a/n: I might end up taking down and redoing the last chapter, not sure. This chapter is sure to be more interesting though I think, at least character and story development wise. The action won't start till later, when she gets that first aeon. I'm trying to update as much as I can, because I know when I start college, that will take up most of my time, and I won't be able to update as much.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters.

Spirit of the Guardian Ninja

Chapter 4: The Hot spring

Sakura had trouble getting to sleep. She heard every single little creek that the old building made, and the eeriness of it all kept her eyes wide open. The hostess was a nice old woman, but the inn didn't seem too nice, with its termite infested walls and dimly lit, cramped rooms. Rin slept in the cot opposite to her own, while Kakashi and Naruto were in the room across the narrow hall.

'I wish I could just go to sleep' Sakura complained, tossing and turning, 'I do feel tired…'

Sakura decided to take a quick glance at Rin, but to her astonishment, as she turned over, she found that the bed was empty.

'Great…', Sakura quickly rose from where she laid and went over to investigate, 'She's not here…'.

Sneaking out of her room, Sakura decided that it was best not to involve anyone else.

'I can handle this on my own,' she determined, as she carefully crept through the hallway to find the set of stairs leading to the first floor. She heard the back door to the inn snap shut, so she began to hurry down the stairs.

'That's the door to the hot spring…' Sakura thought, sliding open the door to find Rin.

"Oh…Sakura, hello" Rin turned towards her, a towel wrapped around her body.

"Rin…what are you doing up so late?"

"Well, I couldn't sleep, so I decided to take a soak in the spring."

Sakura sighed, "Oh…well, it's dangerous out there, and I'm your guardian…so I guess I'll go with you."

"Alright then" Rin smiled, seeming pleased, as she went outside.

Luckily for Sakura, there were towels hanging right outside the door to the spring, so she simply slid off her clothes and wrapped one of them around her.

'What was she thinking, going out by herself?' Sakura ran her hand through her short, light pink hair, 'She's too reckless…'

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The stars shone brightly in the midnight sky above them as they sat in the spring. The two hardly knew anything about it each other besides their names and a few of their likes and dislikes. The setting was rather awkward with their silence.

"Sorry about Naruto," Sakura suddenly spoke, "He can be a bit…impossible…"

"Oh no need to apologize, Naruto is fine, he reminds me….of someone I used to know long ago…"

"Sakura, you seem upset, is something troubling you?" Rin asked.

"No…I just don't know if I'm fit to be a guardian" she replied, "There's still a lot about sin that I don't know…I mean, I paid attention in class, but I still feel clueless."

Rin could relate to the girl; she felt unsure of herself more often than not, but still she pressed forward, not knowing what the future would hold. She wanted to aid her guardians as much as she wanted them to help her. She had wanted them to be her friends, not just her guardians. That is why Kakashi's words had stung so much; he had refused the friendship that they had formed in the past.

"It's alright, I was told all about sin while I lived at the mist temple, so I can answer just about anything."

"The mist temple?" Sakura asked, "Why not the fire temple…it was closer, if you don't mind asking that is".

"Oh, not at all" Rin answered, "There were…troubles…regarding that temple, the clan who presided over it I mean; I, and all of the summoners, was told to stay away."

"Oh, I see..."

"I remember, the day before I left…he was so upset…" Rin spoke in almost a whisper, peering up at the sky.

"Ummm," Sakura rushed to change the subject, feeling awkward, "What exactly does sin look like anyways, have you ever seen it?"

"I've never seen it, no," Rin said, "but I heard it takes the form that its summoner wanted it to take."

"Sin is…summoned, like an aeon?"

"Yes…ten years after its defeat, sin will look for a summoner to give it power on this earth…but eventually that summoner will not be able to control sin, and it will go on a rampage."

Sakura lowered herself to let the water flood above her neck, 'so it's important that we defeat sin before the summoner loses control of it…but who would summon such a creature?'

Rin shut her eyes as she floated on her back, 'I wanted to be strong like sensei…before he left as Lady Asuna's guardian…I want to prove myself as a summoner…and maybe, I hoped I might see him again.'

"Did you ever hear the story of Lord Junichi, the first summoner, Sakura?"

"Yeah, I heard about it growing up, that story about him and his lover, lady Miaka."

"Their bond was so great, that all he needed to do was find her resting place and her spirit was reborn into human form, no fayth needed…".

"…That was just a story though, right?"

Rin gave a small smile, "Yes, I suppose it was."

'I can't depend on stories, can I?' Rin gazed into the stars, 'I have to depend on what is real.'

"Sakura?"

"Hm?"

"Let's do our best!"

Sakura looked at Rin in a moment of hesitation, "Yes, let's do our best."

Sakura felt at ease now that she knew more about what she had to do. It was nice to have had this conversation with Rin, she felt more like she could talk to her. Whenever she had imagined summoners, she had imagined them to be perfect, spiritual beings, but Rin seemed more like an average person now.

Just as the two began to feel completely relaxed, the door to the spring slid open.

'Have we been discovered?' Sakura wondered, as she heard the footsteps approaching through the steam.

"Why, hello there ladies!" Jiraya greeted them, with his hand in the air.

Sakura's jaw just dropped open, "W-what are you doing here?"

"On my way back to Konoha, and I decided to stop here…never expected to find such beautiful ladies in a place like this!"

Sakura sprang out of the water, clasping Rin's hand, "I'm her guardian and I'm going to guard her from perverted old men like you!"

"N-nice meeting you" Rin managed to fit in before Sakura pulled her through the door, leaving a disappointed Jiraya.

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"Woah, what happened to you?" Naruto poked at Sakura, as her lack of sleep had shown.

Sakura's hair was disorderly, sticking out every which way, and her eyes drooped heavily with sleepiness.

"I trust that everyone slept well?" Kakashi looked at the two girls with a wry smile.

"Yes, very well." Rin answered, giving a last look to the inn as they began to head off.

"Hey, it's the perverted old hermit!" Naruto announced, pointing over to Jiraya, who was leaving in the opposite direction, "I didn't know he was here!"

Rin and Sakura gave a quick glance to one another as the group headed over to where the old man stood.

"I was doing a search on sin for Tsunade, to find out where it is so that Konoha can be well informed."

"And…?"Naruto inquired.

"You should be very careful, in fact, you may wanna stay with me for a while…"

Naruto frowned, "You're not just saying that because our summoner is a woman are you?"

"Of course not!" Jiraya grinned, "Sin's just near the village hidden in the mist, so I'd try to avoid the temple for now if I were you".

"It's near t-the mist temple?" Rin gasped in disbelief.

"Maybe we should head somewhere else?" Sakura asked.

"No, we must go there…I won't let my friends be harmed." Rin stated, firmly.

"Alright!" Naruto clenched his fists, "Our first battle with sin, let's see some action!"

Sakura turned to him, "Naruto, do you honestly think we can fight sin now?"

"We'll do what we must, we have to follow our summoner," Kakashi directed them.

Rin spun around quickly with a bow, "Thank you for your information and concern!"

"No problem, if I was your guardian-"

"Thanks perverted hermit!" Naruto turned and waved as well as he ran to catch up to the rest of the group.

Jiraya frowned, "I really wish he'd stop calling me that".

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a/n: Alrighty, now we can get into some action…just had to add some info…next chapter I'll probably inform you more about sin's summoner -