Past

Chapter Three: Red and White

When Rin heard shouting coming from the direction of the grand window in the library that she knew faced the entrance of Daisuke Uchiha's manor, she knew that he had come home from his two week long vacation. Lightly creasing the corner of the page, she snapped the book shut. Clambering to her feet and lifting the heavy textbook to rise with her, Rin stood on her tippy toes, stretching her short arms to place the book back in its rightful position.

The book weighed down on her weak arms as she had unsuccessfully pushed the book back in its rightful place. The shouts, that were rapidly getting louder by each moment, had only served to fuel her anxiety.

Despite her aching arms yearning for relief, Rin attempted to shove the textbook back in its place once more, by jumping up and pushing the book onto the shelf. Relief coursed through her, both in her arms from being free of the weight of the textbook and in her being, as she heard the telltale sound of the book scraping against the wooden shelf.

It stayed in its place.

Wiping the sweat off of her palms by gripping the bottom of her shirt, Rin hurriedly made her way out of the library. At the exit, she ducked her tiny head out into the hallway, peering back and forth before deeming that there was no one in sight before slipping out of the library. Once in the hallway, Rin smoothed down her hair, tucking stray pieces of her hair that had fallen out of her braid behind her ear.

Once she deemed herself to be presentable, she joined the crowd moving towards the entrance to welcome the owner of the manor home. She did what she did best: blending in. Her features helped, her mousy brown hair and muddy brown eyes didn't serve to warrant any attention nor did her average height or tatty clothes.

Shuffling behind a boy that was a head taller than her, she ducked her head and obediently followed him down the stairs and into the foyer. Lines of people had already begun to form, all with their hands clasped together in the front with their heads ducked low. Everyone, ranging from the guards, to the servants, to the cooks, to the stable boys, were present, taking their appropriate places based on their seniority.

Rin had taken her rightful place in the third line on the left, wedged between a stable boy whose complexion had tints of redness to it, a sign of sunburn if she could recall correctly, and a girl that looked to be slightly younger than her. Her fiery red hair fell, shielding her face from view, but Rin knew exactly who she was. She had seen the girl around on a couple of occasions and knew that she was a favorite target for the guards to tease when they were bored. The memories of her witnessing the guards pulling on her hair, pushing her back and forth like she was a ragdoll, Rin couldn't get that image out of her mind.

Her heart longed to reach out to the girl, to extend a helping hand or at the very least, offer emotional support, but her mind had learned long ago that it was better to keep to herself. It was either her or them and Rin learned that to protect herself from becoming the weakest, she had to prevail above others. And if that meant pushing others below her, then so be it.

From the third row, Rin couldn't see anything. Her height didn't help matters either, but she imagined that Daisuke Uchiha had entered the manor, still exhibiting the same amount of arrogance and authority as he did when he left. His entourage would scramble to follow after him, hauling his belongings. The guards would bow their heads out of respect while everyone else would hold their breath, lest they did anything to irritate him.

Rin was bold enough to sneak a peek at Daisuke as he began to make his way up the steps. He was exactly as she remembered, donning an exquisite silk robe to accentuate his status, while proudly displaying the red and white Uchiwa fan on his backside. That wasn't what caught her attention though, but rather it was a timid looking, raven haired girl that followed after the man.

On the fifth step, Daisuke halted, lazily turning around. His black eyes bore down at the girl. His hand shot out, gripping on the back of the girl's shirt. Lifting her into the air, turning her around so that Rin could now clearly see the girl's face, Daisuke gradually set the girl back down onto the step. Daisuke promptly shoved the girl by the shoulder, sending the girl toppling down the stairs.

Rin inwardly winced at the display, but didn't dare to utter a sound.

"See to it that she gets acquainted," Daisuke ordered. The bottom of the robe swirled around him as Daisuke turned back around, continuing his ascent.

The moment Daisuke was out of sight, all of them scrambled back to their appropriate positions. The guards, off to the various places that they were stationed in and out of the manor. The cooks, off to the kitchen to prepare a welcome home feast for dinner. The stable boys and gardeners, back outside to tend to the horses and greenery, respectively. The servants, off to make the entire manor spotless.

All of them except for the raven haired girl who was still on her knees, head bowed low as the commotion swirled around her. Rin followed the red haired girl towards the stairs, the girl hardly sparing the newcomer a single glance, but Rin couldn't help but toss a sympathetic glance in the newcomer's direction.

No one would help her, Rin knew, just like no one helped her when she had been in the same position two years ago. Turning her head back to face the front, Rin climbed the stairs and all but practically bolted to the cleaning closet, pushing past other servants to get to the supplies.

The library was her section; it better have been spotless by dinner time lest she faced punishment.

With a duster, a couple of rags, an empty bucket, sponge, and soap in tow, Rin managed to make it through the chaos in the hallways and slip inside the library. The library, granting her her solitude and a chance to catch her breath. She sank down onto the floor, her back pressed against the wall as her eyes listlessly roved through the interior of the library, her mind churning to formulate the most efficient plan to get this place cleaned.

When her eyes flickered to the open window, a brief thought of escape crossed her mind, but was quickly banished. Months of observation told her that the window was in the line of sight of three of the guards and rotations for all three guards happened at different times. So even if one was distracted, there were always two more pairs of eyes on it at all times.

Sighing, Rin pushed herself back onto her feet, grabbing the metal handle of the bucket. Exiting the library, Rin headed straight for the nearest bathroom, down the corridor, the first left turn, and the second door on the right. As she rounded the corner, Rin heard voices and immediately ducked her head. As much as her curiosity was getting the better of her, the consequences were more dire if she decided to interject.

Slipping inside the bathroom, Rin purposely left open the door a tiny crack while she ran the bucket under the faucet.

"Just because you are new doesn't mean you can stand around and do nothing." A male's voice, possibly one of the guards.

"Ano, but I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be doing," came a soft spoken voice. Was it the new girl from earlier? Rin resisted the urge to stick her head out and sneak a peek.

Whack. The sound of skin meeting skin echoed through the empty hallway. Rin flinched at the noise, hand unconsciously cradling the side of her own face.

"Did I give you the right to talk back to me? Since you are new, I'll let it slide this time, but you better learn quickly," came the man's stern voice. His statement was followed by a soft cry and the sound of a body hitting the floor.

Rin held her breath as she heard footsteps, moving closer to her. Her hand reached out, shutting off the faucet and watched the straggling droplets of water drip down into the bucket as her ears were hyper aware of how close the man was to her.

Step. Right outside of the door.

She let out a sigh of relief when she heard the footsteps moving away from her, turning the corner. Hauling the bucket out of the sink and sloshing some of the water in the process, Rin flicked off the light before exiting the bathroom.

Rin made the mistake of looking to see who the unfortunate victim had been. Her brown eyes locked on with her vibrant red ones, so red that Rin might have mistaken it to be the Sharingan if not for the lack of tomoes in her eyes. The right side of her cheek was flushed red, dried blood caked the left side of her forehead and bits of her hair. Multiple bruises were prominent against her pale complexion, running up her arms and legs. Her clothes were torn in multiple places; cuts and scrapes littered her torso.

She felt sorry for the young girl, but there wasn't much that she could do to help her. Shaking her head sadly, Rin made a move to turn away from her.

But her broken plea stopped her. "Please." With one word, Rin heard the sorrow in her voice. It spoke magnitudes of what the young girl had been through and Rin even suspected that they had the same story.

Her grip tightened around the handle of the bucket, squeezing it so hard that the metal dug into the skin of her palm uncomfortably. Her eyes tried to look everywhere but at her, but her gaze kept gravitating back to the girl. To see a girl who needed her help. To see a girl who reminded so much of herself two years ago. Except no one helped her and Rin had been left to fend for herself.

If it's someone else, then it wasn't her.

If there's someone weaker than her, she was safe.

But could she be so cruel? Weren't two always stronger than one? Did she want that on her conscience, knowing that she could have done something about it?

Her defenses crumbled. "Come on."

Those two words alone had been more than enough to ignite the hope in the girl's eyes once more. Despite all of her injuries, the girl was on her feet in less than a second and quickly made her way to Rin's side. A slight limp in her left leg, a small wince when the girl accidentally touched the underside of her ribcage, and possibly more injuries that Rin wasn't aware of.

First things first, the two of them needed to get out of sight. There was no telling when another guard would round the corner and happen to be in the mood to torment them. Gesturing for the girl to follow her, Rin navigated her way back to the library, relieved that there had been no one in sight. Rin twisted the door open, ushering the girl to go in before she followed, shutting the door behind them.

She placed the bucket onto the floor, already forgotten as Rin placed all of her attention on the injured girl.

"Where are you injured?" The girl couldn't muster enough energy to form words, instead she pointed at her left ankle, gestured vaguely to her left side as well as her backside and pointed to the various injuries on her arm. Grabbing a nearby chair, Rin instructed the girl to take a seat while she bent down, rolling up the leg of her tattered pants to reveal an already swollen ankle.

Light green chakra formed around her hands as she hovered them around the ankle. Sprained, but nothing broken. At least it hadn't been the worst.

"You're a medic?" the girl questioned, her voice hoarse.

Rin nodded. "You can't tell anyone." This was her secret, one that she would take to the grave if she could. If not for her bleeding heart, then there wouldn't have been a second person who knew about it.

The girl nodded in agreement. "Don't worry. I won't tell."

That better be the case. There was no telling what Daisuke would do to her if he found that there was a medic under his roof. Punish her for secretly learning the art while she was supposed to be working? Send her off to the battlefield? Execute her? It was better if Rin never had to find out.

Rin worked her way through all of the girl's injuries. Once her foot was partially healed, it would take time for the swelling to go down on its own, Rin rolled up the bottom of her tunic, revealing splotches of brown, yellow, and purple bruises littering parts of her torso and the majority of her backside. The girl winced as Rin moved to heal it, but she shot her a reassuring smile.

The girl soldiered through all of the pain.

Rin didn't know how long it took for her to heal all of the girl's various injuries, but she certainly felt like her energy had been sucked out of her. It might have something to do with the amount of chakra that Rin utilized during the healing process, but she wasn't too certain. She hadn't had the chance to read up on the chakra network in the body; that was the next book on her list.

For now, she had a lot of cleaning to do. Tossing instructions to the girl to begin dusting off the bookshelves, Rin took to scrubbing the floors squeaky clean. The two of them worked in complete silence for the next couple of hours. They watched as the rays of sunlight filtered into the library diminished gradually until it vanished completely.

By the time the room was clean enough to pass Daisuke's inspection, it was almost dinner time. Rin hastily returned to the bathroom to dump out the contents of the dirty water down the drain, washed out the bucket and returned to see that the girl had everything else, ready to go. Rin led the way to the supply closet, returning all of the items to its rightful place before she headed down to the dining area.

To Rin, dinner always felt like a waste of time. Daisuke had enacted a rule that required all of the servants to be present in the dining room, to stand as still as a statue unless they were serving food. To have to watch Daisuke and his friends enjoy a hefty meal, while they discreetly tried to hide their rumbling stomachs. It was only when Daisuke finished his meal were they privy to his leftovers.

The girl was standing rigidly on Rin's left side, trying desperately to keep her eyes off of the food. Her stomach ached from the emptiness, her eyes shone with jealousy as she watched the Uchiha continue to shovel food down his throat without a care in the world.

In Rin's opinion, this was Daisuke's way of keeping a leash on them. To constantly remind them that they were under his mercy, that they were to be pitted against each other. The weakest ones never got to the food and would consequently starve. It was cruel but effective to keep them from forming alliances and causing a rebellion.

No, every person here fended for themselves.

From previous experience, Rin knew her average height didn't afford her any advantages when it came to outrunning the others, but she found that she was nimble and able to slip through bodies to swipe food off of the table. But today, she needed to get enough to feed two instead of one. Rin briefly glanced at the girl beside her; she couldn't rely on her to get any for herself.

So it was up to her.

All eyes were fixated on Daisuke like a hawk as he wiped his mouth with a napkin. It felt like he was moving in slow motion when he moved to slide his seat backwards. He stood up, tossing the napkin onto the table and turned, nodding to the two guards on his detail. As he left the dining room, the two guards followed.

It was so silent that a drop of a pin could be heard, yet the moment Daisuke was out of sight, it was chaos. All of the servants lurched forward, reaching to grab whatever was left on the table. Rin could vaguely register that the girl was confused by their actions, but Rin didn't have time to explain as she dove into the fray a fraction of a second later than everyone else. Ducking under the arms of two women, Rin grabbed a stray napkin and began to grab the bread from right under the women's noses. Her arm shot out to grab the edge of one of the plates, but was yanked away by someone else.

Rin tried again, grabbing onto a different plate, but that caught the notice of one of the women above her. The woman tried to fight her for the corn cobs, but Rin was quick to jam an elbow into her ribcage. The woman let out a gasp for air, backing up a step and allowing Rin to swoop in and steal the entire contents of the plate.

Rin wanted more, but she knew if she stayed any longer, someone was bound to fight her for the food that she already had in her hands and she wasn't certain if she would be able to win. So she strategically retreated, eyes roaming the area to see where the girl was.

When Rin finally locked eyes with the girl, she immediately left the crowd, bounding to Rin's side. Rin was pleasantly surprised to see that the girl had managed to swipe a cluster of grapes and two bananas. It wasn't much, but it had been more than Rin had been expecting.

Tossing one glance to make sure the girl was following, Rin took off towards the stairs, taking a right and heading to the very end of the hallway. She quickly ushered the girl inside what once was a storage room, turned into a servant's room, which Rin had to fight to attain. It was cramped, just long enough for her to lie down comfortably, but it was something.

Rin plopped down onto her makeshift mattress, consisting of old bed sheets she had pilfered through the years, sitting cross legged with the food in her lap. The girl followed her lead, sitting across from her, leaving a foot of distance between them.

"Does that happen everyday?" the girl questioned as Rin handed two pieces of bread to her in exchange for a banana.

Rin nodded solemnly. "Better get used to it. The survival of the fittest, surely you understand?"

The girl let out an audible gulp, but she nodded as she tore off a piece of bread and stuffed it in her mouth, chewing slowly.

"Don't ever think about crossing me either," Rin warned, as a precaution. Just because she had decided to help out the poor girl didn't mean she completely trusted her. "Don't think I got here by playing nice."

"I wouldn't. By the way, my name is Kurenai." Finally, a name to put with a face.

"Rin," she responded curtly. "You should eat quickly, then we will go to sleep. We can get a chance to clean ourselves up at midnight."

Rin could tell that Kurenai had a dozen questions burning at the tip of her tongue, but she heeded to Rin's advice and ate.

Kurenai should consider herself lucky; she didn't have to suffer through the consequences of trial and error of finding the best routine to survive in this hellhole.

Since she had met Kurenai, Rin found that the girl was full of surprises. They were hiding in the library one day, under the guise that they were cleaning; the place was already spotless, always had been since no one but them had entered the room.

Predictably, Kurenai stared longingly at the open window, no doubt with the same thoughts running through her mind as Rin did when she first stumbled upon the open window. Rin had looked up and seen her staring, but merely turned her attention back onto the textbook on chakra networks.

"I wouldn't think about that if I were you," Rin murmured, flipping another page in the book. Kurenai jerked her head around to face her.

"Why? Don't you want to get out of here?"

"You'll be dead before you even make it down to the grass," Rin informed her. "He has eyes over every exit of this manor."

Kurenai flopped down to sit on the floor in front of her. "So you're saying we're doomed?"

Rin nodded. "From the moment we got caught, yes. The only escape is death."

Kurenai visibly shuddered at the thought. "You never heard of any successful escape attempts?"

"Nope. The ones who try are dragged to the dungeons and never seen again."

"How long have you been here?"

"Two years or so. I think I was ten when they found me…"

"I can't imagine being here for two years," Kurenai stated.

Rin shrugged. "You'll have to get used to it. It will only get worse for us when we get older."

"How so?"

Rin wished she could have had Kurenai's naivety and briefly wondered if she should be the one to taint her innocence. But Rin figured it was better for Kurenai to start mentally preparing herself. At twelve years old like herself, it would only be a few more years until it happened.

"The guards like to have a warm bed to sleep in," Rin said slowly. "Do you get what I mean?"

Understanding seemed to dawn on the dark haired girl judging from the way her mouth parted into a shape of an o.

"And you're just going to accept that?" Kurenai hissed. "I don't want to become someone's plaything!"

"What can you do about it?" Rin retorted. "What can we do about it? In case you don't remember, you were being half beaten to death when I found you, so I don't think there's a damned thing you can do to fight back against them. It's better if you accept your fate now than live in denial."

"What if I don't want to live like that? At least if I have hope, there's something to look forward to everyday!" Kurenai shot back.

Rin merely shook her head. "I used to think the same way that you did, but guess what? I lost hope. The faster you accept this reality, the better off you will be. I'm just trying to save you some grief."

"I just, just- can't really wrap my mind around all of this," Kurenai confessed. "One moment I was in my village and wandered off into the woods and the next thing I know, I'm living in this nightmare."

"I understand, but that is what we must live with now. Now, let me read my book in peace."

Of course, Kurenai being herself couldn't help but crawl over next to Rin and peer curiously over her shoulder to see what she was reading. On that page, Rin happened to be studying a diagram of the chakra network in a human's body.

"Chakra," Kurenai whispered.

Rin jerked her head upwards. "You know about chakra?"

"My father is a shinobi," Kurenai explained. "I've seen him training before. He told me chakra can be used for all sorts of things, like jutsus or detecting enemies."

"Detection?"

"I don't know, that's what he told me every time I tried to sneak up on him. He always said that he could feel my presence."

"Do you know any shinobi arts?"

Kurenai shook her head. "I wished that I did. Then I could fight my way out of here."

Rin shifted the book off of her lap and laid it onto the floor next to her. Standing up, Rin began browsing through the various titles of books and pulling the ones off of the shelf that peaked her interest. She placed those books onto the ground, laying them out in front of Kurenai.

"Doesn't mean you can't learn," Rin told her. "I learned medical ninjutsu strictly from reading these textbooks."

Kurenai peered at the books curiously. "Genjutsu?"

"Not as flashy as ninjutsu, so you'll be able to practice it discreetly," Rin said. "Besides, maybe you can use it to trick the guards into thinking that you aren't there."

From that point forward, that became both of their routines, both of their lives. To work as Daisuke's slave, to fight against the others in order to survive, to sneak off and learn shinobi arts whenever they could. To pilfer precious commodities to make their lives a bit better, to dream about the leaving but always anchored back to reality, to have nightmares, the red and white Uchiha symbol burned deep into their minds.

All was going well.

Or so they had thought.

A/N: Hi again!

Here is the first part of Rin's backstory. The entirety of the story actually spawned from Rin's backstory (if you can believe it since there's so much focus on Kakashi), but it helped me to sort of create this AU world. And unfortunately there's always collateral damage and spoils from war so it might be a bit jarring to digest. And in part that kind of shaped Rin to not be as nice as in canon, but her kindness still shone through!

Special shoutout to R.A. Dimaculangan, The Quincy, Wasn'tMeISwear, and allinthehistory for reviewing! It might not seem like I'm reading your reviews, but I promise I am and I swear, every time I get a notification that I got a review for this story, it puts a smile on my face because I put in 10x the effort writing this one than Catalyst (whoops), so it's really special to me. Spent about 4 months just planning the story, tossed out 3 other versions and then spent 3 more months actually writing the story, so it's been quite a journey.

The Quincy - thanks for all the questions you've been asking. Originally Orochimaru wasn't going to be in the story, but then I gave cameos to Tsunade and Jiraiya (he'll show up a bit later), so I added Orochimaru in and he got the most screentime out of all of them lol. The short answer is that he's "technically" on the Uchiha side and it'll be addressed in about 3(?) chapters when he appears. :)

Thank you for reading! Until next time!

-MM