Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or Glee. This is a little bit shorter chapter than usual, and for that I apologize, I just felt that where I end this chapter was the best place to do so.
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xXx-Chapter 26-xXx
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Things were tense as they ran, jumping from tree top to tree top. You wouldn't think that traveling like that would allow for a very fast pace of movement but her home wasn't called the village hidden in the leaves for nothing. The same way that Suna could travel unhindered through the desert and Kiri could move through the mists as if it were clear as day, Konoha had perfected traveling through the forest.
They moved in formation, as fast as the lead team could go. Nine teams total counting her own unit, which carried an additional fourth person for a total of 28 People. Her father's team, the seven teams of three forming the platoon that was at their disposal and then there was her team, currently at the back, being led by Hana and her three dogs. They had been running all day, but even at their current pace, with minimum breaks for food and rest they were still a day out from East Castle.
Quinn found herself in a bit of awe at Hana. She had to admit that she had always kind of underestimated the Inuzuka clan, granted her only interaction was with Kiba, but still, how ninja-like could a dog be, really? Apparently pretty freaking ninja, the dogs had no trouble keeping up and in fact moved and interweaved between the team with such grace and agility that it left Quinn in a bit of awe. She knew about ninken, trained animals that assisted their ninja masters, the Inuzuka clan being the most famous clan to utilize them, but by no means the only ninja to do so, but Quinn kind of always thought they'd be more of a hindrance than a help.
She catches her sensei's glance at out of the corner of her eye, and her sensei gives her a grin, and signs at her, "Pretty cool, huh?"
"Yeah, look at them move."
"Never underestimate an opponent who is confident enough to bring an animal into a ninja fight, it might be the last thing you ever do."
Quinn nods her head, "Maybe I should look into getting one."
Her sensei signs something to her but Quinn isn't quite able to catch it, she was picking up shinobi-sign-language fairly quickly, but she wasn't fluent yet.
Quinn furrows her brow, "Repeat, please."
It takes her a few tries but is finally able to make out what her sensei was saying, "It is possible though I wouldn't recommend it unless it's part of a summon contract. Most ninja and ninken train their entire lives together to reach the level that you see before you. There are exceptions of course, Kakashi Hatake has a couple of ninken dogs that he utilizes to great effect, but people like him are the exception."
"Sorry, sensei, I'm still trying to get this down." Quinn signs, after she finally gets what was being said.
"Don't worry about it, you're picking it up just fine." Her sensei signs back with a wink.
A few minutes later Quinn is able to sense the rest of the group halting, and Hana holds up her hand motioning for them to stop a moment later. The entire platoon drops out of the trees, with her father and his group landing in the middle. "We'll break here for the night, we leave at first light." Shikaku says.
The teams then break off to make camp.
"They must be expecting the worst." Hizashi says.
"What do you mean?" Quinn asks.
"We're stopping for the night, the fact is, if we picked up the pace and traveled through the night, we could make East Castle by dawn, but we would all be exhausted. By resting, when we reach the Castle tomorrow, we'll still be tired but we'll at least be in a condition to fight." Yugao answers.
It doesn't take them long to set up camp, but no campfires were allowed just in case enemy scouts had been deployed, so cold, dry rations were the meal of the night. Not that it mattered to Quinn, she was too stressed out to eat more than a few bites anyway.
"So…" Hana hums, curious, "You're supposed to be this super powerful sensor type, but how strong are you, really?"
"I too find myself intrigued, Yugao even said you outclass her as a sensor and she's arguably one of the strongest the village has ever had." Hizashi adds.
Quinn is silent, not sure quite what to say. People always made a big deal of it, but she had always had this ability, at least here in this world, she didn't really know how to describe it. It was just a part of who she was now.
"She picked me out of a crowd while I was stalking her, so that should give you some idea." Yugao says, before nodding at her, "go ahead kid."
Quinn hesitates for a moment before finally deciding to just go with a general description of what she was currently capable of.
"If I'm familiar with someone's chakra signature, I can pick them out of any crowd no matter how much they suppress their chakra. You would literally have to cut off your chakra, remove it completely if you want to hide from me. If I'm not concentrating, as long as I'm not suppressing my gift, I have a range of about a five mile radius with near perfect accuracy, if you have chakra and you're within that range, I'll know you're there. As for my full range… I don't know. I've never needed to test it before, but I do know that it extends throughout the entire village no matter where I am, it's just a matter of… focusing it I guess, and interpreting the information. Judging by their reserves I can also usually estimate with some accuracy how strong someone is. Though it isn't perfect, sensei for example, when we first met she was suppressing her chakra, I knew she was strong but I severely underestimated just how strong and my friend Naruto has more chakra than anyone I've ever met, but he's only a genin right now so, like I said, not always accurate but I'm usually pretty close. I can also sense people's emotions through their chakra and I'm also starting to be able to pick up on people's chakra affinities, I need to concentrate on them or else be fairly familiar with them, but, it's not hard."
Hana whistles, "Cool, do me."
"Buy me dinner first." Quinn quips without thinking before turning bright red.
Hana goes red for a second too before busting out laughing, followed closely by Yugao, and even Hizashi starts to chuckle.
"I… um, what I mean is…"
"Alright, it's a date." Hana says with a wink.
"First the ramen girl and now Hana, you sure do like the older ladies." Yugao teases.
"Ramen girl? Now this I have to hear." Hana laughs.
"There's this girl at Ichiraku's Ramen Stand, really cute, brunette too now that I think about it." Yugao says with a pointed and amused look at Hana. "Rin and I went there the day we met, because, and I quote there were other reasons to go there."
"Awe, what's her name?" Hana asks, looking at Rin.
It was obvious to Quinn, even without her ability to sense emotions, that the teasing was all in good fun and there was no maliciousness behind it, but it was still hitting a really sore spot for her. Back in her old world she had a horrible track record with relationships. Pregnant and homeless at sixteen, cheater and cheated on, called unfeeling and dumped at a funeral, dead, trying to stop a wedding so that she could tell the girl she loved that she was in fact, in love with her. Knowing that in doing so she had every chance of being kicked out of her home again because of it. And in this world, she didn't even have the chance to screw up a relationship here. With her secrets she could never be with anyone in any real way, ever. If Quinn knew one thing about relationships it was this, secrets killed them. Besides, with her chosen career and the path it was taking… "It doesn't matter," Quinn says quietly as she stands up, "I'll probably be dead in the next year or so anyway."
"Rin, wait-" Yugao says, feeling extremely guilty.
"It's fine, if you would all please excuse me, I need some air." Quinn doesn't wait for any kind of response, instead leaping into the trees and putting as much distance between herself and the camp as she logistically could. It was her own fault, she had been the one to open herself up to that with her stupid comment, it was just such an obvious opening and as she said it, it sounded exactly like something Santana would have said. She just needed to clear her head, calm down, and then head back and apologize.
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xXx-Scene Break-xXx
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"Hey kid." Yugao says softly, landing next to her on the branch she was sitting on and standing next to her.
"I'm sorry sensei… that was unacceptable behavior on my part."
"No, I'm the one who's sorry. You know it was just teasing, right?"
Quinn nods, "I know, I… it doesn't matter, I overreacted."
"Rin… you've chosen a difficult path but…" Yugao trails off uncertainly.
"I asked daddy about it," Quinn interrupts, "the highest death rate within ANBU is the first two years. If you can make it past that point, your survival rate starts to improve, but the odds are not in my favor. I know that, I signed up for it… it was my choice. I have no right to be sad or depressed with this life, it's greedy."
"It's not greedy to want more from life than just death and killing." Yugao says softly. The worst part was Rin was right, even under normal circumstances ANBU had a high mortality rate.
Maybe for a normal person, Quinn concedes in her mind, but this was her second chance. She had died and had been granted this life, she had been given a family that loved her, two best friends who meant the world to her and a sister whom words couldn't adequately describe how much she meant to her. She made a promise that if she was spared that she would do better, that she would be better. She promised that she would protect her sister from the worst this life had to offer. If a life of killing and death was the price she had to pay, then in her case, after all she had been given, it was greedy of her to ask for more.
"You're angry and feel guilty, don't." Quinn says, looking up at her sensei. "I chose this and… you've been really great so far, I've learned a lot from you and I know you're giving me my best shot at survival. I just need to suck it up, right?"
Yugao is silent for a moment as she contemplates what to say next. "You've found a reason to fight, your sister, your friends, and that can be a powerful thing, but, you're missing something. Something that in my opinion is just as important and that I don't think you've found yet."
"What am I missing?"
"A reason to live. I'm looking at you right now and I have no doubt that you'll throw yourself completely into a battle, that you won't freeze. No doubt in my mind. You have a reason to fight, but no reason to live and… you need one."
"I'm not suicidal." Quinn snaps, she had been through too much, fought too hard for anyone who didn't know her whole story to ever say that about her.
"I never said you were, I'm not saying you'll be reckless or that you won't be smart on this mission, I'm saying that if you're going to do this, you need something for you. A reason, a goal, an ambition. I think you don't see a future for yourself, and it's not that you want to die, it's that you expect to. So you have nothing to live for, I think you're in a mindset where you believe your death is inevitable and so you're doing everything you can to make sure that it has meaning."
Quinn is silent because what could she say to that, really? Yugao-sensei was right, she didn't see a future for herself and she did expect to die soon. Most likely bloody and alone.
"You're so busy fighting and growing stronger for others that you've neglected to find a reason to fight for yourself. You need a goal Rin, something beyond just protecting those you love, because without one, you will die, and it may be just the way you would want it to be, protecting those you love. But the will to live… it's a powerful thing, why die for those you love when you can live for them."
"I just… I don't know how, I… this whole concept of being a ninja terrifies me, and it's even worse because the people I love are… you mentioned that first day, you asked me how long would it be before my sister and friends are out there fighting, killing, dying. I have that answer, today, my sister and her team, Naruto, Sakura, they're all taking their first C-Rank missions today. And no, of course I don't expect it to be hardcore combat missions right off the bat, I mean Naruto and Sakura are just delivering a package to the fire capital, pretty safe, but it's a start. It's that first step away from innocence. And what about my father, if Uncle Shikaku… Lord Nara can't negotiate a peace with Kumo, my father is considered an acceptable sacrifice so that he can live… I can't see beyond that, I can't focus on anything beyond that… and I am so sick with worry, my stomach… I can't eat, I doubt I'll sleep, my mind is racing with scenario after scenario of what might happen to him and what I can do to stop it."
Yugao finally sits down next to Rin and places a hand on her shoulder. "I can't promise everything will be okay, but, I can promise that if things go to shit, we won't leave, we'll stay here and I'll help you protect your father."
"Really?"
"Yeah… I don't know how much we'll actually be able to do, but we won't abandon him, okay."
Quinn nods her head, grateful, because she honestly had no intention of leaving no matter what anyone said if her father had to stay. The fact that her sensei would back her on it was actually a bit of a relief. "Thank you, sensei."
Yugao doesn't say anything, she just nods in response. The two of them sit together in the silence and the dark. Yet in spite of the tense situation, and the uncertainty ahead, it's comfortable between them. Yugao knew her promise was a violation of a direct order from the Third, but right now she didn't care. If things went bad here she was to get Rin out of there no matter the cost. But she wouldn't, she would do everything she could to protect her student of course, but if this is where Rin was going to make a stand, possibly die, then that was her choice and it held so much more meaning than what was in store for her.
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xXx-Scene Break-xXx
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The tension built as they continued to run, it was almost daybreak and East Castle wasn't far. Quinn was doing her best to just focus on her breathing, she needed to meditate and badly, but it was just a little bit difficult to do while running. Her talk with her sensei last night had helped a bit, and neither Hizashi nor Hana had thought any less of her for her outburst last night, and in fact, Hana had waved off her apology and offered her own.
She couldn't think right now, she needed to be mindless, thinking wouldn't help her right now. So she focused on her breathing, in and out, in and out, steady and smooth as she leapt through the trees with her team. But her concentration is broken in an instant when she picks up the many chakra sources ahead.
"Senei!" She signs.
"I know, I just felt it too, can you tell how many, I'm still too far away, it's all one massive chakra source to me right now."
Quinn nods her head and concentrates, releasing completely her hold on her gift. Her senses expand and she is instantly aware of each individual chakra source ahead of them and the longer she focuses the more she is able to pick up. There were two large forces ahead facing off against each other, on the plus side, they weren't fighting, at least not anymore. However, one force greatly outnumbered the other and with the way the groups were concentrated, one surrounding the other, she sincerely doubted that it was her side that held the superior numbers. Even with the reinforcements that were coming the leaf shinobi were currently outnumbered two to one.
The one thing that could be said to be going in leaf's favor right now was the fact that it wasn't all high level ninja on the other side. It was mostly chunin and a few jonin, at what a quick estimate on her part figured it to be around two chunin for every jonin. Not great odds, but, assuming she was at least mostly accurate, they were outnumbered but not necessarily out classed.
Quinn continues to focus on the other side as she signs at her sensei, "Even with us bringing reinforcements we're still outnumbered two to one. But I'm not sensing anyone super strong, mostly chūnin and jōnin. We're outnumbered, but it could be worse…"
Quinn pauses, her heart catching in her throat. This was bad, this was really, really bad. She just had to tempt fate.
"Rin?" Hizashi asks quietly, breaking the silence.
"Call for a halt, my father and Lord Nara need to know this." Quinn says, coming to a stop. She then drops down to the ground and takes a meditative position. Trying to enhance and focus her abilities the best she could. She, a mere genin, was calling for a halt, she needed as much information on this as she could get to justify this kind of breach in protocol. She filters out the noise and fellow leaf shinobi as Hana rushes ahead to get her father and uncles.
"Rin, what's-" Hizashi starts to ask again, but Yugao hushes him, not wanting Rin's concentration broken. It had to be big if her student was doing something like this.
"What's going on?" Shikaku asks, appearing a few seconds later, followed by his team. The platoon having come to a complete stop and starting to gather around.
"Rin, are you okay?" Her father asks.
Quinn looks up at her father and says one word that changes everything about the Ino-Shika-Chou's battle plan, "Jinchūriki."
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xXx-xXx
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So, we don't really see it in the early anime too much, but Jinchuriki are supposed to be their villages ultimate weapon. We see it a bit with Gaara, a lot of Suna's strategy relies on him during the invasion, but it never really comes across just how devastating they're supposed to be. They're supposed to be battle altering forces of nature, and the villages with them are in a bit of a cold war state. They don't fully unleash them for fear of them being unleashed on them. So the fact that there is one waiting for them is huge and made the mission that much more dangerous.
