Chapter Four
...
"Want to get some ice cream?"
"Why? It's December. Not to mention that it's freezing outside. Nobody in their right mind would want ice cream at a time like this."
"That's all the more reason to go. No people. Don't you like it that way? Come on. Please, S—? Why not ease up on work for once?"
"Oh, alright, fine. You win."
"That makes the score 37 to 34! You're starting to lose your touch."
…
"Is that…" Rin trailed off as she stared at a face she had run across before.
Two faces.
"That's Uchiha Inabi," Shizune supplied in a hushed whisper. "He's in one of the higher classes at the academy, but I've heard that he's a jerk. I don't know who that other boy is though. A cousin?"
"I know who he is." Rin paused to correct herself. "Well, I mean I've spoken to him a little before. I don't like this Shi-chan. Should we help him out?" There was a strange tugging in her gut, one that told Rin she couldn't exactly walk away from what she was seeing.
Rin and Shizune were in the park sitting under Rin's favorite tree. There were several scrolls strewn across the ground, as the black haired girl had been studying while Rin was writing. A commotion grabbed their attention, and not far off from where they sat they quickly caught sight of two boys involved in a small argument.
One was the boy with orange goggles from before and then the other boy was the bratty Uchiha Rin had run into a few weeks back.
"Uncle said to avoid picking fights with people at the academy," Shizune responded nervously eyeing the two arguing boys. "He's an Uchiha too. Their clan has some pretty powerful shinobi…I don't think that—wait, where are you going?!"
Rin shot a brief grin over her shoulder at the girl as she began striding towards the older of the Uchiha. "Gather up your stuff and be ready to run," She suggested quietly. Turning her attention back in front of her, Rin saw a look of recognition cross the younger boy's eyes as she approached from behind. She stopped and opened her mouth to say something, but she didn't know what. Rin hesitated and tried to think about what to do.
What could she do in that situation? Behind her, Rin could tell that Shizune was frantically gathering up the scrolls on the ground.
The older boy's back was to Rin and he didn't appear to acknowledge her presence. He was in the ninja academy, but she wasn't sure what to expect. There was also no telling how the Uchiha would react to any sort of talking, so she weighed two options in her head. One was more civilized, the other was not. It all came down to a single fact. Rin didn't like this snarky boy at all and that made the decision all the more clear.
The uncivilized way it was.
Not really knowing what she would do after, Rin swept out her foot and hooked Inabi's ankle to knock him off balance. Unfortunately, he sensed it coming. Rin did manage to snag her target, but he was more balanced than any kid she'd ever run across. The Uchiha brat easily shifted his weight from one foot to the other, and he was still standing.
And he looked pretty angry.
Rin's eyes widened slightly as she realized her mistake. However, before the older boy could make another move, she watched as he suddenly fell to the ground, a gasp escaping his mouth.
"—Haha, Gotcha!" The younger Uchiha boy shouted victoriously.
He sucker punched Inabi in the gut.
"Holy crap, you got him good!" Rin cheered, snapping out of her own shock. The younger boy looked at her with a toothy grin and adjusted the goggles on his face. Right then Inabi decided to get back on his feet and Rin felt a hand wrap around her wrist. Not waiting for him to get up, the younger boy tugged Rin along, breaking out into a sprint.
"Okay then, let's get going," He panicked.
"H-hey! Wait for me," Shizune called as they raced past her.
The three darted out of the park and into the streets of the village, twisting around corners and ducking through alleyways to avoid the angry Uchiha boy on their tail. Taking the lead, Rin got them to loop around back towards the park before taking refuge near a small, yet familiar tea shop. Shooting a cautious glance down both ways of the street, Rin sighed.
"Safe," She declared.
At her words, Shizune sank down against the wall in relief. "Why would you do something like that?" She said with a whine.
"Well, it seemed like a good idea," Rin started.
"Really," Shizune drawled with an unamused pout. "Next time, leave me out of it. Anyways, I gotta go, Rin-chan. It's getting late and Uncle will be waiting for me." Sending a quick nod to the boy, Shizune turned heel and started walking back towards her home.
"See you later then," Rin said before turning her attention to the younger boy. "Are you alright?"
"Who me?" He answered pointing to himself, a grin crossing his face. "Of course. I'm the great Uchiha Obito, and I wouldn't lose so easy! He was about to run too, you should have seen it! But thanks for the help."
Rin stifled a giggle. The boy, Obito, was obviously lying, yet for some reason she found it amusing. Again, there was a tug in her gut that said this boy was awfully familiar. Maybe his personality was similar to someone she once knew?
"Right, Obito-kun," Rin repeated his name. "My name's Rin. Was that other boy your cousin?"
Obito chuckled.
"Yeah, Inabi-san. I'll probably see him later. Bet you he's scared now though," He jested. "Just wait till I'm in the academy too!"
"You want to be a shinobi?" Rin asked.
"Uh-huh," Obito nodded in confirmation. "I'm going to be starting with the next term and then I'll become the Hokage! Then they'll put my face up on the monument too!" He pointed at the Hokage faces that towered above the village in the distance.
"You want to be Hokage?" Rin questioned curiously.
Maybe…was he like…Naruto?
Rin could see the tips of his ears turn pink at her question.
"Ah—," He tried speaking, but no words came from his mouth.
"I think that's awesome," Rin finished with a polite smile.
Obito perked up at her words. "You're not laughing?" He asked dumbstruck.
"Why would I?" Rin asked. "That's a better goal than I have. I just wanna learn how to use chakra!"
"You mean you wanna be a shinobi too?" Obito said in excitement. "Maybe we can be in the same class!"
Obito started talking, and Rin found herself listening intently. The boy was brimming with energy. Without a doubt, he was one of the most enthusiastic kids Rin had ever come across. If it wasn't for the black hair and eyes, she would never have guessed that Obito was an Uchiha. He wasn't even as soft spoken as Mikoto, Kushina's friend.
"Oh, it's getting late," Rin finally noted.
And it was true.
The sun had already shifted away from its high point in the sky.
"My mother's probably waiting on me!" Rin picked up her small bag and slung it over her shoulder. Obito visibly pouted.
"Aw, really?"
"I guess this is goodbye, Obito-kun! I've gotta run."
"Wait," Obito stopped her. "How about 'see you later' instead? We are going to see each other again, right?"
There was something in his voice that almost sounded pleading. Rin could tell, but she wondered why. Turning back to look at him, she gave him a reassuring grin. "Promise," She said. "We can become shinobi together."
…
Rin held the brush steady in her hand, a look of concentration on her face.
Smoothly running the brush along the sturdy paper, Rin bit her lip. She wasn't working on her handwriting. This time around she found herself drawing instead. Having arrived home, Rin sat at the small kitchen table while her mother worked on cooking dinner. There was an image that had popped into her mind when she had met Kushina Uzumaki, and she had thought about it again when she walked in the door.
There was something about it that gave Rin the feeling that it was important.
It wasn't just another image without context.
"What were you and Shizune-chan doing today?" Rin's mother asked. She rolled up her sleeves and began cutting vegetables. Apparently she was more comfortable than Rin thought she would be about learning that she was wandering around the village on her own.
"We went and got Dango," Rin answered with a hum. "We played a few games, but Shi-chan also had lots of homework too."
"That's what Shizue and I did too," She commented off-handedly. Rin stilled slightly. It wasn't often that Shizune's mother was brought up. They had been friends as children, but one grew up to be a Kunoichi and the other did not. Despite that, Rin knew that they had been really close before she passed. It helped explain a lot of things to Rin, especially how her mother seemed to be friends with Dan Katō, Shizune's uncle.
Learning that made Rin feel like everybody in Konoha had connections to everyone in some way, but perhaps that was over exaggerating.
"There anything else?" Rin's mother prodded.
Rin smirked slightly.
She was good.
"We met another kid too. His name is Uchiha Obito and he wants to become a shinobi too, just like Shi-chan. He wants to become Hokage too." Rin tacked on as she finished her brush stroke.
"Uchiha?" Her mother repeated as she walked up behind her.
Rin set the brush on the table and turned around, a serious look in her eyes. "Okaa-san? Can I do that too?" She asked suddenly.
"Do what, Rin-chan?"
"I want to become a shinobi too—no, a kunoichi. I want to learn how to use chakra and stuff."
A teasing smile came to the woman's face, a hint of sadness in her expression, but Rin missed it. Looking past her daughter, she picked up the paper that was resting on the table, shaking her head. "You were supposed to be practicing your writing. How do you expect to become a kunoichi if you distract yourself?"
Rin pouted childishly.
"I was writing," she retorted, "but I got bored." It was a partial truth at least. Rin still stood by what she said, that writing was horrible. That was the one thing her mother constantly had her working on and it made her wrist hurt.
"So is this a lollipop then? We can go get some after dinner if you want, but then I want you to try a few more characters, okay?"
"I guess it does look like a lollipop," Rin agreed. On the paper, she had drawn a spiral mask with a single eye hole at the center of the swirling line. She knew that it was supposed to be orange and she knew it had something to do with someone important.
An enemy?
Rin scrunched her nose before pushing the thought aside. She would worry about that later; there was a more pressing issue. "Okaa-san? Can I become a kunoichi then?" Rin realized that her mother had dodged answering the question.
The smile on her mother's face faltered slightly, but she pushed it away. Kneeling next to her daughter, she ruffled her hair and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "You're pretty smart, do you know that? Just like your father. But do you understand what you'll be walking into?" She asked cautiously.
Rin nodded her head.
Becoming a ninja meant that she would be involved in death and war, but Rin's mind wasn't focused on that. After what she had been through, Rin figured that she wouldn't fear death, right? There was a reassurance behind it.
"Rin, I want you to know that no matter what you decide, I will stand by you."
"Really?"
"No matter what."
She really was something, wasn't she?
"Okaa-san?" Rin spoke up again. "Can we get ice cream instead?"
...
Author's note: I'm finding my inspiration again. The chapters will get a little longer too eventually. My plan is to start writing again and with any luck I'll type up the next chapter within a few days. The beginning of the story is the hardest for me to write, I suppose. I'm trying to create some background in the story without overloading on pointless information. It might seem like a slow build up, but I've got plenty of plans for things that happen a little later in the story. It's just a matter of working my way towards it.
Anyways, I've tried fleshing out a few more details in this chapter. With any luck, I'll be able to speed things up a bit and get the story rolling. And what's with the first section, hm...I wonder?
I really appreciate all of my readers and my reviewers! It helps a lot knowing that there are people who are waiting for more. I hope that I can keep it up and finally turn this story into the one I first thought of!
Until next time,
~BlueCampanula