Painted nails, lean muscles, gorgeous bodies, long hair…
Rin could see why the majority of the men were head over heels with these women. In addition, she could tell this wasn't the first or second time the two groups met.
Apparently, their ship had been severely damaged while protecting themselves from an enemy attack. And while they had managed to defeat their enemies, it came at a cost. Two of their four engines became damaged.
Hidan, Deidara, and Kisame went over to their ship with some of the female warriors with repair tools. And for other personal reasons, of course.
In the meantime, three of the women stayed on Obito's ship; two of them with Kakuzu and the women's captain, Aiko, with Obito.
"We need to talk," Aiko had said shortly to Obito, "Privately,"
Obito hadn't responded right away, and even managed to look at her. Rin wasn't sure why he was even bothering looking at her - her facial expression already showed the hurt she was starting to feel minute by minute. In return, he seemed...concerned? His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and he looked confused.
"About what?" he had asked, surprising Aiko.
"You've never questioned me before…. This is definitely new. And it's confidential. I promise, it won't take long,"
Obito glanced at Rin again, who refused to look at him.
"Fine," Obito said with a sigh, and the two departed.
Rin glanced at them briefly from the corner of her eyes, leaving the area eventually and storming into her room.
XxXxX
"So that's the woman you're in love with," Aiko said casually, leaning against the wall as Obito stood several feet away from her.
He ignored her statement, "What do you want to talk about?"
"I came here to warn you,"
"About?"
"Kaguya Ōtsutsuki has been spotted,"
Obito's eyes narrowed. "Isn't she dead?"
Aiko shook her head with a laugh, "We wish… But no. She's not. There's been rumors for the last two days that her presence has been detected,"
"That can't be," Obito said, shaking his head, "Madara told me everything about her. She was killed many years ago."
"Well, maybe we were lied to," Aiko said with a shrug before walking closer to him, "The way she died was mysterious, afterall. All of the crew members die while defeating her except for one man? And no one really knows who this man is? Hm, something doesn't add up,"
"If she's alive, then I'm sure there'll be multiple bounty hunters going after her. I still don't know why you chose to tell me this in private,"
She giggled before placing her hand on his chest. Her eyebrows lifted when he stiffened a bit, and took a step back.
"...Ah, I see your attribute towards me has changed… And that female out there is the reason-"
"You didn't answer my question,"
"Answer mine first,"
"I don't have to,"
"I'm telling you because...I love you, Obito… I was hoping you would've joined me and my crew in capturing Kaguya. We would make a lot of money...and then...be together,"
"...You know I don't feel the same way-"
"Our past says otherwise-"
"We both agreed that it wouldn't mean anything,"
Aiko's eyes narrowed, "So the girl you love is finally on your ship. Are you two together?" When he didn't respond, she laughed. "What a shame… She doesn't know what she's missing… To be loved by the one and only Obito Uchiha,"
Obito's mobile device vibrated, and he pressed on a button. "What is it, Deidara?"
"We're done fixing the engines! We're going to head back,"
"Alright," Obito then faced Aiko, "Your ship will be ready soon. You should be able to resume your journey,"
"Kicking me out already? I think my crew and I owe you and your team a thank you. How about...one more night? Just you and me-"
"No," Obito replied strictly before turning around and leaving, "And that will be my final answer,"
She had called Shizune several times, but her sister had not picked up. Therefore, in order to distract herself and kill some time, she walked back to Sasori's laboratory in order to finish her examination of the flowers she collected.
She typed her results in an online public journal she had created, hoping that it would inspire others out there to also become explorers. Several scientists from her home planet left comments, thanking her for sharing her knowledge. These small interactions helped her not put too much thought on whatever past relationship Obito and Aiko had, even though it hurt her tremendously.
"Rin?" Zetsu knocked on the door, and she turned to him and smiled.
"Hey,"
"Are you coming out? Dinner is ready…"
"Deidara cooked again?"
"Yes, but with the help of Aiko's team. They'll be joining us tonight,"
Rin tried her best to keep smiling even though her heart ached again, "I see… I'm actually not that hungry. All of you can go ahead… I'll eat later,"
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I am. Thanks, Zetsu,"
XxXxX
"She won't be joining us,"
Hidan shook his head at the white robot, "What is she doing that's more important than eating with us?"
"Her research?" Zetsu responded innocently.
"Hm, such a shame that she won't be able to join us," Aiko said, taking a sip of her wine, "I wanted to meet her and tell her all about my experiences...from woman to woman…"
Obito narrowed his eyes at her, knowing what she was upto.
"We'll save her a plate for later," Deidara commented casually, "Alright, let's all dig in!"
Homura looked from his daughter to Kabuto, the latter who was smiling from ear to ear. Shizune had a terrible feeling with Kabuto's sudden visit to her parent's home. The first couple of words coming out of his mouth were about Rin, which made her worry even more. To this day, even her father didn't know everything about how Rin was able to join a space team and leave; and all within less than twelve hours.
"I'm aware of Rin's disappearance," Kabuto said, giving them a smirk, "Wait… not disappearance! Her running away from home…. I'm rather disappointed with her actions and the lack of communication coming from you, Homura,"
The older man cleared his throat, "Rin has made her own decision on what she wanted to do-"
"We had a deal,"
"I know… But Rin is no longer a young girl, Kabuto. You must understand that. She is a young woman now, and wanted to-"
"All I understand is that our contract was breached the moment Rin left the atmosphere of this planet,"
"I-I will look for her-"
"No… I will look for her," the man then turned to Shizune, "And you're going to help me. Oh, don't give me that look, Shizune. I know you helped her escape,"
Much to his crew's disappointment, Aiko and her team had left right after dinner. Aiko had tried, for one last time, to change Obito's mind; about capturing Kaguya as a joint team...and spending time together making love. But the male Uchiha made it clear that his mind was on someone else.
"Hm, good luck getting into her pants," the female captain remarked before departing.
The luck was definitely needed. He remembered the look of disappointment and hurt on her face the moment Aiko appeared. And considering they had kissed shortly before that, Obito was now more certain than ever that Rin returns his feelings, to some degree.
The door to Sasori's lab was left ajar, and he walked in to find her sleeping. Her legs were folded underneath, her arms crossed over the table with her head resting on them. He stood next to her, gently pulling her soft hair away from her face. She looked adorable sleeping in her position. Rin had always been a ray of beauty to him. He enjoyed (and still does) hearing her talk, smile, and laugh. And sleeping? She looked like an angel.
"Rin," he said as softly as possible, shaking her shoulder gently, "Wake up…"
She stirred after a few seconds, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. "Huh?"
Obito pulled a chair next to her, and sat down. "You were sleeping… And you didn't have dinner,"
She cleared her throat, refusing to meet his gaze. "Oh…. I wasn't hungry,"
"We saved you some… I can heat it up for you,"
"That's not needed," she said firmly while sitting correctly on the chair and massaging her legs, "I'm not hungry… but thanks,"
Her short and firm answers bothered him. It was as if she wanted to do nothing with him. He watched her as she stood up and organized the desk, closing the laptop and placing the flowers back into their vases.
"Thanks for waking me up… I'll see you tomorrow,"
The following day, they received an urgent message from Minato. A man, wanted by the inter-galactic space agency for treason and other big crimes, had been spotted on a planet that was within close range of their ship.
The man's name was Lucifer Laramander, nicknamed The Devil. He had been on the run for five years, always having tricks up his sleeve in order to escape local and international authorities.
If they were to capture and kill him without raising any suspicion, the reward would be huge.
"We're in," Kakuzu had immediately said, "That bastard has a large bounty on his head,"
"We'll need to be careful. He has spies working for him," Sasori said, "We'll need to act carefully without raising any suspicion from those around,"
"How can we capture him?" Deidara asked, "According to these insights, he disappears every two or three days and then shows up on the other side of the galaxy."
"Women," Kakuzu replied, who had researched the criminal for years, "One thing he cannot avoid is the flesh of a woman...especially one who looks very young and is a virgin,"
Rin, who had been busy eating a light breakfast, paused as she could feel all of their eyes on her. Even though she had not been involved in the conversation, she had been paying close attention. And knew the type of thoughts going through the men's heads as they looked at her. But before she could say anything, or provide any input, Obito's hoarse voice was heard.
"Absolutely not," he said, "Lucifer's a serial rapist as well-"
"And some of his former victims are now his accomplices," Kakuzu said, "So we can't even trust the females around him,"
"I will not allow Rin's life to be on the line. We'll find another way,"
Kakuzu stood from his chair angrily, "How, Obito? The planet he's in is filled with all types of criminals. If we don't plan this out carefully, we can be attacked by others. Our missions is to capture and execute Lucifer as discreetly as possible,"
"And I'm not going to allow Rin to be used as bait!"
"Oi oi," Hidan said, standing between both men, "Let's not get heated. We're just two hours away from that planet, and need to think fast. Obito, I know this doesn't sit well with you… But this could be our only chance at capturing this man. We plan ways on ensuring that Rin stays safe the whole time,"
"We can use her to lure him out… to some private location where we can then snatch and kill him," Juzo said, and Kakuzu nodded at that.
"Correct. Lucifer gets easily distracted when it comes to women. Rin will just need to make sure she grabs his interest and use all means possible to seduce him,"
"I'm not going to fucking allow that," Obito said angrily, "I'm not allowing that man to even look at her-"
"And who are you to make the decision on her behalf?" Kakuzu challenged, angering Obito even more to the point that both men looked ready to take each other down.
"Why don't we ask Rin what she wants to do?" an annoyed Sasori said. He despised this type of confrontation.
"Well girl," Kakuzu said, facing her, "What's your thought?"
Rin gulped, having spent the last few minutes silently thinking through the danger of being used as bait for this type of mission. Being chased by large worms was one thing. But trying to seduce a serial rapist and murderer just so the team could kill him? She was beyond scared. She had joined this team to explore and learn new things. Not to participate in dangerous missions, especially ones that consisted of her doing something that made her feel extremely uncomfortable. Nonetheless, it was for the greater good. The quicker Lucifer was brought down, the quicker justice could be served. And taking a deep breath, she quickly glanced at Obito before answering Kakuzu.
"...I-I'll do it… I'll do the best I can to lure him out for you guys…"
Over a decade ago...or Two…
A young Homura surveyed the area just as his captain led them down the dark, wet tunnels. His teammate, Danzo, was shaking with fear behind him.
"I don't want to die… I don't want to die…"
"Shhh!" Another soldier said to Danzo, "Keep quiet,"
"Wh-Why are we even here?" Danzo questioned, holding his gun tightly.
"We received a distress call from this area. And as scouts, we're in charge of checking it out. Remember?"
Homura ignored his team's babbling as he made sure to leave some marks on the floor, in case they had to run out quickly.
Their captain stopped immediately, "I just saw something. Black shadow. It moved."
"Black shadow? How can you see that in this dark-"
"Ahh!"
One of the soldiers suddenly disappeared, being dragged under ground within seconds. The other soldiers pointed their flashlights downwards.
"Where did he go?!"
"I don't know!"
"Wait, look! There's something black over- Right behind you!"
"Ahh!"
Gunshots immediately went off, the men shooting towards an area. The black humanoid-like creature finally appeared, smirking wickedly at them.
"Mother's going to enjoy playing with you all!"
Author's Note: Thoughts? Confused? curious as to what the heck is going on? I would love to read your thoughts! Please review so I know who's enjoying this (and who isn't). :)