A/N: Hello, and let's pretend it hasn't been, oh, 19 months since I last updated? Ahem, yeah. Real life, writer's block, and the manga blowing my version of Rin's origin story straight to hell sort of left me in a rut here. Still, I've managed to adjust my Rin's back story enough that doesn't completely break the canon that I've stuck to, and I've gone back and edited the previous chapters just enough not to contradict the new background info.

Anyway, this isn't an action heavy chapter, and it focuses quite a bit more on Rin than the genin. It's a bit of a breath in between the first mini arc and the next, but I think it's still plenty interesting. Hope you enjoy!

Team Rin

Chapter 08

The Past that Haunts Us

"Now don't try to kill each other!" Rin's left eye twitched at Kakashi's upbeat and nonchalant tone. Naruto grinned, cracking his knuckled, and Sasuske smirked while stretching his back.

"Make it quick, Naruto," Rin told her student. The orange ball of energy flashed her a thumbs and a confident grin.

"Go!" Kakashi called, and Naruto's attention snapped back to his opponent. He was off in a flash of yellow and orange. Sasuke took a defensive stance and blocked Naruto's overhead kick, a grimace crossing his features. Rin could almost hear the bones creak from the impact of the blow.

Sasuke pushed the blond away, and Naruto flipped back, skidding across the ground.

"Holy crap, when did Naruto get so fast?" Ino asked, jaw almost slack. Nobody answered, and Naruto charged again, feinting with a high right blow while he slipped to the left. Sasuke tracked the move and dodged the blow, letting Naruto overextend enough for the Uchiha to drill a punch into the other genin's side. Rin saw Naruto's eager fall into a pained grimace, but the boy leaned into the blow and swung a sharp elbow into Sasuke's back. Both boys separated for a moment, one grinning, the other smirking, and the slow dance of feeling each other out was over. They ran at each other in a flurry of taijutsu.

The speed they fought at was fairly impressive. For genin.

Rin spared a glance to the other students. Ayano was leaning on Natsuko, body sagging even as her eyes snapped back and forth, following the action. Natsuko's head was whipping in over dramatic movements as she yelled and cheered for Naruto – earning a queer look from Kakashi's blonde student while the other teammate shouted "take him out, Sasuke-kun!"

The Uchiha grunting in pain snapped Rin's attention back to the fight. Sasuke's left hand gripped at his cheek, which was turning a violent shade of red as the seconds passed. The boy's other hand, though, held a glistening kunai, and Rin's heart skipped a beat. She focused her attention on her own genin, expecting the worst.

"That was my favorite jacket, jackass!" Naruto's blustering complaint took the wind out of her sails as relief flowed through her. She could not handle these constant panic-inducing moments. Naruto held the torn orange fabric in his hands, a look of complete despair crossed with anger on his face, ignoring the blood seeping down his exposed chest.

He brought his hands up into the ram seal with a snarl. Here we go, Rin thought with a half smirk. "Kage bunshin no jutsu!" Two clones popped into existence, flanking their creator. The trio ran at Sasuke, who – to his credit – held his ground and kept up with the barrage of attacks from multiple angles for a solid twenty seconds before one clone overextended and got destroyed for its trouble. The moment Sasuke popped the clone was all the other two needed to slip through the boy's guard, landing a blow each – one to the chest and the other to the legs – sending the Uchiha head over heel.

"Good one, Naruto! Natsuko cheered, waving both arms and almost sending Ayano to the dirt. The redhead yelped, and Natsuko caught her just in time, earning a disgruntled glare from the taller girl.

"I can't believe Naruto is keeping up with Sasuke," Ino said, arms crossed and eyes narrowed.

"Sasuke-kun…" Sakura muttered, concern lacing her voice. Rin followed the girl's line of sight. Sasuke was picking himself off the ground, grinning through a wince. "He still hasn't activated it," The pink haired girl sounded relieved at the proclamation. Rin spared a look to Kakashi, and she could just about picture a smirk hidden beneath his mask. Sasuke was younger than Obito had been…

"Naruto won't stand a chance once he activates them," Sakura said, standing tall in her confidence.

"Even so, it's still impressive," Ino noted, eyes not straying from Naruto. Rin could see the gears turning behind the girl's eyes.

"Whatever Sasuke can do, Naruto can handle it," Natsuko declared with easy surety. Ayano gave a firm nod as well. Rin allowed herself a moment or pride. Sakura opened her mouth to retort, but Sasuke's voice drew all their attention back to the fight at hand.

"You've gotten better," the Uchiha said, standing back at his full height. "But you're still not good enough." Sasuke's black eyes swirled to crimson, and Rin's critical eye spotted two tamoe circling around each of the boy's pupils. Her eyebrows twitched up a fraction.

The boy might actually be the prodigy many claimed him to be.

"You're always such a bastard," Naruto sounded bored, completely unmoved by the Uchiha's dojutsu. "I'm barely starting to get warmed up," he warned with a wide grin. Four clones burst into existence in front of Naruto and charged at Sasuke. This time none of them got anywhere near touching the genin, and were reduced to smoke as the Uchiha danced around their blows with worrying ease, returning his own strikes at the first viable opportunity.

The original Naruto grimaced as he digested the clones' feedback. Rin grimaced right along with him. Naruto's taijutsu had improved leaps and bounds, but competing with the Sharingan was on a level he just wasn't ready for in straight hand to hand combat. Her eyes cut to Kakashi, whose hands were stuffed in his pockets in the perfect picture of nonchalance.

Rin took solace in the mental image of sending a raging inferno at his smug face.

"Taiju kage bunshin no jutsu!" A multitude of battle cries filled the air, and Naruto seemed finished with being subtle. Rin palmed her face. So much for strategy with the clones beyond throwing out overwhelming numbers.

Sasuke's disciplined form let him take out the clones as they approached him. He was constantly moving, giving ground to keep from being surrounded, but the sheer number of attackers broke through his defense every so often to deliver a glancing blow. When the mob of clones trickled down to just the original, both boys were panting and bloodied.

"Too scared to try anything on your own?" Frustration laced the edge of Sasuke's taunt.

"Meh," Naruto waved him off. "Your eyes are cheating just as much as my clones are." Sasuke actually growled and his hands started to flash through hand seals. Naruto's eyes widened and he began his own series of hurried hand gestures.

"Oh, shit," Rin cursed, already knowing the outcome of the ninjutsu clash. From Kakashi's annoyed huff, he had too. She grabbed Ayano and Natsuko by the scruff of their necks and leapt back, ignoring their startled protests. Her chakra infused jump had them dozens of yards back, and Kakashi and his genin were next to them a moment later as well.

"They're going to kill each other," Rin said, half serious.

"Possibly," Kakashi agreed.

Naruto finished his technique a fraction of a moment before Sasuke. "Futon: Daitoppa!"

"Katon, Gokakyu no Jutsu!" Rin shielded her ears and slammed her eyes shut as the great fireball met with the torrent of wind.

The resulting shockwave from the explosion could probably be felt all the way at the Hokage Tower, Rin thought. That was going to be a fun one to try and explain.

"That damned idiot!" Ayano shouted above the din in anger, but Rin could hear the worry at the edges of her tone.

"Sasuke-kun, can you hear me?!"

"Oi, Naruto!" The genin shouted into the smoke and debris, but no sound came to answer. Rin's eyes scanned the field, trying to pinpoint the location of her student.

"Can you feel them, Natsuko?" She kept her tone calm for the genin's benefit. The girl was quiet for a few excruciating seconds before responding.

"They're both still in one piece," Natsuko reported, now cheerful. Rin sagged the smallest bit in relief. "But I think they're both still down…" The genin started to move forward at Natsuko's words, but she and Kakashi held them back. There was no use risking that Naruto and Sasuke would attack the first bit of movement they saw.

When the smoke cleared, both Naruto and Sasuke were just starting to pull themselves to their feet. Singed from head to toe, clothing in tattered rags, bruises forming all over, and both were grinning, happy as could be. Rin envied their youthful optimism.

"That was awesome, dattebayo!" Naruto was bouncing on the balls of his feet. Sasuke hummed his agreement, stretching his neck to either side. Her blond genin glanced toward Ayano. "Think we could do that on purpose, Ayano-chan?"

The redhead shot Naruto a dry look. "Why do you love explosions so much?" Naruto shrugged, grin still in place, before turning back to his opponent. He raised his hands back to the ram seal, but Rin stepped in.

"That's enough," Rin called before the boys had a chance to blow up the entire training ground. "I think it's fair to call this a draw, Kakashi?" Ignoring the genin's vocal cries of protest, Kakashi nodded. Rin breathed a quiet sigh. She wished she could just go home and sleep for a week, but they still had to report to the Hokage, and…

"Bur Rin-sensei, I haven't kicked Sasuke-teme's ass enough yet!" Naruto protested even as Sasuke scoffed."

"Dobe, you weren't even close to starting." Naruto moved to attack the Uchiha with a growl, but Rin caught him by the shoulder before he took two steps. Sasuke smirked until Kakashi did the same to him.

"You two will have plenty of time to try and kill each other later." Rin sighed at Kakashi's words. At least this meant that she could finallygo back to ignoring Kakashi's existence, and she could just get some rest. "And besides," Kakashi continued, cheerful as ever. "This means I've won the bet!" Rin's hesitant happy mood derailed off its tracks.

"Wait, what!?" Rin swung around to face the other jonin, every muscle in her body at once defensive and ready to attack. "We each said our genin would win," she explained, drawing each word out as if speaking to a child. "Nobody won."

Kakashi's lips twitched beneath his mask. "Actually, you said that Naruto would win, but I said that Sasuke wouldn't lose." Rin's jaw clenched in frustration. She hated the devious bastard with a burning fury in that moment. "And it was a draw, so, technically, Sasuke didn't lose." He ruffled said genin's hair, ignoring the boy's clear distaste for the gesture. "So, see you tonight?"

Rin let out a harsh breath through her nose and tried to ignore the six sets of curious eyes bouncing back and forth between her and Kakashi. Seeing no way out without getting peppered with unwanted questions from her genin, Rin offered a short, sharp nod.

"Naruto, Ayano, Natsuko, we have a report to deliver." Rin knew her voice came out monotone, but ignored Kakashi's ashen expression and her student's looks of worry. So much for relaxing…

Naruto stood stock still as he watched the Hokage rifling through papers. He was tired, burned, hungry, and only Rin-sensei's strict snap of an order for them to keep still and at attention kept him from ordering the old man to hurry the hell.

He resisted the urge to shoot an annoyed glance his sensei's way. It was her own fault that she lost the bet. Had had Sasuke right where he wanted the bastard. Another few clones and bam, he would have knocked the Uchiha senseless. But no, had to call it a draw…

The old man hummed as he unraveled another few inches from Sensei's report scroll. Naruto's left eye twitched. When did she have the time to write up a novel of a report? They had run nonstop at a spring all the way from Taki back home, and –

""Hm…" The quite hum cut off Naruto's train of thought and he waited for the old man to confirm how awesome they all were. He could feel how tense his teammates were in the under the Hokage's gaze as the old man looked at each one of them in turn, face a perfect mask of neutrality.

"A battle in hostile territory against opponents both stronger and better prepared than yourselves," the old man began. "Uncovering a plot to bring down Konoha, finding a spy within our midst, and forging an alliance to be stronger than it ever was before." He took a long drag on his pipe, smoke flowing from his nose as he breathed out. "And an amazing display of the true will of fire," he grinned around his pipe and Naruto stood up to his fullest height, pride blooming in full force. "You should be proud of your genin, Rin." The old man leaned back, hands steepled in thought.

Naruto chanced a glance to his teammates, finding both girls beaming as wide as he was. A look back to Sensei, however, curtailed his mood as the woman still held a grim look in her eyes.

"Orochimaru…" Naruto blinked and turned his attention back on the Hokage, perturbed by the sadness in the man's voice. The old man's head was bowed, his eyes closed. "I should have taken care of him many, many years ago." His eyes snapped open, a sudden intensity in their dark depths that put Naruto on edge. Sarutobi looked at each of the members of Team Twelve in turn. "And for that I am truly sorry." Naruto shifted, uncomfortable at the earnestness in the old man's voice.

"What's done is done, Hokage-sama," Sensei's tone was almost gentle, at odds with her serious expression. "But it seems his ambitions are becoming a true threat to the village."

"Yes," the old man nodded. "And seeking out allies amongst the lesser villages can only leave one conclusion." He stroked his goatee, eyes faraway and grim.

"Has there been any whisper from either Kusa or Ame?" Naruto resisted the urge to ask what the hell the two were talking about. Frustration frayed the edges of his patience.

"Kakashi reported nothing out of the ordinary from Kusa, and there's hardly been a scrap of information out of Ame in recent years." The old man set his pipe aside, eyes closing in thought. "But with how very lucky we were to discover this plot in Takigakure," his eyes cut to Naruto with the slightest of grins. "We cannot be sure."

"What would have us do, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage heaved a small sigh. "For now, nothing. My wayward student will no doubt know that I am now aware of his intentions. Even if that does not deter him, I will have this village ready for anything.

"Understood," Sensei responded. Naruto almost bounced on his feet, more than ready to get out of the office; if only just to move. "And the other thing, sir?" His hopes of freedom dashed, Naruto let his head hang a fraction in despair. The old man hummed.

"I agree with your assessment, but if it does come to that, it would be a delicate situation. Kumo and Iwa in particular would bring heavy suspicion."

Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion, but knew better than to interrupt. Whatever the two were talking about now, they were dancing around a subject. Which meant it wasn't meant for the genin's ears, which mean Naruto felt the burning need to know the subject.

"With all due respect, Sandaime-sama, I believe the value of her life outweighs –" Rin-sensei's voice had grown heated, but she was cut off by the Third raising a single hand. Naruto heard his sensei's jaw snap shut.

"I agree, Rin." The look in the Hokage's eyes was deathly serious. "But having three would upset the balance even more than it already is. It is a problem that we will have to take care of very, very carefully."

"Sir." Sensei acknowledged with a nod. Naruto snuck a glance to his teammates, meeting each of the girls' eyes in turn, but found only a mirror of his own confusion in each pair.

"Good,' the old man focused back on the genin, and Naruto stood back to attention. "You three have done remarkably on this mission and will be credited appropriately. I believe an A-rank would suffice?" Naruto couldn't keep the jubilant cheer from escaping at that declaration. A-ranks paid a lot of money.

Plus it went onto his record. What other genin had an A-rank under their belt? Even Natsuko and Ayano lost their composure somewhat, the brunette beaming and the redhead slack-jawed.

The Hokage chuckled even as Sensei grumbled under her breath. "As it is," the old man s poke up, "you three are dismissed for the day." He smiled at them and waved them ff. Naruto didn't have to be told twice, and jetted out of the office. The absolute worst thing about debriefings was having to not move for so long.

It was downright criminal.

His teammates were not far behind him. "Oh man, I'm going to sleep for a week!" Natsuko declared as the three of them slipped outside the tower. The sun was still high in the sky and Naruto reveled in its warmth, stretching with an audible groan.

Ayano, perkier than she had been in days, rolled her eyes. "Sensei said she's going to drive us into the ground." Ayano made air quotes, repeating Sensei's words with a small shudder. "I think we'll be lucky to sleep a single full night." Natusko pouted, head hung.

"Well I can't wait for it!" Naruto declared, punching a fist into an open palm. "I'll train so hard that I'll wipe the floor with Sasuke next time."

"Maybe next time you could not blow up the training ground?" Ayano said, deadpan. Naruto stuck his tongue out at her, and Natsuko flicked his ear. He yelped and glared at the shorter girl.

"Rude," was all she said, unmoved by his reaction. "I wonder what that bet was even about, anyway."

"Sensei seemed pretty upset about it," Ayano noted, teeth toying with her bottom lip.

"Sensei's always weird whenever Kakashi-sensei is around." Naruto pointed out, interlacing his fingers behind his head and stretching into an inviting bit of sun. "I don't really get it."

"That's because you don't understand the ways of women." Naruto puffed out his cheeks in indignation at the new voice, not even bothering to turn and face her.

"I don't think it's anything like that, Ino-chan," Natsuko said, a curious lilt to her voice. "Rin-sensei's always more sad than anything whenever they see each other."

"Sad?" Naruto dropped his arms to his sides, giving both his teammate and the newly arrived blonde a queer look. "Kakashi-sensei pisses her off all the time!"

"And that," Ino poked Naruto in the chest as she caught up, forcing him to miss a step and come to a stop. "Is exactly why it's so obvious."

"Why what's so obvious?" Naruto asked, disgruntled as he straightened out the tatters of his jacket. The fabric was like to be ripped away by a soft breeze at this rate. "And where'd you come from anyway?" Ino sighed and shook her head, blonde bangs flowing from side to side.

"Why are all boys so hopeless?" She asked nobody in particular. "Sasuke ignores me and Sakura, and you can't even tell when your sensei is in love!"

"In what now?" Ayano asked, speaking up in a tone that put Naruto on edge. He frowned and glanced to the redhead, finding the taller girl with arms shaking, hands balled into fists. Naruto shifted just enough to be able to catch a punch if he had to. What was going on with everyone today?

"I thought it would be obvious…" Ino explained. She had taken a step back at the hostility from the other girl. Naruto couldn't blame her.

"Why are we even talking about this?" Ayano snapped out. A flush crept up the back of the girl's neck, red as her hair. "Kakashi had to cheat to win a bet to even spend time with Sensei. She wouldn't even show him the sharp edge of a kunai otherwise." Ayano's arms crossed, defiant, but the redhead refused to look at them, instead staring off into the distance, eyes gleaming.

Naruto spared a confused look to Ino and Natsuko, but Ino just stared at Ayano, slack jawed, while Natsuko brows were furrowed, head tilted to the side like she did whenever Sensei gave them strategy training. At least he wasn't the only one completely lost, then…

"So…" Natsuko spoke up after a few tense moments, drawing the word out. "Where is Sakura-chan anyway?" Ino harrumphed and crossed her arms, immediately taken by the new topic. Naruto noticed Ayano relax the barest amount.

"Don't now, don't care." Ino shrugged. Naruto frowned at the girl's response. "Whatever she does whenever she's not chasing Sasuke-kun is," Ino paused long enough to make quotations in the air. "'None of your business, Ino-pig.' So I stopped asking a while ago."

"So you guys totally buried the hatchet," Natsuko deadpanned, shaking her head. Ino sighed, her posture drooping just a bit with a faraway look in her eye.

"It doesn't really matter anymore." She crossed her arms across her stomach and kicked a rock as they walked. Naruto cringed as it managed to bounce off a nearby pole and nearly rebound right into his face. None of the girls seemed to notice his plight.

"Sasuke-kun's always distant no matter how much time we spend together. Sakura's been turning everything into a competition when Kakashi-sensei's not around." The blonde heaved a sigh, shaking her head. Naruto frowned, trying to imagine his team acting anything like that. A shudder ran down his spine at the thought. Ino kept talking, almost to herself, with her eyes glazing over. "I thought it'd be great, you know? But now I just wish we were on different teams." Ino's gaze fell to the ground, eyebrows furrowed in frustration.

"Ino…" Natusko sounded hesitant and unsure, so unlike her typical confidence that cemented the surreal atmosphere for Naruto. He took a quick look at each of the girls. Ayano's arms crossed across her belly, her eyes averted toward the sky; Natsuko stared at Ino, mouth open as if to continue talking, but no words came; and Ino kept her eyes on her feet as she walked, fists balled tight enough for her knuckles to turn white.

He hated this emotional stuff, but he could relate.

"You just have to keep at it," Naruto said, clapping a hand on Ino's shoulder. Her head snapped up, eyes regaining their focus. "Natsuko and Ayano didn't like me at first, either, but now we're friends!" He flashed a wide grin. Ino grimaced, but didn't get that faraway look again.

"But you didn't know them before," Ino pointed out. "And I have no idea how you got them to like you."

"Pity," Natsuko said without hesitation. Only her small smile hinted that she was teasing. Naruto sent her a halfhearted glare.

"And he makes a fantastic meat shield," Ayano spoke up. Naruto rolled his eyes.

"You guys suck," he said before turning back to Ino. The Yamanaka watched the three of them with mix of exasperation and envy. "Point is, what do you have to lose if you try?" Ino's expression

"I did try!" She bit out the words and Naruto took a wide step to put distance between them. The blonde's arms crossed again. "I'm just…tired." She closed her eyes. "Sakura doesn't take anything seriously, Sasuke-kun's constantly the only one who can hold his own in a fight, and ever since he got his Sharingan, Kakashi-sensei…" She trailed off, shaking her head before her jaw set in a grimace. "Why am I even telling you any of this?" The question came out just above a whisper.

"Oh, I think he just has one of those faces." All four genin jumped out of their skin. Naruto whipped around to find Kakashi-sensei standing less than a meter behind them, hands in his pockets and shoulders slouched. Naruto's brow quirked as he noticed Kakashi's complete lack of shinobi gear; instead he was wearing a pressed silver shirt and dark pants. Only his hatai-ite marked him as a shinobi. Weird, Naruto thought.

"How long have you been there?" Ino demanded, a blush rising on her neck. Naruto couldn't blame her, picturing what Rin-sensei would do if she caught him bad mouthing his team. A chill ran down his spine.

Kakashi hummed, "Ever since 'don't know, don't care.'" The man tapped his chin, visible eye turned upward in thought. Ino's flush rose from her neck to her cheeks, eyes focused on the ground in front of her.

"So it was a bet about a date," Natusko declared. Naruto sent a queer look the girl's way, but Natsuko just studied Kakashi-sense up and down, eyes flicking back to Ino every few seconds.

"Really?" Kakashi asked, indifferent. Naruto wondered if the jonin had to practice to stay so aloof all the time.

"You don't have your flak jacket," Ino pointed out, starting to recover. She still did not meet her sensei's eyes, but she did study what he was wearing with a critical eye. Kakashi gave a bemused chuckle, tugging at the high color of his shirt. "Not bad, Sensei." Ino declared with a slow nod.

"Yeah, I'm sure Rin-sensei will appreciate," Natsuko agreed. She actually clapped her hands a little. Ayano grumbled something he couldn't quite hear.

"Who cares how he's dressed?" Naruto asked, scuffing the ground with his foot. Was Kakashi going to say something about what Ino had said? How had they gotten so distracted?

"Idiot," Natsuko said with a soft sigh.

"Clueless," Ino agreed with a mournful nod. Even Ayano was giving him her "pity for being stupid" look.

That hadn't happened in a while.

"Ne, ne. He'll understand someday." Kakashi ruffled Naruto's hair, and the genin glared at the lot of them. "Besides, it wasn't a date." Both Natusko and Ino looked crestfallen, Ayano's expression didn't change, and Naruto felt as clueless as he had been all conversation. If not for a date, what was the big deal about all of this? "It was for a conversation, which," the jonin glanced up at the setting sun. "I am just the right amount of time late for." Without a second in hesitation, Kakashi turned on his heal and started back down the way they had come from.

"So he was just following us for no reason," Ayano pointed out, deadpan. Naruto shrugged, not bothering to try and understand the strange shinobi.

"Oh, and Ino!" Kakashi sent a look over his shoulder just as the genin started to move again. The blonde stood at attention right away, meeting her teacher's eyes. "I spend so much time with Sasuke because he asks." The man waved. "Later," he said and was gone in a swirl of leaves.

That had been important, Naruto decided, watching as Ino's face scrunched in a weird combination of shame, embarrassment, and realization.

"You never asked your sensei for extra training?" Ayano's dry tone spoke for all of them.

Naruto swore the sound of Ino smacking herself in the forehead could be heard for blocks around.

The hallway that ran around the Hokage's office was always a spectacle of the organized chaos of shinobi bureaucracy during a typical day, but as the orange glow of the setting sun illuminated the hall in the glow of twilight, Rin found it mercifully empty.

The moment the office door closed behind her, she leaned against it with a ragged breath. Giving the Hokage and his ancient advisors a proper rundown of Team Twelve's mission had taken most of the afternoon. Only then, the Sandaime had tried using her knowledge to form a plan to deal with Orochimaru. Considering she knew little more than what she gleaned from the man who'd almost killed her students, it was a frustrating affair for everyone.

Yet the Hokage kept her in the room as he bickered with his former teammates over how to properly deal with the renegade Sannin. Her temple throbbed and she let out a low groan. When was the last time a mission had actually gone according to plan?

She couldn't remember, and was damn tired of tragedy following her whenever she stepped a foot outside the village. She closed her eyes, stomach turning at just how close she came to losing her team.

For the first time since the bell test, resigning as a sensei seemed like a wonderful prospect.

"I thought I was the only one who liked being late?" Unable to help herself, Rin banged her head against the door behind her in frustration.

"Yes?" The Hokage's tired voice filtered through the closed portal. The jonin ignored it.

Why had she made that stupid bet? With a quiet, calming breath, she opened her eyes to find Kakashi leaning against the wall opposite her, his hands stuffed in the pockets of his black slacks.

She blinked, trying to remember the last time she had seen the man outside his shinobi gear. The subdued silver of his shirt seemed flamboyant in the absence of his typical vest, and… was his hair styled differently? The only thing familiar was the hatai-ite covering Obito's Sharingan.

For the briefest of moments, her stomach flip-flopped like she was a girl again, and she crushed that feeling swifter than she could think. Just as she feared, the other jonin was taking this far too seriously.

She took another steadying breath before speaking. After hours of being grilled by two of Konoha's oldest and most stubborn fossils, she could feel her patience nearing her breaking point. There was no way Kakashi wouldn't put her over the edge.

"The deal was for one hour in your company," she tried pointing out. "It didn't say when." Her intent clear, she stepped past him. Kakashi fell into step beside her a moment later, appearing not the least bit perturbed.

"Ah, but common courtesy would say the winner gets to choose the terms of victory."

"You won with a loophole." Kakashi shrugged, hands slipping out of his pockets as they descended the stairs.

"Always leave your options open and never reveal your entire plan." Her sensei's old words grated on her coming from her former teammate.

Trying another angle, she said, "I'm tired, annoyed, hurt, and just spent the last three hours being interrogated by three old bastards. I don't have the patience to deal with a fourth."

"I'm not that old."

She pushed an aggressive breath out her nose. "But you are a bastard." Kakashi shrugged, not disagreeing. "Kakashi—"

"Look," he interrupted, using a somber tone that gave her pause. They came to a stop, halfway down the long, spiraling staircase. "It's been almost thirteen years, Rin." She tensed right away, fight or flight instinct ready to kick in. This was what he wanted to use his time on? She could have hit him. "I just want to talk like we used to." His visible eye bored into hers, no sign of his typical aloofness. "Before… everything." His hand started to reach out to her, but paused before she had the chance to recoil.

"Is an hour really too much? What's the worst that can possibly happen?" Rin grit her teeth, a multitude of possibilities flashing through her mind. Unbidden, her hand rose to her stomach, just above her navel. The memory of pain and terror and rage echoed through her, but she did not feel it.

Channel it or bury it, turtle girl. Otherwise it'll eat you and eat at you, day after day, until you… snap. The decade-old advice sounded clear even now, and, if nothing else, Ibiki knew how to deal with demons.

She took a shuddering breath to regain some semblance of control of her thoughts. She was far too tired to deal with this right now. She raised tired eyes back to the man next to her. Kakashi was silent, but Rin could see his frown beneath the mask. Every instinct she honed in the last ten years screamed at her to avoid this, but something in Kakashi's eye held her still.

"Fine," she found herself saying. Rather than looking pleased, Kakashi only nodded and started down the stairs again. She fell in step behind him, wondering if she was truly calm or just so spent that she didn't have the energy to feel anything else.

Kakashi led her out of the tower and along Konoha's streets, the foot traffic thinning as the day grew late. Every so often a shopkeeper or civilian would send them a friendly greeting, but their walk was silent for the most part. It was only after Kakashi turned onto the path leading to the training grounds that Rin realized their destination.

The instinct to flee returned in full force.

Kakashi spoke just as she made to stop him. "There are only three days that I will never truly forget." His voice was wistful, faraway, as he kept walking. Rin hesitated for a moment before she found her feet following him. "The day Obito gave me his gift," his hand raised to tap on the head plate covering his dojutsu. "The night of the Kyūbi attack," he flicked his gaze over his shoulder toward the Hokage monument before it settled back onto her.

Rin braced herself, knowing it was coming. "And the day I almost killed you." The scar on her stomach seemed to throb, and she crossed her arms over the old wound, hunching over just a fraction.

"Why are you wasting your time with bullshit that doesn't matter?" Her voice was sharp, biting, and wholly ineffective as Kakashi spoke in the same calm tone.

"Because I'm being selfish." The jonin ran a hand over his masked face. "Because I need you to understand." Anger, white hot and caustic flowed through her veins at the word. How dare he?

Old, bitter memories looped in her mind, playing a thousand times in the course of a second. "Understand?" She was shocked at how even her voice was. "Understand!?" She clenched her jaw. How could he ask for that after everything?

"Rin…"

"A decade in one hell after another!" She shouted the words, advancing on him. Her heartbeat thumped in her ears, the drums of war guiding her charge. Memories and images she kept locked away played before her eyes. Ibiki's grin, the turtle's roar, and death. Far too much death. "All because you couldn't do what needed to be done." She stood less than a foot away from him, glaring up at him with all the force she could muster. "So tell me what exactly I need to understand?"

Kakashi visibly swallowed, but held his ground. His answer came out ragged, emotions she could not guess tore away at his composure. "I was selfish that day, too." He turned his eye away from her, focusing on the dark stone jutting from the ground some meters ahead. "I made a promise to Obito; that day at the bridge." He turned back to her, and she was thrown by the intensity of his gaze. "I was supposed to protect you, always."

She snorted. "Arrogant bastard." He didn't argue that.

"Instead I damned you by saving you." The sheer strain in his voice took the wind out of her sails, the anger disappearing as swiftly as it had appeared. She closed her eyes and counted to ten before speaking.

"It was all years ago." The words sounded hollow even to her own ears.

"And you've never forgiven me." He seemed so sure of that. "Or yourself, I think." She grimaced as a wicked twist of guilt and annoyance turned her stomach, but Kakashi kept talking. "When they put the Sanbi in you, I didn't know what to do. I just had to keep you safe. I-"

"Stop," she demanded, bowing her head and taking slow, even breaths. It had been so long since she dredged up memories of that day, and she wanted nothing more than to leave it be. "I don't want to talk about this."

"I know." Kakashi had the decency to sound apologetic, but still plowed on. Bastard. "But being with the genin," his tone gained a wistful edge. "Is making me realize a lot of things. For better or worse, we need to clear the air here Rin."

Rin felt less than inclined to put Kakashi's conscious at peace for him.

"You need to. I put all this to rest years ago." The lie came easy, practiced and well used.

"Then why did it take you five years to even be in the same room as me?" His response was swift and struck a critical blow to Rin's righteous momentum. And from the way he held himself, the bastard was actually waiting for an answer.

Something in his hesitant but determined gaze snapped her resolve to brush the issue away.

"Thirty-seven." The number had been seared into her mind for years, and it was only yesterday that she woke fearing it had risen to forty. "That's how much saving me has cost." Sarcasm dripped from every word. Kakashi only nodded, as if he had expected the response.

"None of it was your—"

"Don't." The word halted Kakashi before he could spout his platitudes. "They put it in me, you brought it out, and it did the killing, but I couldn't control it." She couldn't even remember it. And that was the worst of it all. "Why did you bring me here?" The memorial stone glinted in the sunset, mocking her, she thought. "What did you think was going to happen, honestly?"

"I don't know." He was quiet and collected, and Rin resisted the urge to lash out and hit him. Barely.

"I'm done," she said, more than ready to file this day away with the rest of her awful memories. She just wanted to find a dark, quiet place and sleep until the world righted itself again. His hand closed around her wrist as she made to turn away, and she reacted. She sent a swift elbow back with her free arm, turning into the blow with her hips. It earned her a pained grunt and a free wrist.

She glared at him even as he settled himself back into a defensive stance, his visible eye challenging her. She was on him in a split second in a flurry of furious blows, taijutsu expressing what her words could not.

Rin always warned her genin about the dangers of tunnel vision when battling an opponent, but as she attacked her old teammate. Rin felt a strange sense of detachment as the fight overwhelmed her focus. She could see Kakashi deflect her blows without moving to counter; could hear his measured breathing; could feel the determination rolling off him in waves.

It only served to make her angrier.

"Fight back!" She demanded, stepping up her speed a notch. Kakashi danced around the blows before he caught one and sent her spinning away. She grit her teeth in frustration. Kakashi had always been better at taijutsu, but this was just maddening.

She regained her balanced and fell into a stance only to find Kakashi just standing there, arms at his sides, eye pleading. She dropped her head, losing the will to fight. When she looked up again, Kakashi had retreated toward the memorial stone. He sat before it, just looking.

After a moment of furious internal debate, and for reasons she couldn't quite understand, she strode over to the stone and sat next to her old teammate Kakashi said nothing and just sat there, unwavering

Rin's eyes skimmed through the ever growing list, pausing on every one of the thirty seven who died thanks to the Sanbi in her belly. They glowed against the dark stone, calling to her. Mocking her. Obito's most of all.

"He was in love with me." She did not know why she said it, but the words were out of her mouth before she registered she was speaking. Of all the guilt and regrets she carried, not returning the Uchiha's devoted feelings was painfully low on the list.

"He had good taste," Kakashi half-joked. It fell flat.

"You were in love with me, too." She noted just how hollow she sounded just then, but her emotions were spent and she could not bring herself to care.

"Still am." Rin let out a short, brittle laugh. How blunt and nonchalant could one man be?

"You have no idea who I am anymore." The only people who had a clue anymore found their home in the Hokage's office or down in the Torture and Interrogation Department.

"I have the general idea."

"Enlighten me." It was morbid curiosity that drove the conversation at this point, Rin decided.

"I know what you've done with Naruto and your girls. You took the dead last and two no-name genin and are bringing out potential in them that nobody would have expected. I know exactly what it takes to be the type of teacher – the type of person – that it takes to do that." His hand reached out and traced over the name Namikaze Minato. She stared at the name, uneasy at the comparison. It had to be her utter exhaustion, but each of his words was crushing her resolve to leave everything buried. "And I've talked with Anko, quite a bit."

Rin sighed, not even drawing enough energy to be angry any more. Her eyes met Kakashi's, and the other jonin held up his arms, placating.

"You were with them for what? Five years?" Her fist balled in the grass, tearing up the blades with a satisfying rip. Kakashi kept speaking. "I tried to see you, you know?" She frowned. She had not.

"Near complete isolation," Rin said, and left it at that.

"I never made it through a conversation with Sarutobi without asking, begging." Kakashi let out a hollow laugh, staring hard at the stone before him. When he looked at her, she turned away from the intensity she saw there. "And then you were just at the gates one day. And I said nothing." She heard him sigh, but still didn't speak up. She had no idea what to say.

"I should have demanded to go on that mission, or –"

"No," she said, head snapping up and around. She surprised herself with the force of her reply. Kakashi blinked, his rant stopped in his tracks. "You would have died." The recollection of Jiraiya's tired, grim face still twisted her with sickening guilt.

"Maybe," Kakashi allowed, voice soft as a whisper. "But at least I would have been there." He sighed. "Next thing I know, you're a jonin working at the hospital and hating the world." He trailed off.

"You wouldn't think much of the world either if you'd been dealt my hand." She could taste the bitterness of her words. "Do you know what they did? All to try and control it? The seal wasn't designed to be controlled."

"Rin…"

"I couldn't make it worth it." The words came on their own, now. She watched the sky, unseeing. "Years of training, isolation, dealing with it in here." She tapped a finger against her temple. "People died. And they just shrugged it off. Slapped a new seal on me and called it a day. How could I not be angry?"

"I love this village, Kakashi, even after everything I still love it." She leveled a look his way, meeting his gaze. "But I hate the world we live in."

"Which explains why Sarutobi assigned you a genin team…" Kakashi said after a long minute of silence.

"No shit," she deadpanned. "Breeding attachment to the village through passing on the Will of Fire." She shook her head. She could not figure out exactly what emotions were swirling in her mind, but she felt lighter than she had in years. So she kept talking. "I almost lost them." Her voice wavered. "I can't handle another tragedy …"

"Then it's up to you to get them trained up, make them stronger." It was the closest to confident Kakashi had sounded all night. He turned back to the stone, fingers tracing over Sensei's name. "All in the hopes that they can do what we couldn't."

"Make the world better." It was something Minato-sensei had spoken to three young shinobi, once upon a time. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing, trying to let it all go. She felt his fingers brush her hand, and for the first time in forever, she didn't spurn the touch. Their fingers interlaced, and Kakshi's mask shifted as he smiled. Her lips quirked up, just a fraction, as well.

"How do you do it?" She asked, looking at their joined hands. His was hard, calloused, and the slightest bit sweaty, but she did not want to pull away. 'Stay so positive after everything?"

"Willful stupidity." Came his swift, easy response. She laughed, full bellied and heartfelt and with a touch of grief. His own soft laughter joined hers, and – for just a second – they were teenagers again. And even if it was just for a moment, Rin realized it was enough.

It was well beyond time to start moving forward.

A/N: So, the info the manga revealed that I mentioned before the start of the chapter was that she had been briefly made the three tails jinchuriki before dying. The point of diversion in this story is now Kakashi managed to avoid giving Rin a killing blow (instead hitting her just above her navel), which led to a series of events that made Rin what she is in this story. Before I had just had some vague tragic event planned, but this ended up working to my favor.

The conversation with Kakashi here does not mean that Rin's 100 percent okay now. She's taken a big step toward finally healing, but has a long way to go. Crafty old Sarutobi saw it coming, though, and would probably laugh his ass off if he was watching that scene through his not-creepy-at-all crystal ball.

Anyway, let me know what you think! This story is not abandoned, and I'm already part of the way into the next chapter. Please review to let me know if this story's still bringing the good stuff or if it should go slither back to the hole I dragged it out of. Cheers!