Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Naruto.
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xXx-Chapter 16-xXx
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Quinn groans as she rolls out of bed, looking at the clock it was a quarter to three in the morning, and her shoulder was throbbing. She reaches over to her nightstand and grabs the bottle of pain meds she had been given and quickly pops one. Luckily the pills acted fairly quickly and so hopefully the aches and pains would be gone soon.
Today was the day that she and the others in her class would be assigned to their genin teams. They had graduated last Monday and then were given one week off as a kind of break, all of which Quinn had spent recovering, but today, finally, their ninja careers would begin in full. Technically she wasn't cleared for duty yet. According to the doctors she should be fully recovered by the end of the week, and after a session with a therapist to determine her mental status which would take place this Wednesday, then she would finally be cleared for active duty.
Not every fight that winds up in a death warrants a visit to a shrink. After all, they had been conditioned from very early on to accept that death was just a part of their profession. However, the first kill was different. Quinn was actually a little surprised at how seriously the village took a shinobi's first kill.
Quinn had tried to convince her father to give her a pass, she felt that she'd already talked everything over with him and figured that was good enough. No she wasn't happy that it had come to that, but recognized that given her situation it had been necessary. She wasn't about to break down into a useless bundle of nerves nor was she about to go kill crazy down main street Konoha. She was okay, not great, but okay. She was dealing… she hoped.
Her father however had been firm that she should go.
"A person's first kill is more traumatic than you realize, no matter the circumstances involved a person's life has just been ended. That is a lot to deal with on your own, a lot of mental stress. An impartial evaluation is necessary, not only for your own health and safety, but the safety of those you serve with."
"But I'm fine, I'm not crazy." Quinn knew she was whining and sounded a little petulant but she really didn't want to hash out what happened again, this time with some random person she didn't even know.
Her father places his hands on her shoulders and looks her directly in the eyes. "Sweetheart… you are handling this so very well. You haven't been afflicted by bloodlust and while you aren't happy with what you had to do, you've accepted it, and you aren't likely to freeze on a mission if confronted with a life or death situation again. However, you owe it to yourself to make sure that everything is really okay. Nobody thinks you're crazy, but even if it were up to me and I could get you out of this, I wouldn't.
Rin, you deserve every advantage, every bit of help that you can get, whether you feel you need it or not. Speaking with the psychologist, even if it's just so you can say you have professional clearance saying you're okay, can only help you. It's a onetime thing, you aren't being signed up for multiple sessions, but after your first kill, the village believes, and so do I for that matter, that every Shinobi needs to be evaluated."
He was right of course, if it were someone else going through this then she would be all for them seeing a therapist, just to make sure that they were okay. She just wasn't excited that this was happening to her. On the plus side, because she had to look for the good that came from everything that had happened if only for her own sanity, they had ousted a spy who was working for a known traitor and as a result she and Naruto were both getting a successful B-Rank mission added to their records along with the appropriate pay.
As Quinn quietly makes her way through the house she is surprised to find that her mother is awake. She is sitting on the living room couch and staring at an old photograph, lost in thought, and she doesn't seem to have even noticed that Quinn is there. Her mother's emotions are a rollercoaster right now, a strange and shifting combination of melancholy, pain, and affection.
"Mom?" Quinn asks quietly, "Are you okay?"
Her mother looks up at her, "Rin, sweetheart, what are you doing up?"
"I couldn't sleep, my shoulder was bothering me…"
"Are you alright? Do you need me to get you anything?" Megumi asks, concern filling her voice.
"I'm fine, I've already taken a pain pill. But what about you, what are you doing up?" Quinn asks as she takes a seat next to her mother.
"I couldn't sleep either. I couldn't stop thinking about my old genin team, here's a picture of us." Megumi says as she hands Quinn the photo.
Quinn smiles as she examines the photo. Her mother was off to the right of the picture holding up a peace sign and grinning from ear to ear. To her left and in the middle was a blue haired girl who seemed to be all but doubled over with laughter and to the far left on the photo was a boy with a shaved head, holding up a thumbs up, smiling as well. Behind them was an older guy with black hair, but even he was no older than twenty-five, twenty-six at Quinn's estimate, He was looking at the camera and smiling as well.
Quinn gives a light laugh, "I can't believe that's you, you were so little." Her mother had to have been her physical age when the picture was taken, maybe even a little younger.
"Thank you for not saying young." Megumi chuckles, as does Quinn. "That's Nami," Megumi says, pointing to the girl in the middle, "She had such a wonderful sense of humor and she was so full of life. She loved to laugh and make other people laugh… actually she was quite a bit like Naruto." Megumi says fondly.
Quinn nods her head and smiles, encouraging her mom to continue. "And that's Kenta." Megumi says pointing to the kid with the shaved head. "Looking back he… he really was such a dork," Megumi laughs. "But at the time I had a huge crush on him."
"Really? Him?"
"Oh yes, I thought he was very dashing."
"And the guy in the background?"
"That's Hiroshi-sensei, I couldn't have asked for a better teacher. He was so kind and patient with us, we really were a bunch of brats but he loved us anyway… gods, I forgot how young we were, it seems like a lifetime ago… And today, you and your sister are going to be assigned to your own teams…" Megumi's voice trails off.
"Mom, are you okay?"
"You and Ino have worked so hard to reach this point and I am so proud of you both but right now… all I can think about is how much I wish you hadn't. That maybe I could have said or done something different and you both would have chosen a different life. And the thing is, I thought that this was just life how life was. You grow up, you go to the academy, and you become a ninja. That's how it was for me and your father, and that's how it was for our parents, it just seemed so simple… but now, the thought of either of you out there scares me more than I ever thought."
"Mom…" Quinn says softly, hating that her mother was hurting.
"I thought I could handle this and I thought everything would be okay, that you and Ino would always be okay, but then you got hurt and… I really can't lose either of you… I know better than anyone what can happen out there and I have to ask myself… what kind of mother am I to have let you go into this life?"
"The best." Quinn says. She had a lot of issues about being a ninja, a lot of moral quandaries that she was still trying to reconcile with how things were in her old world and how things were in this world, but there was absolutely one thing that she was sure of. When she came into this world she had gotten the best parents she could have ever asked for.
In her old world, she and her mother had been in the process of reconciling and things were getting better but in this world it was different. Not once had she ever wondered if her parents here loved her. She may have questioned, and still to this day question, whether or not she was worthy of that love. But she knew it was there. Even more so than the ninjutsu and superhuman feats, that fact was something that she was still trying to get used to.
"You want to know what kind of mother you are… the very best." Quinn says her voice cracking as she thinks of everything that the woman she was sitting next to has done for her. "I've never in my entire life ever had to wonder if you love me or not. You have always done everything in your power to care for us."
"Of course I love you Rin, I'm your mother…" Megumi gives a tired sigh, "I'm so sorry sweetheart, I shouldn't be… I shouldn't be burdening you with my troubles, gods, you already have so much to deal with and you're still healing and-"
"Mom, please. It's okay, really. For the past twelve years you've taken such wonderful care of me, it's nice to know that I can help you even if it's only a little. If you need someone to listen to you then please, talk to me."
Megumi is quiet for a moment, "I'm scared for you." She says so softly that Quinn almost didn't catch it. "I was so excited when you decided to go to the academy that I didn't even stop to consider all the danger that doing so would eventually place you in. I just remembered all of the good times that I had and ignored the consequences and now… now you and your sister are taking your first steps into this violent world and I don't know how to protect you. I mean you've already experienced first hand just how rough the life of a shinobi can be… how can I protect you from that and worse still, how can I accept that I let you get into that position in the first place."
Quinn is silent for a moment as she contemplates what to say, "It's funny… what happened, the danger, it's what I've been terrified would happen to Ino, Naruto, and Sakura right from the beginning. Heck, it did happen to Naruto, and honestly, growing up I would have given anything to not be a ninja but now that all of this has happened, and now that it's really about to happen… I mean we're getting our teams today, I can't imagine it any other way. It's like I said that night when I first decided to become a ninja, I don't want to, but I feel like I have to and I feel that way now more than ever. I mean, it's like you said, I've experienced just how dangerous this life is first hand, but… I've also seen first-hand the difference that I can make. I can help people, I can save my friends… I can make a difference… for the first time ever… I can matter."
Megumi gently cups her daughter's face in her hands, "My Rin, you've always mattered. Don't you ever think for even one moment otherwise. The day you were born, holding you and your sister in our arms, it was the happiest day of mine and your father's life."
Quinn doesn't say anything to that, because how could she explain that she had spent 18 years of her life in that other world not mattering to anyone, but here it was different. Here there were people who she was important to. Fighting for them, facing dangers for them, the struggle to find her own shinobi way, the effort and desire to protect them all was a small, almost insignificant price to pay for all that they gave her.
"Rin, did I… did I ever do anything to ever pressure you into making this choice? Did I ever do anything to force you onto this path?"
Quinn shakes her head. "No, I've put a lot of thought into becoming a ninja and I've always found chakra fascinating, but you know, I've never actually wanted to be a ninja. It's just something I felt I needed to do. It helped though, it made it easier for me to make the choice knowing that no matter what I chose I would have your support. I never felt forced or compelled by you or daddy to ever become a ninja. It's like I said to daddy, I became a ninja to protect Ino and everyone that I care about. It was my decision and I own it, you never pressured me, ever."
"I let you down though, I should have spoken to you more about this in depth, a lot more than I did, and I am so sorry about that."
"You have never let me down. You really are the best mom in the world, and we're talking about it now, right? Even if we had talked like this before it wouldn't have changed my decision… I'm just… I don't know, I've never felt like you've let me down."
Megumi leans over and pulls Quinn into a hug which she returns. She then places a kiss to Quinn's forehead. "Thank you."
"Do you want to tell me more about your old team? I mean, I don't remember meeting any of them…"
Megumi shakes her head, looking very sad. "No I shouldn't, today is supposed to be a big day for you and their story… it's not a happy one."
"Please… it's obviously on your mind and well, you obviously really cared a lot about them. You don't have to share any of the sad stuff, maybe just share all of the good things you remember, because then, if you want, I can share their memory with you."
Megumi places another kiss to her daughter's forehead and Quinn snuggles into her mother's embrace. Quinn didn't care how old she seemed or how old she really was, she would never get tired of being held by a parent who loved her. "You really are growing up to be a wonderful young lady, you know that. If you're sure that you want to listen then I would love to share some of my memories with you."
Quinn nods her head, ready and eager to learn more about her mother. She'd always felt close to her, but now it felt like something had changed between them and for the better. Like their relationship was about to evolve into that next level, where they weren't just mother and daughter, but friends as well.
"Alright, let me think… I first met Kenta and Nami when-"
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xXx-Scene Break-xXx
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"A-ha!" Quinn cheers as her target hits its mark. Ino rolls her eyes and shakes her head at her while Sakura giggles, both of them looking on amused at Naruto and Rin's antics. Naruto lets out a grumble as he takes his turn, aiming carefully. She and Naruto were flicking tiny paper shuriken at each other as they waited for whoever was going to cover the class for today to come and announce their genin team assignments.
If Quinn had to give a guess it would probably be Suzumi-sensei, but it could be any one of a dozen or more chūnin or even a jōnin. Not that it ultimately mattered, but you were trained to think about different variables and so you almost couldn't help but wonder about it. She was actually kind of curious if any of their classmates knew why both Iruka-sensei and Mizuki were missing. Mizuki was dead, obviously, and Iruka was getting ready to start his physical therapy today.
Quinn is brought out of her musings when a paper shuriken hits her forehead and Naruto gives a boisterous laugh. "Alright! I got you! Ha ha ha! You are no match for my mad ninja skills!"
Quinn arches a brow at him and Naruto stops laughing for a moment and gulps nervously. Quinn then smirks at him before she quickly lines up her last five remaining paper shuriken and almost faster than you could blink flicks them all at him. Each one smacking him in the forehead right where the previous one had hit.
Naruto's shoulders sag for a moment before he starts to laugh and Quinn joins him. "Hey no fair, you're supposed to be injured remember?"
"Ah… my young grasshopper… you still have much to learn… about the way of…. Ninja."
"Grass… hopper…?" Naruto quirks his head at her like she's kind of crazy.
Ino nudges her, "You goof." And Quinn just sticks her tongue out at her in response.
It was really good to see Rin in such good spirits, Sakura decided. She had been worried about how her friend was doing and had made it a point to visit her as often as possible, and it was nice to see that she was doing better. Rin had always been serious and very driven and she looked like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders at times. Now however… well the weight was still there, but it was like Rin had learned how to shoulder it better.
It was one of the things that had first drawn Sakura to her, Rin always seemed so strong. And now that she knew what motivated Rin to work so hard was that she was trying to be strong enough to protect them all, it only made Sakura love her even more. Of course, back in the hospital Sakura had to set her straight, that she wasn't some damsel that needed saving, that she could protect Rin too, but the thought that she was someone who mattered so much to Rin that she would carry that kind of burden made Sakura's heart sore.
"Careful Sakura, you're staring." Ino whispers to her quietly and Sakura quickly look away from Rin who is currently giggling about something with Naruto.
"Uh… I… um…"
"I don't know why you won't just tell her how you feel, with her ability she probably already knows anyway."
"That's just it, if she does know then that means she either, one, feels the same way and is just giving me time or two, she doesn't feel the same way and she's trying not to hurt my feelings… or worst case scenario, she knows and she just doesn't care. And no matter which it is... I'm kind of afraid to find out the answer."
"You don't really believe that Rin wouldn't care do you?"
Sakura shakes her head, "No, of course not, but I still can't help but worry about it… besides, my feelings might be irrelevant, she might not even like girls." Sakura says softly.
"She does."
Sakura's eyes snap onto Ino, this was huge news, why was she just hearing this now?! "Are you sure!? How do you know?"
Ino shrugs her shoulders, "I asked her, she says she's bi, but that she does have a preference towards girls. I wanted to know what kind of shot my best friend had." She says with a grin.
"Really she's… but… I, I'm still not… what do I do?"
"Hey, listen," Ino says gently, "you'll never know if you don't say anything. Besides, how could she say no to you? You're one of the coolest people I know plus you're totally hot, and you already know she likes you as a friend, it's entirely possible that there's more to it than that. She'd have to be crazy to turn you down." Ino says encouragingly. Even though she'd known about it for a while now it was still a little weird for her to think about, that her best friend was crushing on her twin sister.
She had been a little worried when she first found out about Sakura's crush on Rin, that it might have extended to her as well, after all she and Rin were physically identical and she and Sakura were really close too, it would have been awkward if Sakura were crushing on her too. Luckily that wasn't the case, because as much as she liked Sakura she couldn't return those kinds of feelings. Rin however, was a different story entirely and in Ino's opinion Sakura had a real shot.
"I just… I'm not ready yet."
"Alright, have it your way. But Rin's not going to be single forever you know, so you'd better do something soon otherwise someone else might just swoop in. I really like the idea of you two together and I'm rooting for you Sakura, but Rin is my sister and if someone else comes along and captures her heart and they're a good person, I'm going to support her. So don't take too long, okay." Ino doesn't say anything else, just letting that thought hang in the air.
Sakura slumps into her seat, completely depressed. Ino was right though, while Rin had never shown any romantic interest in anyone before, they were all getting to that age where it would start happening. Heck, Ino was already fending off her fair share of admirers, and even she had been asked out a couple of times. It was really was only a matter of time before someone came along and tried to sweep Rin off of her feet. Still, Sakura just wasn't ready to say anything yet and until she was she just had to hold onto the hope that no one was Rin's type and that when Rin was finally swept off of her feet she was the one doing it.
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xXx-Scene Break-xXx
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Quinn wasn't the least bit surprised when she turned out to be right and it was Suzumi-sensei that was informing them of their genin assignments. There was a little bit of curiosity that spread through most of the class at her presence, especially since the only explanation she gave was that both Iruka-sensei and Mizuki were currently indisposed and that was it. However the curiosity soon gave way to excitement as Suzumi-sensei began to read off their teams.
Quinn found herself growing more and more excited as well, because with each passing team neither herself nor her sister and friends had been named increasing the chance that they would be assigned together. Best case scenario was splitting them in half, two and two to a team. Quinn would love it if all of them could be together, it would certainly help to ease her nerves about all of this, but if she and Ino were teamed together and then Naruto and Sakura, or her and Sakura and Ino or Naruto, or some combination of that then that wouldn't be too bad.
Worst case was none of them were assigned together. She knew her sister and her friends were capable but she couldn't help but worry about them and she would feel a lot better if they were teamed up in some way. At least then she knew that there would always be someone to watch their back. If none of them were assigned together then all of her friends were facing the unknown, alone. Almost as bad, at least in Quinn's opinion was if three of them were assigned together and one of them was left out.
She could live with it as long as Ino, Sakura, and Naruto were teamed up. Then they could all look after each other, however if she wasn't the one separated from the group then that left one of them all alone and without their friends to back them up. And yes, genin teams were supposed to grow close, and they usually did if her mom's team and her father's team were any indication. But none of those people were her, she didn't know them and she didn't trust them. At least not with the lives of her friends and her sister.
However with each passing name and as each new team was assigned the odds were getting better and better for them to be teamed up together. The first stroke of luck came as Quinn heard Suzume-sensei call out team seven.
"Haruno, Sakura…"
All four friends perk up, listening intently.
"Uzumaki, Naruto…"
This gets a loud cheer from Naruto and a happy giggle from Sakura. Naruto and Sakura exchange a look and then bump fists, both of them quite pleased by the news. The last name called out is, "Uchiha, Sasuke."
Naruto's shoulders slump and he scowls over at Sasuke. He pretty much couldn't stand Sasuke and the feeling was quite mutual. But the fact that he was also teamed up with Sakura meant it didn't get to him too much. Sakura didn't seem to mind the team up either, though she was feeling a little apprehensive about Sasuke. Quinn personally felt a little sorry for Sakura because there was a good chance that she would be doing quite a bit of refereeing between the two boys.
Sasuke's feelings were mixed as well. On the one hand, he was super pissed to be on the same team as Naruto… yeah, a lot of refereeing on Sakura's part, but he also seemed to be fairly okay with being placed on Sakura's team, though he didn't show it. He was also quite jealous of Sakura considering she was one of the three students, counting herself and Ino who had knocked him from his spot at the top of the class.
Another strong feeling coming from the naming of this team was from Hinata Hyuga. The poor girl had a massive crush on Naruto and the only person in the world who didn't seem to know was Naruto. Hinata was a shy girl, Naruto had described her as weird and gloomy, for which Quinn had cuffed him upside the head and told him to be nice. She was feeling quite devastated right now that she wasn't on Naruto's team and very annoyed that Sakura was.
Hinata was always polite, and a little twitchy in Quinn's honest opinion, but Quinn couldn't recall a time she'd ever seen the girl act out or even raise her voice. If Quinn couldn't sense the emotions of others, Hinata would appear quite calm. However she could and Quinn was well aware of the fact that Hinata was very jealous of Sakura right now.
Quinn gives the girl a little wave and a smile when their eyes meet, but Hinata quickly turns away and not even a minute later Hinata is named to team 8 along with the class clown, and ass hole in Quinn's opinion, Kiba Inuzuka and a quiet kid named Shino who was ranked fifth in their class. She knew it was harsh and she tried really hard to remember that these were all kids, only eleven to thirteen years old, but Kiba stomped on her very last nerve and so Quinn was feeling quite relieved to not be on the same team as him.
As Quinn did a quick glance around the room she realized something, there were only seven people unassigned to a team left. Someone wasn't going to be put into a team with their classmates and Quinn had a horrible sinking sensation of who going to be left out. Team nine is named, and neither she nor Ino are called. The final four students are herself, Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji. Chouji didn't seem to have noticed yet, but the appraising look that Shikamaru is giving her and Ino and the nervous glance that Ino is giving her lets Quinn know that they've both noticed the lack of people as well.
"Team ten will consist of Akimichi, Chouji. Nara, Shikamaru. And Yamanaka, Ino."
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Author's Note: That's it for this chapter, fallout from team selections will be next chapter as well as a real introduction to a couple of familiar Naruto characters. Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed.
