Chapter 7 [The fight]

'…Naruto and Sakura against Rin. And Kakashi and Rin against Neji and Lee!'

I woke up with that sentence ringing in my head, I turned to look at the clock to see it looking back at me saying: 'It's 3am sucker!' Gosh! I'm hallucinating….

Ignoring the fact that my head was heavy and my whole body is in pain, I grunted and got up to a sitting position to turn my head and look out the window. Must be the amount of chakra I used… hyper active Naruto…

The night sky in Konoha is just plain magnificent, compared to the view in my room at home this is nothing. Speaking of home, I was starting to miss it but not badly enough. I kicked the thought out of my head like an annoying toy in the way on the floor and stood up to go to the bathroom and wash my face then I shall go back to sleep…. or just lay there just to rest.

I walked out of my bedroom and closed the door softly then tiptoed through the living room and headed for the balcony.

The view here was even more magnificent. The cool night breeze blowing as the stars above shine brightly. The moon rays shone through the clouds on the village of Konoha, watching over it. Rin heaved a sigh and sat on the balcony's rails and leaned her back towards the wall then relaxed. Rin could still sense Kakashi's chakra signatures, wide-awake, excited and reading his Icha-Icha as usual. Rin then closed her eyes and took in the calming night air, thinking back to the time when she figured why she couldn't read his mind...

How did Uzumaki Rin know all these things? Well, they were already implanted inside her brains for some reason, and she just automatically knows things. It took Rin awhile to adjust to this … knowledge, and they were most of the time, useful. Moments later a deep male voice was heard from under Rin's balcony.

'Can't sleep?' Kakashi asked.

'Yeah…' Rin replied lazily, eyes still closed. Rin then heard Kakashi gripping on his balcony rails and summersaulted up and landed on Rin's balcony.

'So, have you figured out why you can't read my mind?' Kakashi asked, landing on his feet.

'I have… but why would you want to know?' Rin asked finally opening her eyes and looking at Kakashi. He was still wearing his typical Jounin uniform even at this time of the night.

'I've read some scrolls… of the Uzumaki clan… and I just wanted to make sure… if it's true that when you have an… emotional attachment…'

'I know… it's embarrassing to admit for you but...' Rin sighed, 'I know…'

'So it's true…' Kakashi said and leaned on the railings stuffing his hands in his pockets, and looked up into the cloudy night sky.

'What do you mean it's true?' Rin asked, eyebrow raised.

'Am I …'

Rin got off the railings of the balcony and stood face to face with Kakashi.

'Wow… I didn't notice you were this tall…' Rin said.

'I was always this tall…' Kakashi whispered.

'Are you finally opening up?' Rin asked.

'Not really… but I'll get there…' Kakashi replied.

'Good night… Kakashi…'

'Good night… ' he whispered 'sweet dreams…' and with that Kakashi jumped off the balcony and back into his own apartment.

Rin woke up to the sound of birds chirping and the sunlight that was sipping through her curtain windows. She heaved a sigh and got off of bed, stretched and headed for the bathroom. She could even feel Kakashi's chakra signature as she got up, she even knows that he got up at the same time… that morning person…

Rin did her daily morning routine with breakfast and was just finishing her glass of water when she heard a knock on her door.

'Rin…' a voice was heard on the other end of the door and it was undeniably Haruno Sakura.

'Coming!' Rin shouted and headed for the door, unlocked it and opened the door, ' what's up?'

'Good Morning Rin-chan!' Sakura said cheerfully.

'Morning, Sakura sempai! What brings you here at this early hour?'

'I was actually thinking… if you could come and train on medical jutsus with me… Ino's busy and Hinata is on a mission… and I was bored.' Sakura explained hands tucked behind her back, head held high and smiling her brightest smile.

'Sure! When do we start?' Rin asked, she was expecting for a Right Now! But…

'I need to do some preparations first! Glad you could come! I'll be at the Hokage's library, so meet me there at 2pm!' Sakura said and hurried off.

'What preparation?' Rin mumbled to herself as she stared at the empty space where Sakura has once been, then closed the door. She looked at the clock on the wall and it says 11.

Rin could still sense Kakashi's chakra downstairs as she was minding her own business up in her apartment. After Rin was done with cleaning part of the house she went out to the balcony for some fresh air. She sat on the railings on the same place that night; she was brought back to that very night on the balcony and could even feel the cool breeze blowing as she closed her eyes… despite the sunlight.

'Thinking?'

'Good morning Kakashi… didn't know you were up so early…' Rin whispered in a much too dream-like way.

'Don't lie… I've somehow inherited some of your mind reading skills…' Kakashi said getting right to the point, 'so… no Kakashi sensei or Mr. Hatake?'

'I have noticed…' Rin whispered once again, eyes still closed ignoring Kakashi last comment.

Kakashi, knowing Rin won't have any eye contact with him anytime soon stuffed his hands in his pocket and sat cross-legged on the veranda.

Rin finally opened her eyes and got down the railings and sat opposite Kakashi.

'Is that all?' Rin asked.

'Pretty much.' Kakashi said.

'You're a pretty good lair aren't you?' Rin asked raising an eyebrow.

'You could tell.' Kakashi said sarcastically.

'Last night…' Rin stated.

'About that conversation?' Kakashi asked. Rin suddenly stood up which surprised Kakashi.

'Where are you going?' Kakashi asked.

'My living room where there's a comfortable couch to sit on.' Rin said with her back facing Kakashi. Kakashi shrugged his shoulders and got up to follow Rin.

'Day off?' Rin asked as she plopped down on the couch.

'Yep.' Kakashi said mimicking Rin's actions.

'So.' Rin said as she plopped down on her sofa, ' what do you want to know about me?'

'Well… for starters… you could try and explain to me…, 'Kakashi ruffled his silver locks a bit, ' how I am able to read your mind and not to mention Sakura's and have a more sensitive chakra detection?'

'I don't know…' Rin mumbled.

'How can you not know?' Kakashi asked.

'I don't know! I just… maybe I need some time to figure out….' Rin said.

'Hey… can I try something?' Kakashi asked.

'Sure thang.' Rin replied.

'Hello.'

'Kakashi? How did you know how to break through?'

'I told you I inherited some of your mind reading skills…'

'The great Hatake Kakashi is enjoying this so much aren't you?'

'Yes I am…'

'You got the hang of it!' Rin said outloud.

'You mean mind communications?' Kakashi asked sarcastically.

Rin sighed, 'Yes!'

'Okey Dokey.' Kakashi replied, 'Oh… and …'

'I know, I can feel them.' Rin said and a knock came at the door.

'I get it.' Kakashi said.

'Wh…'

'What were you doing with Kakashi sensei?' Naruto asked.

'Training?' Kakashi said.

'Yep!' Sakura said cheerfully.

'So! Are we going to train or what?' Rin shouted over her shoulders from the couch.

'Yes we are!' Sakura said.

'Yeah!' Naruto screamed.

'Ok then let's go!' Rin said but Sakura stopped her with an arm.

'You don't have your vest.' Sakura said.

'Oh…' Rin blushed, 'I'll go get it.'

'Can I come?' Kakashi asked.

'Sure!' Sakura replied.

'Let's go! RACE YOU SLOW POKES!' Rin shouted and disappeared in a blue flash.

'Awww…. Rin's gonna reach there first…' Naruto whinned.

'Not if we beat her.' Sakura said and rushed down the steps.

'Well… see you there.' Kakashi said and also, disappeared in a puff of smoke.

'Awww…. WAIT! Sakura-chan!' Naruto screamed after Sakura and followed her.

'Ok, now let's start with fire.' Rin said as she sat crossed legged on the sandy earth.

'HAI!' Sakura screamed.

'Awww….. and I was waiting for my turn.' Naruto whined.

'Now I want you to breath fire directly from your mouth.' Rin said then looked at Naruto, ' you'll have your turn Naruto sempai.'

Naruto sighed.

'Ok, here I go!' Sakura stood up and 6 hand sign and shouted: 'Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!'

'Very good, you went through some fire scrolls didn't ya?' Rin said as she stood up and crossed her arms over her chest.

'Thank you Rin shishyou.' Sakura said teasingly.

'Please don't call me that…. Just treat me as …your little sister…' Rin said.

'I did good didn't I?' Sakura bragged as she cast Naruto a look. Naruto glared right back.

'Yep, but what I want you to do was to breath fire WITHOUT hand signs.' Rin said, ' for you to have fully connect with your element, you must be the element itself, and fire describes you perfectly. So what I wanted was for you to be the fire and breath it out like a …dragon.' Rin explained.

'Ohhhh….' Sakura sighed.

'Hah!' Naruto taunted.

'You want a demo?' Rin asked.

'Yes Please!' Sakura and Naruto said at the same time.

'Butt out!' Sakura screamed at Naruto.

'Ok… enough with this, let's start,' Rin said, 'you know you are the element itself already, so all you have to do is breath in and… BLOW!'

A huge blast of fire came out of Rin's mouth and blew off half the forest.

'Ano… Rin?' Kakashi shouted from across the field from his branch.

'Yeah…I think I better put it out before a fire spreads…' Rin said, she flew up and created water out of thin air and with a graceful wave of her arms, she swept the fire away.

'Wow…' Naruto gasped.

'I can do that?' Sakura asked Rin as she slowly floated down.

'Yes you can dattebayo!' Rin replied with a signature grin of Naruto.

'Hey! That's my line!' Naruto screamed.

Rin and Sakura looked at each other and laughed out loud while they held their stomachs.

'What?' Naruto said.

'You sound like we are in a movie or something….' Sakura gasped as she continued laughing.

'Ok…' Rin gasped, 'Ok…. Let's continue… Sakura!'

'Yes!' Sakura immediately replied but dived back into laughter.

'Ok…' Rin sighed and tried to clam herself, 'breath fire.'

'Now?' Sakura asked, laughter dying.

'Yes.' Rin said more seriously this time.

'Ok...' Sakura then inhaled a deep breath, Rin could literally hear her chanted in her mind, I am fire, I am fire I am fire.'

'Now breath in…' Rin said; Sakura breathed in and she blew. A medium sized fire ball flew out of her mouth and knocked out two trees.

'Wow! Sakura sempai! That was amazing!' Rin yelled.

'I did it!' Sakura gasped, 'I DID IT!'

'Er… Rin chan? Sakura chan? There's an Anbu here…' Naruto trailed off as the Anbu member began to speak.

'The Hokage requests for the members of Team 7 to meet in her office for a mission briefing.' And the Anbu member disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

'I think we better get going… this sounds important.' Rin said.

'The Kazekage has been captured…. The Akatsuki is on the move again… and they are currently gathering all the Jinchuukiri…' Tsunade said with her chin on her palms, crinkling her eyebrows, eyes gleaming with hatred as she spat the name of that evil organization, looking deadly serious.

'We have to go now! There's no time to wait! We have to save Gaara!' Naruto screamed and was about to run to the door when the loud bang of the table, he turned around slowly to face an enraged Hokage.

'I. AM. NOT. FINISHED.'

'Y…Yes… baa chan…' Naruto stuttered and got back into place.

'Now…' the Hokage sighed as she poured herself another cup of sake, ' you four will be leaving tomorrow morning to Sunagakure… but I was also informed of other information, they need a medic, and a strong one,' Tsunade eyed her star pupil and continued, ' the Kazekage's brother is injured and they need an antidote… Sakura! You know what to do.'

'Yes!' Sakura saluted.

'But… the Akatsuki are after the Jinchuuriki aren't they? Why send Naruto?' Kakashi questioned.

'The Akatsuki needs the Jinchuuriki in their orders… first they need the first Jinchuuriki, who holds the one tailed beast, Shukaku, if they go against the orders and seal the nine tails first… then… something will go wrong, and I'm not quite sure.' Rin explained.

'Where did you get this information?' Tsunade asked.

'I'm afraid… now is not the time to tell you…' Rin said and eyed Naruto and Sakura.

'Why?'

'Because… they'll freak. And don't use our mind communication like this, you can talk to me later.'

'Fine with me.'

'Naruto! Sakura! You may go prepare for the mission now.' The Hokage said, receiving the message from Rin.

'But…' Sakura voiced.

'NO BUTS! Dismissed!' Tsunade shouted at her apprentice and Naruto and Sakura both turned and left.

'What is it?' Tsunade asked impatiently.

'Uchiha Itachi comes in regularly to feed us information about the Akatsuki, that is why he came in undetected at that time.' Rin explained, ' Uchiha Itachi… is not an… enemy… and that is all I can tell you… I'm not suppose to reveal this… but I felt the need to…'

'But… how do you even know?' Kakashi asked.

'Itachi comes in every two months to write the information, but now that the 3rd is gone… he sends them to the ANBU, I went in to read some scrolls and figured as much.'

'So… it wasn't your mind reading?' Tsunade said.

'No ma'am, I assure you. Information can be found anywhere, you just have to find it.' Rin said.

'So basically you were sneaking around the village looking for the information?' Tsunade questioned raising an eyebrow.

'No ma'am,' Rin replied confidently, 'I was finding out about Uchiha Sasuke every day… while walking through the village, talking with friends going through every mind… I'm gathering information of him and came across his hatred to his brother. I got curious and trailed thoughts, even from the Anbu who were careless enough to think about it. I went to their information compartment and found that very scroll.' Rin explained.

'Impressive…' Tsunade breathed under her breath.

'So… do you have information of their hide out and … the whereabouts of Sasuke?' Kakashi asked.

'I do, Sasuke is currently in one of Orochimaru's lair south-east and three days away, as long as the trip to Suna. But what is most important now is going to Suna, and by guessing I say the two Akatsuki members are still on the way back to their hide out. But again, first things first, we have to go to Suna to see who is injured… I have a feeling that it's a life-threating situation with limited days. We can contact Temari on the way.' Rin said.

'Rin…'

'Yes Hokage sama?'

'You are officially welcomed as a member of Konohagakure… you will get your heitai after your mission and this will be our final test in proving to us that you are worthy… After that you may be appointed a Chunin of the village but you will have to work up to Jounin level like everyone else! Now dismissed!' Tsunade said, ' and… call me Tsunade sama from now on… I think I prefer to hear my name once in a while…'

Rin was currently gleaming with joy, ' Thank you very much Hokage sama! I will work my hardest!' she bowed and exited the office along with Kakashi.