Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or Naruto or any of the characters, they belong to their respective owners. Also, please excuse any spelling and grammar errors, I try to catch them all but I know I'm not always successful.
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xXx- Chapter 40-xXx
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Yugao shut her eyes tightly and covered Hizashi's body with her own, for all the good it would do, as blue flames exploded around them. It's only as she realizes that she's not burning alive that she opens her eyes and sees Rin standing in front of them. Her arms are spread wide and a circle of red flames surround them and are keeping the blue ones at bay.
"Rin…?" Yugao asks, unable to keep the uncertainty from her voice.
Rin gives a humorless scoff that is borderline hysterical, "I don't know to be honest."
"Rin, what's happened to you?"
"I don't know." Rin answers, that hysterical edge still in her voice. "I… I feel like I'm going crazy, I'm… I'm so angry right now, and I feel sick inside, but for the moment at least, I'm in control."
Up close, Rin's fire form was even more mesmerizing to behold. She was truly living flame in a human form, contained perfectly. She shone with a warm light that left her feeling safe and at ease. "Rin, how…" Yugao looks at herself and Hizashi and realizes, "Rin, how are we not burning up? I saw you, your touch was…"
"I don't know… I don't know anything, I just…" Rin suddenly flinches, and for a brief second, the protective warmth that Rin was radiating became an intense, searing heat. Rin flinches and takes a shaky breath and the heat dies back down. "I don't want the flames to hurt you, so they don't. They're a part of me… and I them… I…"
"Rin, it's okay, I'm here." Yugao says, her voice soothing, she can tell that her student is mentally drained right now and is barely keeping a hold on herself.
"The flames… they're… they're a part of me, they feed off of my emotions and in turn heighten them… oh god… Hana…" Rin whimpers, and for a moment the heat rises again. Rin takes another shaky breath, "They feed off of my emotions and grow stronger as my emotions grow stronger, it's a cycle."
"Rin-"
"The demon is almost formed, once it does, you need to grab Hizashi and run, I'll draw it away."
"Rin! You can't be serious! There's no way I'm leaving you!"
"Please!" Rin cries out, and the flames seem to rage in response, "I can't… I can't keep my control much longer… it's too much… I… I… I…"
"Rin?"
"I… I can't protect you, I feel like I'm losing my mind! If you're here, you'll get caught in the crossfire and I won't care, all I want to do is… I hate her!" Rin snaps suddenly and the temperature rises again.
Yugao leans over Hizashi again to try and protect him from the flames, she could feel the flesh on her back start to sizzle and her clothing began to smolder.
"NO!" Rin screams, "No… stop… I… I can… I can do this… I can… I can…" Rin lets out another scream, but this one was more a scream of release than pain, and Yugao can feel the flames heat die down again.
"Rin, what's happened to you?" Yugao asks, terrified for her student. She was in so much pain and turmoil right now and Yugao had no idea of how to even begin to help her.
"You need to grab Hizashi and run, I'll lead the demon away." Rin says, her voice a forced calm.
"You can't fight this thing!"
"Yes, I can." Rin says, looking back at her. It was the first time since this mission had begun that she had heard her student speak with such confidence. "I don't know that I can beat it, but I can draw it away, I can keep it busy, distracted. Long enough for you to get away."
"Rin-"
"There's no time sensei… this is my fault… my fault… my fault!" Rin begins to shake her head again, her fiery hare whipping behind her, sending embers scattering around.
"Rin this is not your fault!"
"It's time." Rin says abruptly, this time with the same bored and casual tone that she had been using earlier. The red flames surrounding them disappears, leaving molten earth where they had been in contact with the ground.
"Go sensei." Rin says without even a glance behind her and Yugao knows that Rin is lost to her power again, the last vestiges of her control being used to spare her and Hizashi from the flames.
Towering above them is the twin-tailed cat demon, its body made of blue and black flames. Its yellow eyes zeroing in on her student who begins to walk calmly towards the beast.
"Rin!" Yugao calls out to no avail, her student leaping out of the way of a large claw that rends the earth and sending debris everywhere. Yugao leans over Hizashi's body as rocks and dirt shower her, protecting Hizashi from the worst of it. She can only stare in horror as Rin engages the beast, doing exactly what she said she would and drawing it away.
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xXx-Scene Break-xXx
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She could still hear the voice inside her head, whispering to her, telling her it would be okay. Quinn wasn't sure what it was, but it was the only thing allowing her to focus enough to draw the demon away. Every instinct inside of her was screaming at her to attack, to kill the demon right there.
The rage was the flames and Quinn knew that, it was buried deep somewhere in the back of her mind. But she also knew the flames were feeding on her own anger and her sadness, using those emotions to get stronger. And the stronger that the flames got, the more powerful the emotions became inside of her. It was a vicious cycle that was both making her stronger and making her lose control.
The voice cut through all of that, it cut through the flames, it cut through the rage and the sorrow. But it could only do so much, she was going to lose it again. But it did give her enough presence of mind to lead the demon away. She had heard this voice before somewhere, so very long ago, but she couldn't place it.
The flames were so loud in her mind, so consuming that it was starting to drown out the voice. She couldn't make out the sweet words or the gentle whispers. The voice was gone, but the presence was still there. She could sense them, her sensei and Hizashi. If she could just get a little bit further away, create just a bit more space, then she could stop fighting and just let go.
And she wanted to let go. She wanted to do that so badly… Hana was dead… Hana… Hana was… NO!
No, if she didn't keep her mind focused for just a little bit longer, then Yugao and Hizashi would be caught in the crossfire. And there was no way they would survive, not in their current condition. She was a leading a demon away from them, and Quinn really had no idea about what kind of monster she had become. The power that was flowing through her was indescribable and overwhelming. When she lost control, she didn't know what would happen.
The best the Quinn could do was keep fighting through the rage and the pain. Ignore the roar of the flames inside of her mind and focus on the presence that was still trying to reach her. Focus on the presence and try to remember that voice. And most importantly, remember that there were still people that she cared about in the area. Either she or the demon were going to die today, perhaps both, but that didn't mean she couldn't keep the death toll to just them.
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He ran as fast as his feet could carry him which was definitely saying something. It wasn't every day that he received a direct mission from the old man, he was usually left to his own devices. However, from what Snake had told him, and from what he had read in the scroll provided, things along the border to the Land of Lightning had gone to hell.
And now as he approached the border between the land of Fire and the land of Lightning, he knew it had gone far beyond even that bleak thought. The massive wave of chakra that he had felt wash over him was inhuman, not to mention the way the horizon had burned in the distance. And now as he leapt above the tree line he could see a cloud of ash billowing in the distance.
His initial destination had been East Castle where he was to lend his support as needed to Shikaku Nara, then once he had checked in, to locate some girl that was on a mission in the area, Rin Yamanaka. She was a bit of an enigma to him. He had learned of her only about a year ago and that she was not only taking lessons from the Third but that she was friends with his godson, Naruto.
She was supposedly some kind of prodigy and she would have to be for his old teacher to take her on as a student. But Jiraiya knew there had to be something more there, something different or special about her. But to be honest he hadn't looked too far into her. She was the daughter of Inoichi Yamanaka and that man could give him a run for his money in the spy game. And he really didn't want to have to deal with the fallout of spying on Inoichi Yamanaka's daughter if he were caught. It wasn't likely that he would be caught, but Inoichi Yamanaka was one of the few people Jiraiya knew that was capable of it. And he didn't think the other man would appreciate him spying on his thirteen-year-old daughter. Besides, from all accounts she was a good friend to Naruto and the gods knew he could use as many of those as he could get.
Jiraiya knew he had failed him spectacularly as a godfather. Minato and Kushina both had entrusted their son to him, and he had failed. But Jiraiya also knew he was not the kind of father figure a young boy should have. He had too many hang ups and too many bad habits to ever be a good role model for the boy. The best he could do was pay for Naruto's living expenses and ask his sensei to keep an eye on him.
Naruto thought his allowances came from the Orphan's Fund, and Jiraiya preferred it that way. It didn't make up for not being there for him, not really, but it was the best he could do. Or at least that's what he told himself whenever the guilt began to creep in. Jiraiya also knew that he had responsibilities outside of Naruto that he needed to handle. Orochimaru was a danger to the village and one that he had missed. If Inoichi hadn't caught onto his former teammates depravity then who knows what might have happened.
And during his hunt for Orochimaru, Jiraiya had also begun to pick up rumors of another dangerous group calling themselves the Akatsuki, that Orochimaru had joined with for a limited time. They were a group of S-Ranked missing-nin from across the Elemental Nations. Not only were the members a cause for concern, but their goals were as well. For the last few years they had just rented out their services to the highest bidders, but he had just recently learned that they were interested in the Jinchūriki as well. For what he wasn't certain, but it almost didn't matter because nothing good could come from it.
Orochimaru was no longer a member of this group, he had the misfortune of picking a fight with Itachi Uchiha, a young man of incredible skill and if things had gone a bit differently, quite likely he would have been the first Uchiha Hokage. But then he murdered his own clan, sparing only his youngest brother. After parting ways with the rogue shinobi group, Orochimaru had then gone on to establish his own Hidden Village, the Hidden Sound Village.
That particular bit of information was kept incredibly close to the chest. Jiraiya was certain he could count on one hand the number of people in the village privy to that bit of information, not counting himself. It was as he was working an asset in the Land of Rice, trying to work a spy into their ranks, that Snake and a team of Anbu contacted him and informed him that Sarutobi Sensei had an S-class mission for him. He rarely received official missions anymore, the village leaders preferring to allow him to move about and act autonomously.
When he had first read the mission he almost thought it was a joke. There was no way the Third would divert him from his work for something so simple as one girl. But apparently the third was right to be concerned because as he moved closer and closer to the source of the explosion and chakra, only one thing he knew of could create that much energy and that was a tailed-beast. Unfortunately, if a Jinchūriki were involved it most likely meant that the girl, Rin, was dead.
The horizon begins to glow as if the earth were on fire and he could feel the release of chakra energy as powerful techniques were unleashed. The girl was likely dead, but just as likely as that, they were now probably at war with Kumo and it seemed they had unleashed one of their Jinchuriki, hell with the amount of chakra being put out, they may have unleashed both. There were very, very few ninja in the world, let alone a single village who could stand up to that kind of overwhelming power.
It was too late to protect the girl, but at the very least he may be able to stop the Kumo Jinchuriki from decimating East Castle. Takeko Nakano was a skilled ninja and a cunning commander, but even she wouldn't be able to manage an assault like that. He puts on a burst of speed, luckily it seemed the jinchūriki was still far away from the castle, which meant he could intercept it and stop it before it could cause too much harm. However, confronting an angry jinchūriki or possibly unleashed demon was not something he was looking forward to.
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Shikaku had nearly winced when he felt the wave of chakra wash over him and the battlefield. They had only just averted another shinobi war but it seemed they were just going to move from one crisis to another, worst of all was who was likely involved. One look at Inoichi's face told Shikaku everything he needed to know about the source of the chakra explosion.
Inoichi doesn't waste a second, leaping away at full speed towards the source of chakra and his daughter. Killer Bee, immediately leaps after him, despite the Raikage calling after him to stop. Shikaku glances over at Chouza who gives a sigh, "Out of the fire, eh Shikaku?"
"Did you unleash your Jinchūriki?" the Raikage asks, his voice dangerously even.
Thankfully, Shikaku didn't have to lie, "No." Though it was hard to not roll his eyes at the hypocrisy of that question.
The Raikage eyes him suspiciously, "It's the girl, isn't it? Lord Yamanaka's daughter."
Shikaku remains silent, there was absolutely no way they were going to be able to keep Rin and her abilities a secret, but considering the output of chakra she had just unleashed he wasn't sure if they even knew what her abilities were. "Lord Raikage… whatever is happening over there needs to be contained for the sake of both of our nations."
The Raikage nods his head, "Agreed, gather ten of your best men and I'll do the same. I will lead a joint response mission to investigate and contain the source of that power."
Shikaku nods his head in agreement but does not like it, despite the Raikage's seeming willingness to sue for peace, Fire and Lightning were still enemies. The fact that they weren't trying to kill each other right now was a good sign, however, things could change in an instant. Rin, even with just her sensory powers was a devastating advantage that the Hidden Leaf Village had over the rest of the hidden villages. She could not only sense chakra, but power levels and even intent.
Her very existence devastated the rest of the worlds ability to spy on them or even just hide from them. And that didn't even take into account the fact that she was one of the strongest genin that their academy had ever produced. If allowed to continue to learn and grow, there was no doubt in his mind that Rin Yamanaka's name would be said with the same amount of reverence as Minato Namikaze or the legendary Sannin. If the Raikage decided that she was too dangerous to let live and tried to kill her then and there, he along with the rest of the leaf-nin there would be forced to intervene.
Personal feelings aside, he had known Rin since the day she was born and he would do everything he could to protect her anyway, but she was also too important to the future of the Hidden Leaf Village not to protect.
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Inoichi glances over as the eight tail's jinchūriki catches up to him, running alongside him. The other man, Killer Bee, grins and gives him a thumbs up.
"Yo bro, I just wanna help, fo sho!"
Inoichi nods his head but doesn't say anything else, instead focusing on getting to his daughter as quickly as he could. He had known Rin was strong and that she would only grow stronger, but this was something else entirely. It drove home to him that there really was so much that he didn't know about her. Did this have anything to do with where she had come from, or had he truly just underestimated how strong she was?
Maybe it was both, he didn't know and at the moment he didn't care. All he cared about was reaching her, because wherever that power came from, if his Rin was using it, that could only mean she was in serious trouble.
He was running as fast as his feet would carry him, sending chakra through his legs to enhance his ability to move. He wished desperately that he had learned how to open the chakra gates, but had always deemed that the temporary payoff that doing that provided was not worth the repercussions. He was currently cursing that line of thinking. He should have been doing everything in his power to get stronger, learning and utilizing every trick he had ever come across. These times of peace and his years behind the desk as Konoha's head of Intelligence had made him soft in many ways.
"Hey, hey! I'm pick'n up somethin' else yo, I'm feelin' Yugito bro! Look's like the cats out of the bag!"
"Yugito Nii, she contains the two-tailed cat, right?"
Killer Bee nods grimly, "And if she's unleash'n that beast then the situation ain't right. I'ma pull ahead, you catch up when you can, this looks like it'll be a hell of fight!" And with that Killer Bee begins to pull ahead of him, moving even faster than before towards his daughter and the jinchūriki.
"No! Wait!" Inoichi calls out, but Killer Bee either doesn't hear him or is choosing to ignore him.
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xXx- Author's Note-xXx
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Hey everyone, sorry about the long wait between updates. I've just really been busy with life. I've recently graduated and am now looking for a job, which has been really draining. I've also recently had a death in the family and that's taken it's toll as well. I'm still working on this story but it's only in bits and parts. I hope to begin writing more soon, thank you for your patience and I hope you enjoyed this chapter.
