Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Naruto.
s
xXx-Chapter 20-xXx
s
The shinobi psychiatrist could go fuck himself for all she cared. She had been dealing with everything just fine until she talked to that asshole. Quinn had just left the interview much angrier than when she had gone in. She hadn't wanted to talk about what happened at all but acknowledged that maybe she should. After all, her father had said she should, it was required of her, so why not try and get as much out of it as she could. Besides, how many times back in her old world has someone said she needed therapy anyway, though usually not with her best interest at heart?
However, after twenty minutes into her three hour interview, yes that's right, three freaking hours of that bullshit, she basically got the impression that her therapist was trying to get her to admit that she enjoyed killing and that she had purposely sought out the fight so that she could feed her blood lust. Not in those exact words, but that was the impression she got.
He asked her things like, "Would you describe your fight as exhilarating then?" and "You must have felt powerful, knowing you held control over Mizuki's life and death."
Yeah she was done after that. Any time he asked her a question she responded with a rule from the Shinobi code.
"Did you feel a thrill when you engaged the traitor Mizuki?"
She answered with Rule number 7, "A Shinobi knows no emotion, only the mission."
"You must have felt a sense of pride knowing your training has paid off, after all you took on a much more experienced opponent and won."
Shinobi Rule number 13, "Pride is a weakness, overconfidence will kill you as sure as any blade."
On and on it went, she was actually worried that she was going to run out of rules to quote before her time was finally up. When she was leaving he told her that he would submit his report but that in his opinion she was cleared for active duty, and if that changed she would be informed.
Quinn just flipped him off as she left and had said, "I don't care." It wasn't so much the questions he asked as much as the way he asked them. He wasn't sympathetic to her situation, which was fine, he should be neutral. But he wasn't even robotic about it or indifferent either, every question he asked had an eagerness to it that honestly left her baffled. He masked it well, but couldn't hide it from her, not completely.
Quinn decides to head to her training spot by the river to get some real training in. Tomorrow she would be meeting with her sensei and she wanted to make a good first impression. Whoever it was had obviously thought highly enough of her to take her on as an apprentice and whoever they were they must be skilled because an apprenticeship needed to be approved by the Hokage. And she felt she knew Sarutobi-sensei well enough to know he wouldn't have just handed her off to anyone who asked.
It's as she's walking through downtown Konoha that she realizes she's being followed. Her evaluation having taken place at Shinobi Headquarters, the same building where missions were doled out and the Hokage's office was, so she had a bit of a trek to where her family's lands were.
Quinn was a sensor type, quite possibly the most powerful sensor this village had ever produced. At least if she wasn't right now she was well on her way, according to the Hokage anyway. Her abilities continued to grow and develop naturally in this area. Like with her being able to find Naruto when no one else could. It had taken her a while to locate him with how much his signature had been suppressed because of all the seals that Mizuki had laid the area with but it had only slowed her down, it hadn't stopped her. No one else was able to sense anyone in that area that night and yet she could. And she had recently discovered that if she was familiar enough with the other person's signature, so people like her parents, Ino, Naruto, and Sakura, she could actually tell you their dominant elemental affinity. Most sensors would kill to have a gift as strong as hers and yet hers was natural and still growing.
So even with her ability suppressed so she didn't feel like she was being bombarded with chakra, she was more or less aware of what was going on around her. And who ever this person was that was following her they were keeping their chakra suppressed to give the illusion of being an average person, ordinary, nothing to worry about. They were doing a good job of it too, however she could tell their chakra levels weren't naturally that low.
A person's chakra fluctuated and pulsed naturally. Even in those who couldn't actually access their chakra there was still a pulse to it, a beat of sorts. A person who was suppressing their chakra didn't have this pulse, it was always steady and even. It was unnatural. The fact that they were tailing her from the rooftops gave them away as well. Not just by the fact that they were following her from rooftop but also because when they leapt from building to building there should have been at least a small fluctuation in their chakra indicating its use, even if it was just the tiniest amount. You had to have perfect, and Quinn meant perfect, control to keep your signature steady while using your chakra.
There were other signs to indicate that this person was following her as well. Spotting a tail was a bit like wandering around like a lost drunk. You took weird turns, doubled back, stopped and sped up. Eventually a tail would have to do something to keep you in sight that would give them away. This person's tell was that their distance from her never changed. Their position around her did, but the distance did not, and she noted that it was the perfect distance for a close range assassination technique.
Quinn pauses at a clothing stall and pretends to examine some fabric while she considers her options. If she headed home she would have her mother as backup, but her mom had been out of active duty for years now and she had no idea how strong her tail actually was. She could head back to Shinobi Headquarters, but then they may give up on her and she could lose track of them. She could also meet up with her father.
He was currently in a meeting with the Hokage in his office at the "secret" T&I area of Shinobi Intelligence Headquarters. She had been sworn to secrecy as to its exact location because she wasn't technically cleared to know that information, but because her father worked there and she could sense him even through the suppression seals that were supposed to prevent that kind of thing, she knew where it was.
It would be a little hilarious if she led her stalker strait to the Torture and Interrogation center of their village. Her father seemed angry right now and with his current mood he would find out real quick what it was her tail wanted from her. But honestly, and she knew it was a little stupid of her… okay extremely stupid of her, and if she ever found out Ino, Naruto, or Sakura ever pulled something like she was about to she would kick their asses from here to Suna, but she kind of wanted a fight right now.
She was still pissed off from her evaluation and wanted to let off some steam. But, whoever this was they weren't going to make a move on her in crowded down town Konoha, where she was surrounded by allied Shinobi. She places an order for the cloth she had been holding, it was pretty enough that she didn't mind the expenditure and once she's told them where to send it, instead of turning right to go home she turns left towards the training fields.
She eventually finds her way into a deserted field where she can sense nearby shinobi in case this goes south for her. A jōnin and their genin team south of her, two chūnin training together to the east, her pursuer north of her and Konoha main to the west. She then heads out to the middle of the field and stands there, content in her evaluation that if they wanted to engage her they would have to physically reveal themselves and lose the cover that the trees would provide them. The downside to her current positon was that she was out of range of anything she could currently use for Substitution Jutsu, which is something she tried to avoid. Still if she was going to do this, no sense in waiting.
"Look, I don't know who you are and right now I frankly don't care. You know I know you're there, so just end this game, whatever it is and walk away." Quinn calls out.
They don't respond, instead they try and suppress their chakra even more and change their position, moving from tree to tree, hoping to hide from her but it was too late for that. She had been following their signature for long enough that they were now somewhat familiar to her. Too familiar for them to hide from her, at least in a deserted area like this. If they were still downtown, then maybe, just maybe they could have gotten themselves lost in the hustle and bustle of the crowd.
"Fine. Have it your way." Quinn says, before she dashes at full speed towards the tree that her stalker was hiding in. And the second they are in range she throws up the tiger symbol and breathes out a Fire Ball Jutsu. Which currently had the longest range of any of her techniques.
The figure jumps out of the way and reveals itself as they charge in at her at an incredible speed. They're cloaked in black and are wearing a plain white mask that conceals their face. They have their blade drawn and quicker than a cat could blink they thrust at her, the blade aimed towards her heart. Luckily for Quinn she had trained with the Substitution Jutsu with the Third Hokage so activating it was pretty much muscle memory for her and she felt the familiar tugging sensation of the technique activating.
She uses the split second where she and her replacement are crossing paths to place one of Naruto's homemade explosive tags on it. That should be a nasty little surprise for them. The explosion goes off just as she reappears in her new location and Quinn wastes no time in activating her favorite technique, the Phoenix Flower Jutsu. Nine little balls of flame appear around her and she launches them in rapid succession at her target.
The exploding tag hadn't hit them, they had gotten out of the way too quickly but it left them open to her Phoenix Flower. Even still, only two of her nine flames hit and they were only grazing shots at best. They come at her again, and once more Quinn can't help but marvel at their speed. She had never seen anyone move this fast before. However, despite this Quinn is still able to substitute out of the way again where once more she launches a stream of Phoenix Flowers, but this time none of them hit.
'Not good.' Quinn growls internally, after only two assaults they had already picked up on her attack pattern. Whoever this person was, they were even better than she initially thought. They had adapted to her after only two attacks, she would have to switch it up.
She substitutes out of the way one more time, but instead of the Phoenix Flower Jutsu she activates the Grand Fireball Jutsu, which was her most defensive fire technique. Whereas the Fireball Jutsu had a lot of range to it, the Grand Fireball Jutsu had a much shorter range but covered a wider area. The best application of this jutsu was to create a wall of fire around yourself that your enemy couldn't penetrate.
Quinn can sense her opponent stop short just outside the flames and she uses that moment to Body Flicker away and up into the trees. She hides among the branches and suppresses her chakra as much as she can. She wasn't sure if she was dealing with another sensor type or not and didn't want to take any chances.
Her opponent stands perfectly still as they try to locate her and Quinn takes a moment to assess her situation. She could make a break for it and try and reach some back up but this person, whoever they were, were a lot faster than she had thought and so she gave herself about a 30, maybe 40, percent chance of actually reaching the nearby Jonin ninja. The Chunin were out, she could sense their chakra and while judging by their levels they were definitely competent, they would be no match for this assailant.
Besides she wasn't quite ready to give up just yet. She still had a couple of tricks up her sleeve and a new jutsu that Sarutobi-sensei had taught her that she was dying to try out. She just needed the time to gather up the necessary chakra. She thinks back to the day she and her friends were playing tag with the paint pellets and how Naruto had used his jacket as a lure to lead her in and pelt her. Quinn smirks, that should do it. Quinn removes her top, leaving her only in her bindings and her skirt and lines her top with three more of Naruto's tags, charging them.
She then places the top in the leaves, careful to not rustle even a single leaf until it looked like she was hiding there. She then jumps from the branch, taking care to make a small, almost accidental sound. Her opponents head snaps to their location and while Quinn body flickers back out to the middle of the field her attacker slices through her top, which then explodes, and even from her current distance she can feel the shockwave.
If she had a moment to spare Quinn would have taken the time to appreciate just how potent those tags that Naruto had made for her were. She didn't want to take advantage of him or anything but Quinn seriously doubted she would ever use a tag he didn't make again.
Quinn begins the process of converting her chakra trying to get to her threshold point as quickly as possible. Doing so made her fire techniques much easier to perform than just gathering chakra the normal way, and currently the only way she could pull off this new technique was at her threshold. Though the time it took for her to convert her chakra up to that point left her vulnerable. She manages to reach her threshold point quickly enough though and just in time too because as she's reaching it her attacker comes rushing out of the woods at her. Their cloak is charred and the mask is cracked though not broken. So her tags had done more than just distract them, good.
Her hands fly into the seals, Tiger-Ox-Snake-Rabbit-Ox-Rat-Dragon-Ox-Tiger. She then shouts out the name of the technique. It was a difficult technique and she hadn't had the time to remove any of the steps yet, "Fire style Fiend-Fyre Jutsu!" She then takes a deep breath feeling the super-heated chakra gather in her belly and then she releases it in one long drawn out breath.
A crimson red flame spews forth from her mouth and begins to spread out away from her and towards her attacker rapidly consuming everything in its path. The flames taking on the shapes of various beasts as it rushes away from her, the creatures twisted and angry, forming and reforming as they charge towards her target.
Her attacker is forced to go on the defensive as her Fiend-Fire desperately attempts to consume them. Jumping, ducking and weaving their way away from the beasts hidden within the flame. Fiend-Fire Jutsu was her most powerful technique. It used her chakra to create an almost living flame that burned hotter than any other technique she could produce. The flame would spread and grow as it consumed the landscape, taking on the shape of various beasts, of which she could direct and somewhat control thanks to her sensor ability which allowed her to keep track of where her opponent was.
Unfortunately for her this technique was super chakra intensive and even with her larger reserves she couldn't hold it for very long and she couldn't do it at all if she wasn't at her threshold point. She can feel her chakra levels draining and so she reluctantly cuts off the technique, ending it. She then reaches for her kunai and charges at her opponent, who was just finishing up with the last of the sentient flame before it consumed the last of its available chakra and downgraded into a normal fire which would burn itself out rather quickly. The field and nearby trees around her were burned beyond recognition, scorched to ash and stubble.
As Quinn charges in she uses some of her dwindling reserves to activate the Phoenix Flower Jutsu again, the small flames spinning around her before launching at her opponent like rockets, throwing them off balance as they have to jump around to avoid the flame right to where Quinn wanted them. Quinn leaps into the air and plants both of her feet into her opponent's chest and kicks with all her might knocking them down to the ground.
She uses the momentum of her kick to springboard off her opponent and into a backflip off of them and into a runner's start where she then rushes towards them again, straddling their chest, and using her legs to pin their arms down. She then brings her kunai up to their throat and press against it so that even the tiniest little motion on her part would end with their throat being slit.
"Who are you!? Why were you following me!?" Quinn snarls.
They give a light, amused, laugh, a pleasant feminine sound, indicating for the first time since this started that her stalker was a woman. "Color me impressed." She says. "I knew you were talented, but you just exceeded my every expectation."
Quinn doesn't move, but she does allow a confused look to cross her face. "Who are you?"
"Why don't you get off me and we'll discuss all of this." They say, their tone reasonable.
Quinn's features harden and she leans into her blade a little more, "Not happening, now tell me who you are."
The woman lets out a sigh, "Fine, we'll do this the hard way." The woman stops suppressing her chakra and the potency of her reserves is enough to startle Quinn, just enough for her to lose her focus and before she can even blink or think to counter she's on her stomach with their knee in her back and her arm twisted behind her as she's pinned down.
Quinn reaches for her kunai pouch with her free hand, ignoring the uncomfortable pulling sensation in her shoulder. However before she can reach one of her weapons her assailant's hand grabs hers. "Hey now, none of that. We're done okay. I apologize, it was a mistake for me to set up our meeting this way, especially so soon after your first experience in combat, but I'm kind of glad I did." They say in a soothing voice, as they slowly release their hold on her.
"You're even better than I was told." they say, taking a step back.
"Who are you?" Quinn asks, as she gets to her feet. If they wanted to talk she would talk. It wasn't like she had much of a choice in the matter. She was completely outclassed, but she still instinctively took a defensive stance, not that it would do her any good now that she could fully sense this woman's power.
They pull down their hood and remove their mask, long, luxurious purple hair cascading down, framing the face of a very beautiful woman. "My name is Yugao Uzuki and I'm your new sensei."
Quinn is startled by the revelation. "M-my sensei?"
"Yes." The other woman says with a pleasant smile.
s
xXx-Scene Break-xXx
s
Inoichi was currently going over Morino Ibiki's report on a shinobi runner that had been captured trying to cross the neutral zone between the lands of Fire and Lighting. Anytime there was an issue in that area the report came to him directly and he looked into it personally. The last thing Konoha wanted right now was another war to break out between themselves and Kumo.
Inoichi looks up when he hears his door open, "Sorry to intrude but I believe we have some things to discuss."
"Lord Hokage." Inoichi says, standing to show his respect, though his tone remains even and neutral. He wasn't thrilled with their leader right now and he had requested a meeting with the Third at his earliest convenience. Though he hadn't expected the other man to actually come and see him.
The Third shuts the door behind him and motions for Inoichi to take a seat before taking one himself. "I feel I owe you an apology."
"Lord Hokage I…" Inoichi pauses for a moment, "I understand and must accept that now that my daughters have graduated from the academy and are genin that they are now your soldiers to command as you will. But before that and forever, they will always be my daughters." Here Inoichi gets straight to the point and why he was not happy with the Third. "Why was Rin singled out for an apprenticeship and moreover, why was I not informed nor consulted, or even asked by the jōnin involved. Realizing that under the strictest legal sense a jōnin only needs your permission to take on an apprentice, but at her age, custom would dictate that they would speak to me and my wife about it. The fact that I had to find out from Rin herself that she was chosen for an apprenticeship and not from the jōnin involved or you and that I still have no idea who it is and that it was still approved by you, I can't help but think that I was purposely left in the dark and the reason for this is because I would not approve."
The Third lets out a tired sigh, "Having daughters is so very different than having sons, isn't it? I myself was blessed with a son and two daughters. My son, through no fault of his own, is estranged from me and it is only recently that we've begun to make amends. One of my daughters, my eldest, never joined the shinobi forces. She wanted to be a baker and so she runs a rather modest, though successful bakery with her husband. As for my youngest daughter… I was both blessed and cursed in the same way you are."
"Lord Hokage?"
"A daughter is a true blessing, as a father of two you know what I mean, you understand the light that a daughter brings into her father's life. Unfortunately, like myself, you have two daughters who are turning into exceptionally talented kunoichi. Ino, your eldest, is following in your own footsteps, almost verbatim and is in fact further along than you were at her age. She may very likely hold your job one day."
"I am very proud of the progress that Ino has made, that both my daughters have made." Inoichi responds.
"As you should be. But as talented as your Ino is, Rin is a rare prodigy and her skills have not gone unnoticed. I myself was intrigued by what I was hearing about her and decided to see for myself if what I was hearing about her was true. I am pleased to say that she surprised even me."
"Lord Hokage, please speak plainly with me. What is this all leading to?" Inoichi asks, a sinking feeling settling in his chest. He had an idea but he wanted to hear it out loud.
"Very well." The Hokage responds evenly, though Inoichi can see the sympathy in his eyes. "You as a father will, no matter how powerful they get, no matter how they may surpass you one day, you will always view them through the eyes of a father. You will always see them as yours to protect. And that's the curse of having kunoichi for daughters. Because once they graduate they become kunoichi first and your daughters second."
Inoichi's fists clench in anger because as much as he wanted to he couldn't argue that. He knew it to be true and he hated it, hated that he couldn't change it. But there was no censure in the Hokage's voice, only fact.
"Rin is a prodigy. A genius if you like, I don't know if it's natural or… or if it has to do with how she came into this world, but she has a mind sharper than most and a natural talent in picking up and mastering shinobi techniques. It was truly astounding to me how fast she picked up on what I taught her and what she has come up with on her own. Training with her, it was obvious to me that your daughter was meant to be a ninja. Please forgive the comparison but I've only ever had one student who took to my training as quickly as she did."
Inoichi scowls at that, not wanting his sweet Rin to ever be mentioned in even the same sentence as that depraved traitor. But he couldn't argue with what the Third was saying. He and Megumi had both talked about how naturally the shinobi arts came to Rin.
"But in addition to how obvious it was to see how talented she is, it was also obvious to me that she was holding herself back."
"Rin, she just wants to-"
"To protect her friends, to protect her sister. I know, I was very impressed with how dedicated she was to that idea. And that idea, that desire to protect her sister and her friends, has both pushed her and held her back. No matter how hard her sister and her friends trained they were always one step behind Rin. Am I correct?"
Inoichi reluctantly nods.
"She probably isn't even aware that she is doing it, but she has kept herself at her friends' level in order to help them excel. And it worked, Ino and Sakura Haruno are both barely out of the academy and already at a chūnin level of skill in some areas and incredibly talented for genin in others. And Naruto went from the very dead last in his class to the top fifteen and he has even begun to pursue the sealing arts and is showing quite an aptitude for it as well. And while their own hard work in reaching their current level is to be praised, it was Rin, sacrificing her own growth to assist them that allowed them to reach the heights that they have."
The Third Hokage leans slightly forward, "She would already be in active service if she hadn't turned down the opportunity to graduate early. She didn't even hesitate and I knew she wouldn't the moment I gave the approval for the academy to offer it to her. I knew that Rin would choose her sister and her friends over her career and she wouldn't lose a second of sleep over it. Rin has no ambition as a ninja other than to protect those important to her."
"I remember that day." Inoichi chuckles softly, "She…" he shakes his head fondly, "She just rolled her eyes when I asked about it and said she would graduate soon enough and that she was in no hurry. I was proud of her for that." Inoichi says, his voice slightly defiant. "That she would choose her sister and her friends over her career."
"I agree. But that time is over. To place Rin on a team, a standard genin team, would stunt her growth. She would slow herself down so that she could continue to be at the same level as her teammates so that she could help them excel. A traditional genin team," here the Hokage shrugs, "It wouldn't be enough for her, at least not enough to help her truly grow. She's ready for active duty, her fight with Mizuki proved that. Only inexperience on her part and the presence of Naruto and an injured Iruka made that fight more difficult for her than it should have been."
"Rin needs a more advanced setting. An apprenticeship, a one on one teacher to student interaction that can propel her to the heights she is capable of but won't allow herself to currently reach. And so for the good of the village, for the good of Rin herself, I asked a favor of one of my ninja to consider taking Rin under their wing."
"Who?"
"Yugao Uzuki."
"She agreed?!" Inoichi asks, shocked. Yugao Uzuki along with Might Guy and Kakashi Hatake were the strongest active jōnin in the village. Which one actually was the strongest was a matter of hot debate in the lower ranks. "I thought she was serving in the ANBU forces."
"She was, but for personal reasons that I am not inclined to share she has agreed to take on Rin as an apprentice. And so I have granted her a leave of absence from the ANBU forces to do so."
"You want to fast track her." Inoichi says, it's a statement of fact, not a question. And as he says it he can feel the heaviness in his chest increase tenfold.
"Yes. And I should tell you that even as we speak, Yugao is making first contact with Rin."
"I thought the meeting wasn't set until tomorrow." Inoichi says in a defeated voice. Fast tracking a shinobi was basically rushing them through the ranks and into active duty, it often ended up being emotionally and psychologically scarring to the shinobi involved, but it was considered at times a necessary evil. He had always been vehemently opposed to the concept but was never able to do anything about it because the results were all too often successful in fulfilling the needs of the village. Even at the expense of the shinobi. He had thought, had hoped, that because of what happened with the last Shinobi to be fast tracked that the program would be ended. The last shinobi being Itachi Uchiha who ended up murdering his entire clan.
"Before Rin graduated I had Yugao complete one more mission for me, she wasn't due back until tomorrow but she finished early and so wanted to get started right away. Inoichi, I want you to watch this. Not with the eyes of a father, but with those of a ninja." The Third says gently before his hands clap together, "Crystal Viewing Jutsu." He then places his hands on Inoichi's desk and there is a small flash of chakra and when it disappears a crystal ball is sitting on his desk and inside of it he can see is his daughter Rin.
"Watch her Inoichi, watch your daughter. See how she moves through the crowded streets. Seemingly without a care in the world, but she knows, she's aware she's being followed. Yugao is quite simply the best in this area and yet your daughter has still picked her out. Her sensor abilities and her own skills are coming to bare. Watch how she moves, every stop, every turn, every step is done with deliberate action. No move is wasted, she's gathering intel on her tail and you would never even know it."
Inoichi watches as his daughter marks her tail and then leads them to an empty training field. He then watches as Rin engages them in combat. He always knew that Rin was more combat oriented than her sister, but he had never seen her go all out like that. Every move she made was planned and executed with perfect precision. She knew exactly what she was doing and when her first plan didn't work she adapted. There were a couple of things that a more experienced shinobi would have done differently, but that experience would come in time. All in all she was engaging her opponent at a level well beyond what any genin would and even some chūnin. Inoichi watches in awe when he sees the destructive power of her final fire release technique.
"I taught her that just before her graduation. As a gift to her, so she would have a technique with real power behind it. But it was also a test, one that you can see she has passed with flying colors. That technique you just saw her use is an A-Rank Kinjutsu that I developed myself called the Fiend Fyre Jutsu. The flames feed off the user's chakra to come to life, gaining a will of their own. It is a difficult technique for even me to control but look at her. It's hard on her reserves but the flames obey her every whim. And the funny thing is, for any other ninja her proficiency with that technique would be more than enough, but I know your daughter, I know Rin, for her, what she's capable of now still isn't good enough."
He then watches as Rin abruptly ends the technique and in a matter of seconds pins her opponent. "Enough." Inoichi says and the Third ends the technique, the crystal ball disappearing. "What are your plans for her?" The Third was right, if she wasn't his daughter even he would agree she needed to be fast tracked. Even he could see that, as much as he wished otherwise.
"It is my hope that within the year she will have passed the chūnin exams and will have accepted an offer to join the ANBU ranks."
"Does she have a choice?" Inoichi snarls, standing up and pacing. He wasn't opposed to his daughters being shinobi, and he wasn't even opposed to them serving in ANBU, though he would caution any ninja considering it to think carefully. If a ninja's life was among the shadows, then ANBU was darkness itself. A normal shinobi faced a lot of death and destruction but compared to those who served in ANBU, everyone else lived in the light. If choosing to serve that way is where his daughters ended up he would support it one hundred percent, but it had to be their choice and from where he was standing it didn't seem like his Rin was getting one. Something about all of this just didn't feel right, but he couldn't place his finger on it.
"Of course she does. I've told Yugao to be completely upfront with Rin about it and you have my permission to speak with her about this as much as you and she wish. But we both know that she will do this, that she'll accept the offer. She wishes to protect her friends and preserve their innocence. She'll do it so they don't have to."
"You son of bitch." Inoichi growls. Upfront with Rin or not, it was manipulation at its finest. The offer would be made in such a way that even with Rin being aware of it, it would push every button she had, agitate every anxiety. She would know what was happening and allow it to happen anyway.
The Third bows his head as he rises and heads to the door. He pauses there for a moment and when he speaks his voice is gruff, full of held back emotions. "You and I are both blessed and cursed Inoichi. We were blessed to have daughters in our lives and cursed that they have exceled in the shinobi arts. My youngest daughter, the one who became a kunoichi. She died in the last war, it was a suicide mission to destroy a bridge that was essential in resupplying enemy forces. I sent her on that mission myself, knowing full well that she likely wouldn't make it back, but her and her team were the best suited for the job. And so… I gave the order. We are shinobi and above that we are leaders in this village, we don't have the luxury of being fathers first."
s
xXx—xXx
s
Author's Note: This was a really difficult chapter for me to write in terms of just telling this story. Up until now I've had a couple of different ways that I was considering taking this story but I couldn't quite decide on which direction to take it, in writing this chapter, for good or ill, I finally had to commit to a path. Rin/Quinn's story has just taken a very dangerous turn, and things have finally been set into motion. One of the things that was really important to me when I started writing this story is that it wasn't just a retelling of the anime with a new character added to the bunch. I wanted there to be an over-all arching story that was being led up to. This chapter and the next are extremely important to the over-all story, and so I truly hope you all do enjoy it.
