Standard Disclaimer, I don't own Naruto or Glee. Bit of a time jump here from the last chapter. Any way I hope you all enjoy.
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xXx-Chapter 4-xXx
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At three years old Quinn was more than happy to toddle along beside her mother through the busy streets. Everything was decorated so beautifully and Quinn loved the fancy Kimonos that everyone was wearing. She was currently in a pretty red one with a white sash, the colors of which reminded her a bit of her old cheerios uniform.
She had so many questions she wanted to ask, not just about the festival, but the world she was now a part of in general. Unfortunately she was still having issues with the language and while she knew it was silly, she always felt a little embarrassed when she had to speak. She was still learning the language, picking it up to the best of her abilities. She understood what was being said most of the time but talking was a lot harder and she tended to stumble over her words, especially when trying to convey complex ideas. Basically she didn't sound like a native speaker and it was a little embarrassing to her, especially when her three year old sister could speak the language better than she could.
Luckily Ino was a little chatterbox, which suited Quinn just fine. She didn't mind being seen as the quiet twin. Ino was currently being carried by their father pointing to anything and everything that caught her eye, asking question after question. Actually it was pretty nice for Quinn, she just had to listen in and she basically got all of her questions answered as well. She had always been quiet, that hadn't changed.
All in all she was just enjoying the evening out with her family. Holding her mother's hand as she walked alongside her to look at all of the booths. She couldn't remember a time something like this had happened in her old life with her old family so she was soaking it all in as much as possible. They were currently in the middle of the New Year's festival. Her first year here it hadn't happened because of the start of some kind of war, and last year she and Ino had been down with the flu, so this was her first time experiencing it.
Quinn stumbles over her feet a little bit, but her mother keeps her standing. 'These wooden shoes are worse than heels.' Quinn grumbles internally.
"Do you want me to carry you?" Her mother asks, kneeling down beside her.
Quinn shakes her head no. That first year where she hadn't been able to walk had been frustrating. She hated not being able to go wherever it was that she wanted to. As soon as Ino had begun to take her first steps Quinn had followed soon after and she hadn't stopped walking since. As you get older you forget what it's like to not be able to walk until it feels like you've been doing it all your life, Quinn however was well aware of the absolute freedom that moving of your own accord gave you. She had thought getting her drivers license at sixteen had meant freedom, but that paled in comparison to being able to put one foot in front of the other and just walk.
However she did understand that as the slowest person there, seeing as Ino was currently riding on their father's shoulders, that she was setting a pace that might be a little bit tedious for an adult.
"I too slow?" Quinn strings the words together awkwardly, trying not to cringe. She could understand the language but damn were there nuances to it that she just hadn't grasped yet. She knew what she wanted to say, she knew the words but it was hard to put them together correctly. Ino, who was mentally a three year old had a better grasp of the language than her own adult mind. It was a little bit galling considering all of the effort she put into learning how to speak correctly and it was also extremely humbling.
"Not at all." Her mother says kindly, she stands and then gives her hand an affectionate squeeze as they continue along. They were on their way to the Akimichi's house for a big dinner and then to watch the fireworks.
The Akimichi's were one of two families that her family was really close with, the Nara's being the other. Both families also had two children their age that Quinn had had many a play date with. Chouji Akimichi was a happy, bubbly, and chubby little cutie. Quinn absolutely loved to play with him, not only was his Chakra sweet and sincere but he was just so happy that it was infectious.
Shikamaru was the other one. She had never met a more content child in her entire life. He was more than happy to be left alone to just stare at the clouds. It was a little bit harder to cajole him into playing, but Ino was such a little force of nature that he usually caved to her will and joined them.
As an adult she had always liked watching children play their simple little games. Now that she was a child herself, she had a unique perspective into it that showed her that to the kids, these games were anything but simple. That old cartoon Rugrats didn't seem so far out anymore.
Life was good and Quinn was truly happy. She felt like she had a future here. She wasn't sure what she wanted to do with her life but then again what three year old did? She had plenty of time before that even became an issue so it didn't worry her too much.
Her training with her chakra was going great as well. Ino was still too young to start, but it had been explained to her multiple times that with her larger chakra reserves and her developing sensor abilities it was necessary that she work hard at controlling it.
It had been a bumpy ride getting to the point they were now. To her parents she was still just a toddler, a very intelligent one, Quinn hadn't been as good at holding back and appearing as normal as she would have liked, but she was still only three. It had taken her quite a while to figure out that her parents had been trying to teach her how to suppress her chakra. Something that most children did naturally. Children generally had to be taught how to draw on their chakra but Quinn was the opposite, she had to learn how to put her chakra to rest.
And because she had constantly used it and from such a young age, her reserves were huge. She hadn't truly realized just how much chakra she carried within herself until she had suppressed it fully for the first time. It was like a noisy world was experiencing silence for the first time. In some ways it was nice, for the first time since she had arrived in this world she wasn't feeling bombarded by this energy but in another way it was very unsettling. It was like she had suddenly lost her sight or hearing. She felt vulnerable.
It was getting better. As she learned to suppress her abilities she also learned to control them better. If she wanted to and as long as they didn't suppress their chakra too much she could locate anyone she wanted and get a sense of how they were feeling. And the more familiar she was with a person the more she could sense about them through their chakra. Like if she used her abilities on her parents or her sister, she could tell you if they were happy or sad, frustrated or excited. Really, the more she learned about this strange energy known as chakra the more fascinated she grew with it.
She had seen her parents perform feats of… magic was the only word for it, they had done magic using their chakra. Breathing fire, teleporting, traveling faster than her eyes could see, sticking to walls. They had done all of these things and more using chakra. And the use of chakra was very common, it was a very rare person that she met that couldn't access this strange energy at least to some degree. From the oldest of men and women to young children, only five or six years of age, all of them could use chakra. Quinn found the stuff fascinating and hoped to learn more about it as she got older and maybe even use it and study it in some sort of career when she grew up.
They had to have that here right? A culture that could use chakra the way that her village seemed to, must have jobs and careers that would allow her to study this mystical energy. Who knew, maybe if she studied this stuff long enough she could even learn how she got here in the first place. Chakra was the only explanation she had that explained her rebirth so far.
Quinn looks up and sees the strange Mount Rushmore-esque monument that overlooked their village. She had always been curious about it and now seemed as good a time as any to ask. She tugged on her mother's sleeve.
"Mama?"
"Yes sweetheart?"
"What montain that?" Okay, seriously, she needed to learn to read and get some books or something because even she knew that had come out weird.
"Oh that," Megumi picks Quinn up, holding her so that she could have a slightly better view of the mountain. "Well that mountain is the Hokage's Monument."
"Ho… Ka… Gi…?" Quinn tests the strange word out on her tongue.
"Ho, Ka, Ge." Megumi corrects gently, both she and Inoichi were aware that Rin had a bit of speaking problem and was a little bit embarrassed by it, so they always made sure to be very careful but consistent in correcting Rin whenever she was learning a new word or trying to speak.
"Hokage?"
"Hokage, that's right, good girl."
"Hokage, what that is?" Rin tilts her head inquisitively.
"The Hokage is the most powerful ninja in the whole village and he's the one who leads us."
Ninja, it was a word that Quinn had heard quite often but she hadn't yet been able to quite pin down what it was. What she had been able to work out was that ninja was a kind of catch all term for people who worked for the village, not just in the village. Like a vendor on the street was not a ninja, but she knew that her father, who worked for the village was.
Megumi then grabs her hand and has her point to the first face on the monument.
"That is the Shodaime, the First Hokage, he is the one who founded Konoha and he even used his powerful Ninjutsu to create the forest and the trees that surround our village today."
Quinn smiles at that. That was a nifty little legend to learn. So the first face was of Konoha's founder. Kind of like their George Washington. She loved learning about her new home as it always made her feel just a little more connected to it and a little less like an intruder.
Megumi then moves Quinn's hand slightly to the right so that it's pointing to the next face. "That is the Nidaime, the Second Hokage. He was the younger brother of the First Hokage and he was the one who organized the village into what it is today."
Alright so the second face was their second leader and he basically set up the village's government. Good to know.
Her mother then moved her hand so she was pointing to the third face. "That is the Sandaime, the Third Hokage. He leads the village today. It's because of him that our village continues to stand strong in spite of all the tragedies we've endured."
She then moves Quinn's hand to point at the final face on the mountain. "That… that is the Yondaime, the Fourth Hokage. He died to save us all…" Even two years later the memories of the Kyuubi's attack were still strong in most people's minds.
"It's okay mama." Quinn says, trying to comfort her mother. Quinn could literally feel the sadness bleeding through her mother's chakra when she talked about the fourth.
"Thank you sweetheart." Her mother says with a smile, placing a kiss on her forehead. "Do you want me to keep carrying you?"
Not really, but she figured her mother would appreciate the closeness so she just nods her head, and does a little pulse of her chakra to try and mix her good feelings in with her mother's sad ones. It was basically a more refined version of what she had done since she had first started using her chakra. Her mother doesn't say anything but she does pull her a little bit closer.
They arrive at the Akimichi's place where Quinn is forced to endure the standard children pass around. Aren't you getting so big? Such a pretty dress. Oh, look at that face. Cheek pinch. Awkward strange old person who you don't know kiss to the cheek. Aaaaand finally back to her mother.
She is dropped off in the back where Yoshino Nara, Shikamaru's mother, had been roped into watching the kids. "Hello Ino, hello Rin, are you both excited for the fireworks tonight?"
"Yes! Daddy said they're going to be big and colorful and loud and pretty!"
Her Aunt Yoshino laughs pleasantly at Ino's enthusiasm.
"And what about you Rin, are you as excited as your sister?"
"Yes, ma'am." Quinn answers politely. After all, who didn't enjoy fireworks?
Aunt Yoshino smiles and takes both girls by the hand and leads them over to a table where Shikamaru, Chouji, and a couple of other children were all playing with various arts and crafts. Colored paper, crayons, safety scissors, glitter and glue. Basically everything a kid could dream of and would be a nightmare for the adults to clean up was there. Quinn didn't envy Yoshino. Ino had declared right away that she was going to make a giant flower and got right to work on it reaching for as much glitter as was within her grasp.
Quinn however quietly took her seat and grabbed a blank sheet of paper and a nearby crayon and like she had done so much back in high school, began to doodle whatever came to mind. It was meant to be fairly mindless, just something to keep her occupied until it was time for dinner, but almost against her will it turned into something more.
First she drew Brittany and Santana, standing together happy. Then she found herself drawing Rachel who ended up holding Beth, the two of them singing. Then she drew Mercedes, followed by her mother, and before Quinn knew it she had filled the page with every important person in her previous life, all of them happy. All that was left was a small blank space in the middle just large enough that if she wanted to she could draw herself in there. But as she went to do that she paused. She couldn't quite remember what she used to look like, and as she examined the drawing closer she realized that the people on there didn't look quite like she remembered them either.
It just hit her, hard, that life was over. She had already known that but for some reason this cemented it for her. So instead of drawing her face in the middle she drew a small grave stone on a hill, and on it was her old name, Quinn Fabray. The picture was probably fitting and accurate to how she had left things. There she was, dead, and everyone around her was happy. She wondered how long it would take her to screw up this life as well.
She is startled when she feels arms wrap around her in a hug. She looks to her side and sees that Ino, who is covered head to toe in glitter, has abandoned her art project in favor of her sister.
"Don't be sad Rin," Ino says very sincerely, "We get to see the fireworks tonight."
Ino watches as Rin forces a smile onto her face and nods her head, but she still doesn't let go instead she hugs her tighter. Not knowing why her sister was sad, only knowing that she was. And since she was the big sister it was her job to make Rin happy again.
Ino looked at the picture her sister had drawn. It was really really good, but for some reason it made her sister sad. That settled it in Ino's mind, Rin was no longer allowed to draw. Drawing made her sister sad so she was going to sit here with her and make a flower instead. Flowers made Ino happy, therefore flowers would make Rin happy.
"Here." Ino said sliding Rin the mostly finished purple flower that she had been working on. "You work on this one and I'll make a new pink one, okay?"
Rin gives her a real smile, "Okay."
For the rest of the evening Ino stuck to her like glue. Talking about anything that popped into her little mind, making sure that Quinn made her flowers the correct way, using the appropriate amount of glitter, which meant most of it, that she cut the leaves in the right shape, and of course going on and on about the upcoming fireworks.
Quinn would never be able to properly put into words what that meant to her. Quinn Fabray was gone, it was time to put her to rest, she had been holding onto that part of her and she needed to let go. She kept thinking of this as her new world, her new life. In her mind she still called herself Quinn. It needed to stop, she needed to embrace this world of hers. Quinn died in a car crash three years ago and was reborn into this world. A world where she had been blessed with a family that wanted her and a sister who loved her. Quinn Fabray was dead… but Rin Yamanaka was here to stay.
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xXx-Scene Break-xXx
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Inoichi and Megumi exchanged an amused glance as they watched their two girls look up at the fireworks, completely mesmerized by them. All evening Ino had stuck by Rin's side, her forceful personality coming through as she basically decided on everything that the two of them would do. But Rin didn't seem to mind, in fact she seemed happier than ever to just follow Ino around. Whatever event had blessed them with a second child, they were grateful for the result, grateful that they got to watch their little girls growing up to be not only sisters but friends.
It was strange for them as they watched the fireworks surrounded by friends and family. Everything seemed so peaceful, you would never have guessed that there was a war raging on out there between two of the five great villages. Iwa had only shored up their defenses, but Kumo had finally started a war. The two nations that had once acted as buffer between Lightning and Fire were now wastelands covered in trenches as the two warring nations put all of their military might into their war efforts.
It wasn't a war just between ninja villages, the Daimyos of both Fire and Lightning had raised massive armies. Luckily the rest of the world didn't want to get involved, a war was bad enough, but a fourth Shinobi World War was to be avoided at all costs. Not even Iwa, a nation that hated them had joined in on the fight, however Suna their closest allies hadn't joined in either. As for the hidden Mist village, they were in the middle of a civil war themselves and in no position to fight anybody, and the smaller villages didn't want to be drawn into yet another war.
No the rest of the world was more than content to allow the two giants to go down killing each other. Inoichi couldn't blame them. For over two years now they had fought to a standstill neither side able to gain any significant advantage over the other. Something big would have to happen in order to change that.
Inoichi dismisses thoughts of the war from his mind. The war would still be there tomorrow, all the pain, all the killing, it would be waiting for him tomorrow. It wouldn't just stop overnight. They weren't that lucky. So he needed to make the most out of this moment, the here and the now with his two girls. He needed to take this moment to recharge and to remember what it was they were fighting for.
As Inoichi watched his girls enjoy the fireworks he sees Rin turn her attention away from the fireworks to look behind him, her face scrunches up in worry, like something was wrong but she couldn't place it. Inoichi follows her gaze and he senses it. It's brief, almost untraceable but it's there, killing intent. It was all the warning Inoichi needed. He acted in less than the blink of an eye, overwhelming the first assassin's mind and taking control of his body. Two more charged towards Shikaku, weapons drawn, but it was too late, their cover had been blown.
The adults sprang into action. Megumi went and grabbed both Ino and Rin while the other mothers did the same thing with their children and quickly moved them away and to safety. The rest of the adults quickly overwhelmed the two other attackers killing them quickly before searching the area for any other would be assassins, all of them on high alert and ready for another fight.
Inoichi walked over to Shikaku and Chouza in complete control of the attacker's body, while his two former teammates now stood guard over his own.
"So… who is my would be assassin?" Shikaku asks, his voice tinged with annoyance.
Inoichi takes a second to rifle through the man's mind. "Kumo, jōnin… high jōnin, sent here with orders to kill you… and… His defenses are up I'll need some time to break him to get anything more out of him."
Inoichi then reaches into his mouth and removes a suicide capsule. "There, if you want to bind him I can return to my body and we can get to work."
Shikaku nods his head and Inoichi closes his eyes, and when he opens them again he is back in his own body, Chouza helping him to stand. "You acted fast there, Inoichi. None of would have sensed him until it was too late. I guess we're getting rusty." Chouza laughs. "It's a good thing you aren't."
"Yeah." Inoichi agrees, but the thing was he hadn't sensed him. Rin had. Her abilities were progressing at an astonishing rate, she had been able to sense the assassins presence where an area full of Jōnin level ninja couldn't, and that wasn't even considering all the others they would have had to evade to make it this far into the village to even make this attack.
A young chūnin by the name of Kento appears from the shadows and lands in front of him kneeling, Kento was another member of the Yamanaka clan and was his second or third cousin, he couldn't quite remember. "Inoichi, sir."
"Report." Inoichi orders.
"We found two others but were unable to get to them in time, no injuries on anyone from our side but the two of them managed to commit suicide before we could stop them."
"Very well, keep searching to be sure and then work in tandem with Chouza and his forces to set up guard patrols."
"Yes sir."
Chouza sighs, "One night of peace, is that too much to ask?" He says looking to his friends, before shrugging his shoulders and getting to work.
"Shall we get started?" Inoichi asks.
"Ugh, what a drag." Shikaku says as they begin to move the prisoner to a more secure location. The man struggling uselessly against Shikaku's shadows that had him firmly wrapped in their embrace. "Why was I even the target, if they've gone through all of this effort to get this guy and his team in here then why not go after, I don't know, the Hokage?"
"You are the Jōnin Commander and our lead strategist in the war, if they take you out our forces would be in a world of hurt." Inoichi offers, amused by the fact that his friend wasn't so much angry about the attack as he was annoyed that it interrupted his break.
"I knew I should have turned down this damn promotion." Shikaku mutters under his breath.
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xXx-Scene Break-xXx
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It was two days later before Inoichi returned home late at night. Megumi goes up to him and embraces him and then begins to kiss him. "What happened, can you share?" She asks after a few minutes of getting reacquainted with her husband.
"No, but I will anyway." Inoichi says. "We got lucky. Pure and simple, it was a mission authorized by the Raikage himself. He and his team were to assassinate Shikaku and then kill themselves, it was a suicide mission, none of them were to survive. That fact that we managed to capture him… the amount of information on their forces we managed to gather is staggering. We've learned more in these past two days than we have all last year. The Hokage and his advisors are already using the information we've gained to plan a huge offensive that will turn this war in our favor. Troop positions, mission plans, key personnel, we have it all. The men selected to carry this mission out were not low level troops. We even managed to root out two spies in our village… I just… we got lucky, if…" Inoichi's voice drops to a low whisper.
"If Rin hadn't been there I have no idea what would have happened. None of us would have sensed the attack until it was too late. Speaking of, how are the girls?"
"Ino just really misses her daddy, but Rin's been pretty upset and withdrawn since it happened, I've tried talking with her about it but…" Megumi trails off with a worried look.
"I really wish they hadn't been exposed to this kind of thing so early, it's bad enough that they'll ever have to deal with it at all but I at least wanted them protected from it until they were older."
"This isn't your fault, it's the world we live in."
"I know… but they're my daughters, it's my job to protect them… they're probably asleep by now aren't they?"
Megumi nods, "Yes, I put them to bed a couple of hours ago."
"Daddy?"
Both parents look to see Ino and Rin standing in the hallway looking in at them. Ino giggles happily, "Rin said you were home and she was right!" She rushes over to him and he kneels down to her level as she leaps into his arms. "I missed you! Where did you go?"
"Hi princess, Daddy had to work, I'm sorry I had to be gone for so long."
"It's okay, mommy told us you had really important things to do. I'm just glad you're back."
Inoichi gives his eldest daughter a kiss, he then looks over to Rin who is still standing over by the door, fidgeting nervously.
"Hey sweetheart, I missed you, can you come give your daddy a hug?" He asks.
"You okay?" Rin asks, her voice is tiny and scared.
He nods, "Yes, daddy is just fine." Rin races to him like a shot and is soon holding onto him crying.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry-" She cries repeatedly into his shoulder.
"Oh sweetheart, why are you sorry? What's wrong?" He asks.
"I- He- he, he want kill and then, I knowed- I- I- um-"
"Shh," Inoichi interrupts softly. "You need to calm down, okay. Just take a breath and gather your thoughts alright, take your time."
Rin nods her head. "I know he was there. I… my chakra could feel him. I know he not the friend, chakra was cold, anger. But not feel dangerous, not until…"
"Until he attacked." Inoichi finishes for her.
Rin nods her head. "I speak earlier, my fault, dead." She finishes with tears continuing to stream down her face.
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xXx-Scene Break-xXx
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The guilt had been eating at her constantly. She had felt unfriendly chakra sources near them but she had been so swept up in everything that she ignored it. And that's all they were really, unfriendly, she had felt worse chakra since being here so it just didn't register to her that it was something to worry about. They hovered around the area but they never came any closer so she just ignored it.
It wasn't until the fireworks had been in full swing that the chakra sources began to move, they were rapidly approaching and she could feel that they wanted to hurt them. So she had turned to look, but she was too slow on the uptake, and before she could even think to warn anyone she was being swept up in her mother's arms and being carried away, but not before she watched her father collapse to the ground like a ragdoll and then saw as one of the new chakra sources got his head cut off and the other one cut in half.
It was the second time she had failed to warn her family of danger. The first time she could probably be excused, after all her body had been that of a baby and she had no real way to communicate with them, but this time, this time there was no excuse. She had just been too slow and now someone was dead and her father had collapsed, and until she saw him with her own eyes she couldn't believe he was okay no matter what her mother had said.
The entire thing made was gnawing at her constantly, making her head spin and her stomach upset. This was all her fault. She should have spoken up earlier and now her father hadn't been home in two days. Her mother said he was fine and she could still sense him, but it was faint like something was trying to block him from her and she couldn't get a good read on his emotions, and again the last time she had seen him it had been him just collapsing to the ground.
So when she had felt him arrive she had woken up Ino to tell her that he was home and then they had gone downstairs to see him. Ino had run up to him instantly but Quinn had stayed back. He looked so tired, like he hadn't slept in days, and while he seemed okay and he seemed happy and even relieved, Quinn didn't trust herself to go over there. This was her fault, he had disappeared and two men were dead and it was her fault.
But when she had asked him if he was okay and he had said he was, she couldn't help it, she had run right to him and hugged him for all she was worth. She had to tell him the truth, tell him how sorry she was that she didn't say something sooner. So she did, or at least tried to. There was so much to say and so much she still didn't know how to, that it all came out as a jumbled mess.
"I- He- he, he want kill and then, I knowed- I- I- um-"
"Shh," her father interrupts softly. "You need to calm down, okay. Just take a breath and gather your thoughts alright, take your time."
She nods her head. "I know he was there. I… my chakra could feel him. I know he not the friend, chakra was cold, anger. But not feel dangerous, not until…"
"Until he attacked." He finishes for her.
Rin nods her head. "I speak earlier, my fault, dead." She finishes with tears continuing to stream down her face.
"Oh honey, no, how could you think that?" Her mother asks, kneeling down next to her as she continued to cry into her father's shoulder.
"I saw him, he dead. I- I- too slow and-"
"Sweetheart, it was not your fault, not at all. In fact you saved a lot of lives."
"But-"
"Rin, I need you to listen to me," Inoichi interrupts, gently but firmly. "Those men who attacked wanted to hurt your Uncle Shikaku, if you hadn't noticed them when you did he might not be here today, you saved his life. Because of you we were able to not only stop him from hurting Uncle Shikaku but also a lot of other people."
Quinn shakes her head, trying to wrap her mind around that. So were those men like terrorists, was her Uncle Shikaku some kind of police officer or something? She was still so confused but she wasn't sure how to ask for clarification so she brought up another issue. "You fell…"
"I was just using one of our clan techniques to capture him, I was perfectly fine… but you didn't know that did you?" Her father asks.
She shakes her head no.
"I was using a very special technique, one that has been in our family for generations, and it's one that someday I'm going to teach to you and Ino. I promise you, it might have seemed scary but it's perfectly safe as long as you do it right, okay?"
"I saw two men, dead, they dead and I…"
"I'm so sorry you had to see that, especially at your age." Her mother and father exchange glances before her father fixes his gaze on her and Ino.
"Ino, Rin, I think it's time we explained the world we live in and what it is that I do."
Both she and Ino held their father's gaze, Ino out of genuine curiosity, but Quinn had a feeling that she was about to receive the missing puzzle piece in figuring out this new world of hers. But instead of feeling excitement or relief, she felt an overwhelming sense of dread. She had just witnessed two men try to kill someone she knew and then get killed for their effort, and yet the only issue her parents had with the whole thing was how young she was, not that she had been exposed at all. Whatever she was about to learn would not be good.
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xXx-Scene Break-xXx
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Ninja. A word she had heard used repeatedly in this world but never truly had defined until now. Her home was Konoha, one of the five great villages, each one containing their own army of ninja. Ninja's were soldiers, killers, assassins, spies, medics, negotiators, and whatever else was required of them all rolled into one.
Here at the age of five, you entered the academy and from there you were trained in the basics of how to serve your village. You were taught to utilize the chakra within you and use it as a weapon. It was a cultural norm here, something to aspire to and work towards but all Quinn could see was children soldiers. Children like her Ino were going to be trained to kill whoever was deemed necessary to die. She felt sick inside.
She guessed in some ways it was no different than back in her first world when someone joined the military. But even then, you had to be an adult to join. You didn't go in wide eyed with fairy tales of glory running amok in your head. You knew what you were signing up for and what you may be asked to do. To kill or even die. But you were an adult, it was your choice, Ino was just a child she didn't have a choice. And soon she was about to be thrust into a world where having people want to kill you was considered just a part of the job, and she had no idea. It was normal. It was wrong in so many ways, but here it was normal.
She had to laugh at herself. It was a humorless laugh, but still in the back of her mind she had to laugh. She had wondered if this place had a job that would allow her to study chakra, well apparently it did, if this wasn't the biggest fucking case of be careful what you wish for then she didn't know what was. She didn't want to be a ninja, she didn't want to be around the kind of violence she had only just experienced two days ago ever again. But she didn't know what choice she had. Her father had explained to both herself and Ino that the Yamanaka's were a clan of ninja whose history dated back centuries. It was a history that he was proud of and that they should be too. But all Quinn could see throughout all of this was Ino's hands soon to be covered in blood, Ino's dead eyes staring out into nothing. Ino dead.
It was insane. She didn't have it in her, she knew she didn't and yet… Ino. She had seen the way that Ino's eyes lit up when their father talked. How the idea of becoming a ninja, just like their father was and mother had been, seemed wonderful and romantic. Quinn couldn't let Ino face that kind of world alone, but… the thought of becoming one made her feel sick inside.
The academy accepted students when they turned five. That meant she had a little less than two years to try and convince Ino that being literally anything other than a ninja was a good idea.
"Rin?" She heard Ino whisper into the silence of their dark room.
"Yes?" Quinn says as she rolls over to look at her sister who was staring at her from her own bed. Her eyes bright with life and energy.
"Let's work really hard okay. We're going to be the best ninja's in the whole world, it's a promise." And with that Ino rolled back over and was soon asleep.
Quinn couldn't even pretend to smile, she wanted to throw up.
