Hello people! Hope you guys like this chapter. Thanks to EggrollPerson, Eterna1, zakuro93, Narutoske, Tateno Atsukino, Valinor's Twilight, Gravenimage, Mayan, and The Memories of Old for reading and reviewing. Please review if you have the chance. I have a little surprise for you guys. Now on to the story!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the lovely Rei and her evil and lazy sensei Jin.
Chapter Sixty-One
The rain fell steadily outside. Rei watched as it hit the window and slid down the glass. The only sound in the dark room was made by the steady sound of the water beating on the window. The sun was going down, not that she could see it as the clouds covered the sky. She sighed as she was reminded of the day Sasuke left.
It had rained that day as well and she could picture him standing before her with a determined, but cold look in his eyes. She rid herself of those thoughts as she heard the door open. The lights were turned on as Jin entered the room.
"You do know the lights work, right?" he said with some amusement.
Rei glanced at him, but said nothing. Jin frowned slightly as he put the bag he was carrying on a table. His usually energetic student stood quietly in front of the window across the room looking out into the dark horizon. A look of concern flashed across his face as he watched her. The girl had been acting strangely for a while and he didn't blame her.
They had arrived in a small town near Kumogakure about a week ago. It had been raining for a few days now and training had been all but impossible during those days. While they were confined to the room they shared at an inn Jin had taken the chance to get to know his new student better. After all, they had been traveling together for a few months. Now he felt a twinge of regret for having prodded into her past.
Ever since he had met her he had sensed an air of melancholy surrounding her and now he understood why. He had been surprised to learn about her training with one of the Sannin and about her escape. He was equally stunned to learn about why she had left Konoha and who she was training so hard to defeat. Even after hearing those things what surprised him more was her ability to carry such a large burden on her shoulders.
She was a different person than the one she claimed to be. Even as she smiled and laughed after annoying the hell out of him there was a hidden sadness in her and it hurt him to see that. As kind and happy as she seemed there was a dark quality that was hidden from others. Now that he had expressed his opposition to her goal she no longer intended to hide that from him.
He sighed as he sat on a chair at the table.
"You should eat something, I brought some food."
Rei nodded, but didn't say anything. Jin frowned at her lack of response. He ignored her and began eating.
"When are we going to train?" She asked in the same quiet voice she had been using lately.
"When the weather gets better."
Rei finally turned around to face him.
"We're just wasting time, the weather doesn't matter to me." She complained.
Jin stopped eating and looked at her sternly.
"You need to ease up on training. You've been training nonstop all this time. If you keep it up you'll wear down your body."
"I'll be fine, I haven't learned anything in all this time. I need to get stronger before I return to Konoha." She argued.
"You were supposed to learn to control your emotions, but I see you're still a hotheaded brat." He said with a slight glare.
"How do you expect to get stronger if all you care about is revenge? You don't concentrate on what I teach you so how do you expect to get stronger? You asked for my help, but you don't listen to me and you don't respect me."
"How can I respect someone that just runs away from their past because they're too weak to deal with it?" She said scornfully.
Jin was taken aback by her statement. Before he could stop himself he drew back his hand and the sharp sound of it colliding with the girl's cheek reverberated in the room. Rei turned her head back to look at him and a stunned and awkward silence floated between them. He stood there looking as surprised as the girl before him. As he watched her puzzled and saddened expression he felt a wave of guilt wash over him.
She said nothing as she walked out the door and Jin just stood there looking at the ground as he thought of what he had just done. A second later he hurried out of the room and ran out into the rain. He looked around for his student, but couldn't see well in the pouring rain. Still, he knew he had to find her and apologize. He ran off, following the faint trail of her chakra.
Rei sighed as she leaned back against the tree behind her. She was wet, cold, and hungry, but she wouldn't go back to the inn, at least not anytime soon. She needed time to think. It had been a while since she had felt as alone as she did at that moment. Jin had always made her feel like she had someone to depend on, even if he was arrogant and immature. In a way, he was like family to her. Perhaps that was why it had hurt her so much to see him so upset with her.
Strangely enough she wasn't upset with him. To some extent she had deserved everything, but it was still hard to believe. Jin was right, she was stubborn and stupid. She didn't listen to his advice even though he wanted to help, but it was hard for her to listen when he asked her to take it easy. She didn't have a lot of time, he knew that, but he worried about her. It was all too confusing and she really didn't want to think about it anymore.
She heard someone approaching and looked up to see Jin standing before her. He was soaked and panting slightly as the rain slid down his messy black hair. His eyes shone brightly, but she could see the worry and regret in them. He looked at her as she gazed at him with surprise. There was a faint red mark on her cheek from where he had struck her and he felt another pang of guilt
"I'm sorry." He said without hesitation.
Rei furrowed her brow and Jin kneeled before her.
"I know I haven't been a good teacher. You asked for my help and all I ever do is tell you to take it easy so I'm sorry and I'm sorry for being so harsh."
Rei looked at him with remorse.
"It's okay, I shouldn't have said those things too. I'm sorry."
She looked away from him not wanting to see his expression. A moment later she felt his arms wrap around her. Jin held her tightly as she struggled to comprehend what was happening.
"Just stop being such an idiot."
Rei smiled and slowly hugged him back. He pulled back after a moment and stood up.
"It wouldn't kill you to listen every once in a while." He said with a smirk.
"I'll try, but I can't guarantee anything." Rei responded.
They walked back to the inn and Rei felt a lot better. It was clear to her that Jin wasn't a bad guy, he worried about her. He cared about her and she also cared about him. She wouldn't go as far as to tell him that, but she would at least show him some respect from then on.
"Jin you damned old man! Why can't you do your job for once and teach me something?"
Rei glared at her surroundings as she looked for her teacher. He had, once again, run off before she woke up. She knew he was hiding somewhere outside of the small town they were in. For once she was glad about what her so called master had taught her. She smirked as she sensed his chakra nearby. She turned and threw a kunai in his direction.
Jin dodged the kunai and jumped down from the tree he was hiding in. He looked at his student through some bushes as he hid and was surprised when he saw a cloud of smoke where she had been a moment ago.
"Looking for someone?"
Jin turned around slowly and laughed nervously as Rei gave him a menacing look.
"There you are! I've been waiting for you." He said.
"You second rate sensei! You ran away again!"
"How can you say that? And here I thought that you respected your poor old teacher!" He said with fake indignation.
"I was merely testing your tracking skills."
Rei's eye twitched and she raised her fist and smacked him on the head. She took the chance and dragged her dazed teacher away. Once they were back at the inn Jin turned to her with some confusion as she picked up her things which were scattered on the bedside table.
"What's wrong?" He asked.
"Nothing, why?"
"Usually you make me train you after you catch me." He said as he sat by the window.
"Yeah, well I figured you've taught me enough for now." She said.
She turned to him with a wide grin.
"You've really lost track of the time haven't you old man?"
Jin gave her a puzzled look.
"It's been two and a half years. I think it's about time to go back to Konoha."
Jin raised a brow as he looked at his student.
"Has it really been that long? It's hard to tell since you haven't grown an inch and you're just as annoying as the day I met you." He said with a smirk.
"That's weird, I though you knew by the number of new wrinkles on your face. Besides, every morning when you wake up and stretch something new cracks. You're becoming a brittle old man." She said with a sneer.
Jin gave the girl a mock glare and she laughed.
"Guess I won this round." She said with much amusement.
"If you say so." He said as he looked away, hiding his look of defeat.
"So, when are we leaving?"
"We?" She asked.
"Yeah, I thought I would go with you. I always wanted to visit my master's old home, I just never got around to it."
Rei smiled at him.
"Fine, but I have to send a message to the Hokage. I don't want to take her by surprise, besides, I have to talk to her when I get back." She said.
She wrote a quick note and rolled it up. Jin watched as she made some hand signs and a falcon appeared in a cloud of smoke.
"Take this message to Konoha's Hokage." She said as she attached the note to the bird's leg.
She walked to the window as Jin opened it and released the bird.
"You've gotten better at that." Jin commented.
"I practiced." Rei said smugly.
He smirked at his student's arrogance.
"We're leaving tomorrow morning." Rei said.
"So get some rest you old man."
"Whatever happened to respecting the elderly?" He said with a sigh.
Rei grinned as Jin let a small smile slip onto his face. She knew he was looking forward to going to Konoha.
The sun shone brightly as Rei and Jin made their way to Konoha. It was already late in the afternoon and they had been traveling from very early in the morning. Rei smiled as she walked alongside her master. She was happy to finally go back home, but she was also a bit nervous. It had been a while since she had seen her friends and she wondered if her training had paid off, at least in their eyes.
She was also thinking about Naruto. It had been a while since she had last seen him and she hoped that he was back in Konoha by now. She had no way of knowing if the hyperactive blond had finally returned with the pervy sage. She was curious to see how strong he had become under the tutelage of the Sannin. It wasn't just Naruto's progress she was curious about.
Before she left Konoha she had promised Sakura that she would fight her once she returned. Now she wondered how much Sakura's skills had improved during her training with the Hokage. She doubted that Tsunade had only taught her medical skills. Of course, she wasn't nervous about having to fight her old teammate. On the contrary, she was looking forward to showing her and the others that she had not wasted her time.
As lazy as Jin was he had proved to be a very good teacher. He had not only helped her get stronger and faster, but had also helped her master the skills that her father had left for her in his clan's scroll. It had been hard for him since he didn't know anything about her Kekkei Genkai, but he had proven to be very resourceful. At least he had made her aware of the flaws in her attacks from an enemy's point of view. All in all she was proud of what she had accomplished while she was away from Konoha.
"Hey kid, looks like we made it."
She snapped out of her thoughts at the sound of her master's voice. She looked up and saw the gates of Konoha before her.
"Welcome to my home." She said as she turned to her teacher.
He smirked at her and together they walked through the gates and into the bright village.
End Chapter Sixty-One
Hope you guys like this chapter. I bet you guys weren't expecting her to return to Konoha so soon. You guys got lucky that I had to cancel a trip to Europe or you would have had to wait a while. Anyways, please pardon the shortness of this chapter and please review if you have the chance. Until next time.