are a really fun group to be around with and maybe…maybe…you'll find someone you like?

Someone she likes. Ever since her terrible relationship with Ebisu, Rin swore off dating. Ebisu had no sense of boundaries and respect. And the one time she allowed him to do a bit more than just kissing, she ended up running out in fright. And since then, she had become afraid of meeting another Ebisu.

Rin: I'll go, but not to meet any guy. No romance until I'm done with college!

XxXxX

Few hours later…

Rin sat awkwardly on a couch surrounded by mostly men, which by default made her feel more awkward. Nonetheless, they were generally friendly…

There was Deidara, who was a sophomore studying architecture. Sasori, studying the same thing as well. While the former teased the latter, Rin could tell that they were close friends. There was Itachi, a quiet man studying medicine. Kisame, who was here on a college football scholarship and had still yet to finalize the major he wanted. There was Hidan, whose smile crept Rin out a bit. There was Yahiko and his girlfriend Konan. They were both in their fourth year as well: Yahiko majoring in industrial engineering and Konan in electrical. They sat next to each other the entire time, and their relationship made Rin think that maybe not all college men were horny creeps. Yahiko would hold her hand and occasionally kiss her cheek. They looked like the perfect couple, and Rin wondered if she would ever find her prince charming.

Anko had ditched her about half an hour ago, going somewhere with Kakashi, leaving Rin alone with this group of people she barely knew. Hidan would occasionally look at her and smirk, reminding her of Ebisu. She needed to call Anko and see where she was.

"Excuse me, I'm going to use the bathroom for a bit," she said, getting up.

"Want me to show you where it is?" Hidan asked with a wink, and Rin immediately shook her head.

"No, I'm sure I can find it,"

"Third door on the left," Konan told her, and Rin thanked her before walking away. But not before hearing Konan tell Hidan to stop being a creep. She already liked Konan a lot.

Rin found the bathroom and quickly called Anko, but her friend didn't pick up. Frustrated, she sent Anko two texts and then exited the bathroom. She wanted to leave, but it was getting late, and didn't want to take the campus bus alone. It was Friday night, which meant more drunk creeps around than usual.

Sitting on the staircase, she sighed and randomly opened the YouTube app. The Statistics 101 video resumed from where she had last resumed, the man going over the basic concepts of statistics. Feeling bored, Rin continued watching the video without actually retaining any information. Maybe that's why she was failing so miserably? She couldn't find herself actually caring about this subject. It felt meaningless to her business degree. Didn't companies hire business analysts or data engineers to do all of this deep analysis and math?

"Studying on a Friday night?"

Startled, Rin turned around to find an unfamiliar dark-haired man standing behind her. He was tall, wearing a black t-shirt with dark blue jeans.

"Oh! Um, not really," Rin said, standing up and mentally measuring his height. He had to be about six feet tall, "Just…going over some basics for my next quiz,"

"Do you need any help?" he asked, surprising her.

"Um..possibly? Statistics isn't really my best subject… and there are no tutors available who can help me," Rin purposely avoided mentioning that her ex was the TA.

The male nodded once, "It can be difficult if not learned right. Where exactly are you struggling?"

"Everything," Rin answered shamefully, "I'm excellent in my other courses. But for some reason, my brain can't grasp Statistics. I try but…maybe it's one of those things I'll never be good at,"

The male shook his head, "Statistics isn't that bad. How about I lend you one of my old books?"

"You took the course before?"

"Yeah, freshman year. I had to for my computer science curriculum,"

"Oh, you're a CS major? Nice. By the way, my name is Rin," she said, extending her hand out.

He extended his hand as well, grabbing her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze. "I'm Obito. You must be Anko's friend then,"

"Yes! You know Anko?"

"A little, mostly through Kakashi,"

"Yeah, I haven't been able to contact her for the last hour. I know she went somewhere with Kakashi, but I haven't heard from her since,"

"They went bar hopping," Obito said casually, "They usually do. And they're usually back at three in the morning,"

Rin's eyes widened, "Three in the morning? I can't stay here this late… She and I live across campus, and I don't feel comfortable taking the bus this late,"

"I understand," he said with a smile, and Rin couldn't help but notice how adorable his smile was. She reminded herself of her own promise. No boys until after college. "I can always drop you off,"

"Oh, no you don't have to. You already offered to help me with statistics. I can call a taxi, or-"

"It's no trouble," Obito said, "Let me grab that book and my keys,"

"Thanks," Rin said, watching him go back upstairs.

He came back down a minute later, wearing a blue sweater and black sneakers. He gave her the textbook, and she quickly flipped through the pages. They walked past the living room, and Rin briefly said goodbye to Konan and a few others. She and Konan exchanged numbers, promising each other to keep in touch.

Rin followed Obito to the side of the four-bedroom house and towards a black SUV. She got on the passenger seat and provided him with her dorm's address, watching as he entered the address on the large screen of the vehicle. Considering how new the car looked, she figured two things: either he and his family were super-rich…or he maxed out some loan and put himself into debt for this vehicle.

Obito drove off, and for the first five minutes, there was an awkward silence; which Rin hated. So she started with an innocent question, hoping that maybe it would proceed to something else.

"So, all of you live in that house?"

He shook his head while keeping his eyes on the road, "Not all of us. Hidan, Kisame, myself, and Yahiko live there. Yahiko and Konan are dating, so she stays there half the week,"

"Oh, I thought Kakashi lived there,"

"He lives a few houses away from us. So if he and Anko aren't at the bars, they're probably there,"

"I see," she said, still annoyed at the fact that Anko had ditched her like that, "Are you also a senior?"

"Yup. And you?"

"Same. This is why I'm trying my best to turn my D to a B. I don't want to stay back a semester just because of one class,"

"Who's your professor?"

"Professor Lang. Short, bald…" she was going to say creepy but decided not to.

"Ah, Lang. I've heard of him. Notorious for failing sixty percent of his class. You know there's a website called Rate My Professor? His score is less than one percent,"

Rin giggled at that, "Well, that's not hard to believe. You should have seen his expression when he gave me back my quiz. It's like he enjoys torturing students. And the fact that I suck at statistics must make him happier,"

Obito chuckled, "He may be strict, but the subject isn't that bad. I know you said that there are no tutors available. If you don't mind, I can tutor you,"

His offer surprised her, "Are you sure you can do that? I mean, you're also a senior and must be busy with your stuff. I'm worried that I'll take up too much of your time,"

"Don't worry about that. I have most of my credits completed, and I'm only taking two classes because of my internship,"

Which meant he was very smart. Rin sighed, for some reason, Obito's voice and the offer were making her feel…happy. A feeling that Ebisu failed to do. But she didn't want this from Obito; she just met him and didn't want to enter any relationship right away. What if it ended badly?

"It's up to you," Obito said, rubbing the back of his head, "I hope I'm not making you uncomfortable,"

"You're not," she reassured him, "It's just that…I'm really terrible at statistics. I don't want to waste your time, and…"

"Don't worry about that. If I don't have time, I will let you know. But right now, my semester is pretty relaxed so I can make the time,"

She placed a strand of her hair behind her ear before giving in, "OK…maybe we can do…once a week for an hour? What day works best for you,"

"Thursday evenings," he replied, pulling up to the building complex and parking his car.

"That works for me too," Rin said, undoing her seatbelt and getting out of the car. She was ready to thank him for the book and that she could stop by his house next Thursday, but paused upon noticing the look he was giving her. And before her brain could even triage her next words, her mouth opened and one of the most un-Rin things came out of her mouth, "Want to go upstairs for some water?"

Obito's eyebrows raised, and Rin swore he looked happy at the offer.

"Sure," he replied, turning off the engine and exiting the vehicle as well.

He locked the car and followed her inside the building, and Rin suddenly realized that her offer could've been interpreted as her inviting him over for sex. Shit…

The elevator took them to the ninth floor, and they walked side by side to the apartment she shared with her friends. The place was empty: Shizune had gone home for the weekend, and Kurenai was staying over at Asuma's place. And with Anko somewhere out there with Kakashi, that meant that Rin had the apartment to herself… with Obito of course. Her new statistics tutor.

"Make yourself comfortable," she said while heading to the kitchen and grabbing him a glass of water.

Coming back out, she noticed how he was sitting on the sofa with her failed quiz in hand. She had forgotten about literally throwing the piece of paper on the coffee table before lying on her bed to sulk. And now Obito was looking at it. Great; now he's going to see how dumb she was.

"Here you go," she said, giving him the glass, "And yeah, that's the latest quiz I did terrible in,"

"You remembered the formulas correctly, but got the concept wrong. Once you understand the concepts, the formulas will make even more sense,"

She sat next to him while looking at the piece of paper. "So for the first problem, I thought I had it correct…"

"You mixed two things: population and sample. Think of the population like the population of Konoha. Konoha has over a million residents. A sample is a subset of that population,"

"...Like college students within Konoha, right?" she asked, and Obio nodded. Rin smiled widely, finally feeling like she was beginning to understand something, even if there was still more to go. "What about covariance and correlation? That's covered in problem number three,"

"Covariance measures how much two random variables vary together. And correlation means association. It's the measure of how two variables are related. So think of covariance like co-variation…or co-vary. Like how two college students within Konoha university vary. They are colleagues, or maybe co-workers. But there's some variation. Similarly, correlation is-"

"How they can relate to each other," Rin finished, and Obito nodded.

"Yup, so for problem three, it is asking if there is a positive or negative relationship between the temperature and the number of customers entering a particular store,"

Everything suddenly started making more sense for Rin. "I see. So if I plug in the numbers and the answer is positive, then there is a positive correlation. So the higher the outside temperature, the more customers the ice cream shop will have. Because who doesn't like to eat ice cream on a hot sunny day?"

Obito nodded at her with a smile, "See how easy that was when explained right?"

"Yes! Oh god, now I feel even dumber for not understanding this and failing. Obito, you just made my day sooooo much better,"

"I'm glad I did," he replied, his eyes not leaving her face.

Rin could feel her face becoming warmer, and she stared at her miserable quiz for a while. "Are you OK with going over the rest of the problems with me? I know it's late, so if you have somewhere to go that's totally fine!"

"I can stay longer, don't worry about me," Obito said, "The next problem is on normal distribution…"

The two continued for another hour, with Rin re-doing her quiz on a separate sheet of paper and showing it to Obito for verification. Finally grasping the subject, she resisted the urge to hug him tightly. She didn't want to come off as creepy and weird (it was bad enough he had already spent two hours teaching her something that her professor failed to teach her for the last month). But despite spending his Friday evening teaching her, Obito didn't seem bothered by any of it. He would smile at her, which wasn't helping with the "no dating until after college" pledge.

The front door to her apartment was unlocked from behind, and both of them watched curiously as Kakashi carried a very drunk Anko inside. The silver-haired man's eyes widened upon finding Obito and Rin sitting closely side by side.

"Obito? What are you doing here? I didn't know you knew Rin,"

"R-Rin is h-here," asked Anko, lifting her head up and smiling ear to ear upon finding her friend with a male. "Oh my god, Rin you found someone! See, what did I tell you?"

The brunette sighed, "Anko, this is Obito. He dropped me off from the place you ditched me at, and he's been helping me with statistics,"

Anko giggled while still being carried by Kakashi, "Sorry, I didn't mean to leave you like that. But I'm glad you met Obito. Obito, it's been a while since I've seen you!"

"Same here. Partying as always?"

Anko giggled before going to sleep in Kakashi's arms.

"I'm going to put her to bed. Obito, give me a ride back,"

"Hurry up then, Bakashi,"

Rin giggled at the nickname. "Bakashi?"

"It's what I've called him since we were young,"

"So, you've known each other for years?"

"Yup. What can I say? He follows me everywhere,"

Kakashi came back from Anko's room, "She's in bed now," he suddenly felt like a third wheel and cleared his throat, "I'll wait for you outside. See ya' later, Rin,"

Once Kakashi exited the apartment, Rin and Obito faced each other.

"Thanks for…everything," she said shyly.

"Not a problem at all. I'm glad that you're finally getting the hang of it. I can give you my number…so we can keep in touch…and for Thursday, of course"

"Yeah, definitely! Here, type your number in and I'll text you," she said, giving him her cellphone.

He entered his number, and she sent him a text with her full name.

"Got it," he answered before taking his car keys out, "I…guess I'll get going now,"

"Thank you for everything, Obito. I don't know how to repay you,"

"It's nothing. I'll see you next week?"

"Yeah, see you then! Have a safe drive,"

"Thanks," he said, smiling while leaving her apartment.

Rin closed the door, feeling an immense amount of butterflies in her stomach. But instead of reminding herself of the pledge she created, she smiled ear to ear while grabbing the book and heading to her bedroom. Sitting on her bed, she opened the book and immediately noticed his name written on the inside.

Obito Uchiha.

So he was an Uchiha. Which explained the expensive car. The Uchihas were a wealthy family in the state of Konoha. She went through several of the pages before lying down with a big smile on her face.

Author's Note: So this was my original idea before writing Meant To Be. Let me know what you think so far!