Notes: A relationship begins!

Warnings: The development of a potential unhealthy codependent relationship. It's not a malicious relationship but still, better to be safe...

Relationships: [Nohara Rin & Uchiha Obito], [Nohara Rin & Isobu | Sanbi | Three-Tails], [Nohara Rin & Haku], [Nohara Rin & Momochi Zabuza] (all platonic).

Title: Precision Work

Summary: Rin knew three things for certain: One—jinchuuriki could regrow vital organs in seconds. Two—she didn't die. Three—she couldn't go back. [Rin-survives!AU.]

Precision Work

— V —

It would have been easier to remain stuck in her personal hell and wallow there. It would have been simpler to remain a husk as the Sanbi used her body as a conduit for his own so he could swim around like he was some normal, average turtle and not a demon. Rin almost did, so lost in her mind was she.

It was a vision of Obito, young, as she'd known and loved him, laughing at her from the doorway of her old room, that saved her from that fate.

She'd been surrounded by medical scrolls. Her fingers were covered in ink and she'd been crying from stress, and in wiping away her tears she'd smeared the ink around her eyes, which was why Obito had been laughing.

Rin hadn't appreciated it at the time, not the way she did now. "Stop laughing, Obito-kun! It's not funny!"

"It's a little bit funny, Rin-chan. You can't—haha—you can't really see yourself right now. You'd be laughing as well!"

"Well, I'm not laughing now! So stop it!"

"What's wrong, anyway? Did someone make you cry? Do I have to beat someone up for you, Rin-chan, 'cause I will!"

It had amused her at the time. Obito would sooner trip over his own feet and fall upon on his own fist than successfully defend Rin's honor. Not that she minded. She wasn't friends with him for his mediocre taijutsu skills. "No, I—it seems silly now that I… I'm just … stressed, I think."

"About the medic stuff?"

"Yeah, it's … it's super hard, Obito-kun! There's so much to learn! On top of all the medical procedures I have to know about—and there is so many of those, I couldn't even count them all—I have to be aware of hospital protocols, which are unique to every village! There's, there's so much to learn and I know I get decent grades but I'm not a genius like—like other people are—"

"So what if you're not?" He'd said, trying to look stern but only managing to furrow his brows and pout at her. She'd thought it was so adorable at the time. "What's being a genius got to do with it?"

"It'd make it all … so much easier. That's all, Obito-kun. It would just make it easier."

Obito scratched his cheek and asked, "When has 'easier' ever been worth something to people like us, huh, Rin-chan? It's not fun if it's easy. And if you don't work super hard for something, how do you know that you've earned it?" She'd stared at him in awe long enough for his cheeks to turn pink. "Ah, well, that's … that's just how I think about it. It looks really tough, Rin-chan. I'm impressed that you've already learned so much!"

"Really?"

"Yeah! I believe you can do this, Rin-chan, even though it's not easy. You're the best like that."

It had been an experience that had unprecedented effects on her mindset. If you don't work hard for something, how do you know that you've earned it? It put Obito's actions into perspective, that was for sure. If he could keep working despite his clan hating him and his Sharingan being elusive, what was stopping her?

The will to fight? Rin had that in spades. Besides, how could she ever meet Obito again in the afterlife if she let the Tailed Beast beat her like this? If she didn't even try?

She performed a primary assessment. As far as she could tell, the burning village she stood in the heart of was a mental construct. None of the wounds she had sustained were real, and as such, they didn't really hurt.

'None of this was real.'

With that realisation, the burning village faded away like ink dispersing in water, and all that was left was herself standing in the middle of an ocean that stretched into the sunset.

She was tired. She was very tired. She placed her hand to her chest, where there was an ugly scar; there should have been a hole. So, the Sanbi had healed her.

Rin concentrated until her hands glowed a pale green. She could use chakra inside her mindscape? 'Huh… That's new.' She used the Mystic Palm jutsu to run a thorough diagnostic of herself; nothing serious, apart from mental and physical exhaustion and vitamin-D deficiency.

Rin took in her surroundings. Water. So much water that it was making her feel claustrophobic.

If this was her mind, why was it so empty? Didn't she have a new guest?

Where was it?

"Sanbi?" She called. She began to walk for the perpetual sunset. "Sanbi, are you here? Sanbi? Hey, can we talk?"

The horizon never got closer. The ocean stretched on like an endless blue carpet. Below her feet was an equally as hungry darkness, so Rin tried not to look down. "Sanbi? Sanbi, please! I need to talk to you!"

Rin walked.

"Sanbi!"

And walked…

"I want to get out now!"

And walked…

"Please, let me out. I want to see the world again. I know you can hear me!"

And walked…

"Are you going to give me the silent treatment the entire time?! Only children do that, Sanbi!"

And walked…

"I just want to be free!"

Until something from the depths wrapped coral around her ankles and pulled her under. She screamed as the water filled her lungs but did not drown her, as the coral dragged her deeper and deeper until Rin could no longer see the light of the sun, before she collided painfully with the sharp peaks of an underwater vent system.

One of the rocks blasted boiling water at her. "Ow! Ow, ow, ow! Sage, what the—" Rin healed herself and wailed to the heavens when the water surrounding her was suddenly displaced. Breathed, like an underwater wave.

There was a rumble.

Rin stopped looking up and started looking in front of her. A giant red and yellow eye stared down at her in disdain.

"B-Big…" Big was an understatement. The Sanbi was huge. Rin couldn't see where it's magnificent shell stopped. It seemed to go on forever. "You're… you're the Sanbi?" There was no response to that, although there was no way it was anything else. "You're the one that's been keeping me trapped?"

The hot-water vents at her back exploded with activity. The Sanbi narrowed its eye. Scalding water teased the back of Rin's head, and she thought, vaguely terrified, 'Message received.'

"No, no, I didn't mean it like that. I didn't mean to … I mean. I—"

A deep voice echoed through the pitch black water. "You spend weeks calling for my attention, and now that you have it, you speak like a bumbling fool."

Rin flushed. "It's—I had something planned! You're just … bigger than I thought you would be."

"You are punier than I thought you would be."

"That's not very nice,"

"I am not nice," it replied. It exhaled sea foam. "What do you want. I am not giving you back your body."

Rin yelped, "Why not?!"

"You think that you're trapped? That your freedom is nought but a distant memory? You don't know a thing about being imprisoned! I have lived longer than all of your precious villages combined, and still, your race seals me, as if you have the right. You will not take this from me, human. I have waited lifetimes."

"But I—"

"No. I won't be your prisoner."

Before Rin could respond to that, an invisible force grabbed her by the hair and propelled her to the surface again. She sat on the top of the not-so-bottomless ocean and tried to make sense of that interaction. Freedom? The Sanbi talked of freedom? The only thing Tailed Beasts were capable of was destruction: could it resent shinobi for sealing it in the face of such power? It was self-preservation.

I won't be your prisoner.

What was that supposed to mean?

Rin started walking again. "Sanbi! I want to speak with you! Please, just hear me out! I promise I'll actually say something this time! Sanbi!"

She did this for… for a while. The Sanbi was not that patient. If she stuck at it for long enough, she was dragged to the bottom of the ocean. It never let her speak. Every time she opened her mouth, it interrupted to tell her, "I won't let you take away my freedom," before launching her back up to the surface.

It became a cycle. Rin would scream for attention, the Sanbi would give her three seconds of it, she'd go back to the surface, she'd try again. It was tiring work. Rin gave up a few times—screaming aimlessly at the ocean wasn't exactly riveting—but found that simply sitting and watching the sunset for eternity was even worse.

She told him that. "I don't want to do this for the rest of eternity,"

The Sanbi had told her, "You know nothing of eternity," before throwing her back to the surface. Rin resolved to never discuss eternity with it again, if that's how it reacted.

At least it gave her time to think, though that could be a double-edged sword.

And so, she was back at it again. Calling like an albatross. Because that was becoming her life now. "SANBI. SANBI! I WANNA TALK TO YOU! SAAAAANBI! SAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN—"

Coral around her ankle. Rin was dumped before the Sanbi once again. He told her, "Enough of this."

"I need to—"

"I will not be returning your body. Stop asking."

"I haven't even—"

"Your screaming is bothering me. I cannot properly enjoy my freedom when I have you yelling in the back of my head. It must stop, or I will eat you—"

Fed up, Rin crossed her arms and exclaimed, "Didn't anyone teach you that it's rude to interrupt?!" Oddly enough, this worked in shutting the Sanbi up. The reaction was so surprising that even Rin, who had a speech prepared in her head, was struck speechless alongside him.

The Sanbi growled when her silence held. "Well?" He sounded impatient.

Rin blinked. "Well," She echoed dumbly. Apparently, the Sanbi did have manners and didn't appreciate being told otherwise. Noted. She uncrossed her arms, clearing her throat. "Well. Since you've finally shut up to let me speak, I want to tell you that I haven't been yelling for your attention so I can ask for my body back. That was the intention at the beginning, I'll admit, but … it didn't seem to be working. So I revised what I wanted to talk to you about."

"And?"

"And… I want to tell you… thank you. For healing my body and giving my heart back to me. I appreciate it." She bowed deeply. When she unbent, she flashed a 'peace' sign at the giant, ugly turtle and said, "You're honestly not as bad as I was expecting!"

Hell-illusions aside. With his freedom, the Sanbi had been swimming around a salt-water lake and nothing else. As soon as Rin had realised this, her expectations of him had somewhat soared. All the Sanbi wanted to do was splash about in the water like a child. There was no destruction of any human settlements—he was just playing with some fish.

It was kind of cute.

"... Annoying," the Sanbi mumbled. Like, actually mumbled. A Tailed Beast mumbled. Rin tilted her head, about to ask, 'what?' when she was pulled to the surface again. It took half a day of sitting right where he left her before Rin realised that the Sanbi had been embarrassed.

Oh, that was mega cute.

Wonder of wonders, he was a lot more willing to talk with her after that.

Rin tried to avoid bringing up the subject of her freedom in the early stages, although she was working up to that, it really was fun having someone to talk to. The Sanbi wasn't exactly human company but any company was better than nothing. The more she chatted with the beast, the more approachable he became—especially when he let his guard drop and started acting like a child.

Turns out, the dreaded Three-Tailed Beast was just a little boy.

That kind of broke Rin's heart.

The bottom of the ocean got a bit lighter, she thought. There was beautiful coral lining the rocks the third time Rin visited, and tiny fish by the ninth. The more she visited, the more populated the area became until it was a self-sustaining reef.

It was the most colorful piece of symbolism Rin had witnessed.

The Sanbi enjoyed telling her about marine life. He knew the names and abilities of them all, and had no problem chatting on and on about them.

His favorite ones he named: the sea-star was named aptly named "Hoshi," his favourite royal angelfish called "Tenshi," the vampire squid "Ika"—his names really weren't that mature or creative. The hideous triplewart seadevil he studiously referred to as "Yoi," in spite of the fish's terrifying appearance. (Yoi wasn't even a name.) His absolute favourite of all the animals was a baby green sea turtle, which he named "Isonade."

The Sanbi was surprisingly easy to get along with. Rin still missed her friends and family, but she wasn't so sad now with him there. He was nice to her.

It wasn't until he started talking about his family that Rin realised how poor of a friend she was being.

"—and I've never liked Shukaku because he's so loud and mean and he always picks on me and every time I would get upset about it, he'd tease me even more! So then Son Goku would have to interfere but whenever he tried to help, Kurama would get the idea that he needed to help and then they'd get into an argument over something and—"

Rin, who had been barely following the conversation, decided she had to interrupt. "Wait. Shukaku? Son Goku? Kurama? You've never mentioned them before," Were they some new fish? "Who are they?"

"Huh? My brothers!"

"You have brothers?"

"Yeah, and sisters! I have eight brothers and sisters! Shukaku, Matatabi, Son Goku, Kurama, Saiken, Choumei, Gyuuki and Kokuou! They're all mostly really nice except Shukaku because he always picks on me."

"Are they around?" Rin asked, twisting around to look for some, like, turtles or something. Big turtles. "Have I met them?"

The Sanbi was looking at her oddly. "Of course you haven't, Puny-Rin. They're all trapped, just like me."

Trapped? Rin didn't get it. "What do you mean? Can't we get them?"

"Probably not. We're not really the strongest, Puny-Rin. We could get Choumei, maybe, because her vessel is super weak, you know, but all the others… Nope. Besides, Kurama's so angry about everything and I don't want to talk to him right now."

Vessel? Rin's eyes widened. "Wait—are you talking about the other Tailed Beasts?"

Sanbi huffed. "What did you think I was talking about? You're so dumb, Puny-Rin."

Kurama. Choumei. Shukaku. All those names… the Tailed Beasts had names?

'Of course they do,' She was ashamed of herself. 'They're alive. They have siblings. They have personalities and desires and regrets. Of course they have names, Rin!'

Rin rubbed her fingers on her skirt nervously and asked, "Who named you?"

"Dad did," said the S—the little boy. "You've probably heard of him," Rin was sure she never had. The Father to the Tailed Beasts... if she didn't know now, then she probably didn't want to. "He's really popular. And cool. He was so cool."

"I'm… I'm really sorry I never asked before."

"Huh?"

"What did your Father name you?"

The fish around her seem to brighten in color. He told her, "He called me Isobu!"

"Isobu … that's a good name, Isobu-kun."

"Thanks, Puny-Rin," Isobu's tails swayed. There were fish playing with them, diving over and under them like they were apart of an obstacle course. "I'm still not gonna let you trap me in your stomach just 'cause you know my name now!" He added cheerfully.

Rin sighed, dipping her head. "Of course not…"

8 months

"You don't have a favourite food?"

"What a weird question … I don't need to eat, why would I have a favourite food?"

"You've never eaten before?"

"Nope!"

"Never eaten a full meal, surely. What about snacks, like berries? Have you eaten any of those before? They're so juicy… I think you'd like them."

"I'm really big, Puny-Rin. I can't eat berries. I'd have to eat lots and I just don't have that time."

"... You're immortal, Isobu-kun."

"I have better things to do!"

10 months

"I thought Yoi-chan could only exist at the bottom of the ocean, and Tenshi-chan could only survive in a shallow reef. How come they can live together here, Isobu-kun?"

"None of this is real, Puny-Rin."

"That doesn't mean you can ignore realism!"

"Why not? That's the entire point of genjutsu. See, I'll show you."

"If you try and show me Kakashi proposing one more time, I'm not talking to you for a week."

18 months

"Myth or fact: you can regrow entire limbs."

"Fact."

"How long does it take?"

"I've never timed it, you know… a couple of minutes, I think. It depends on how tired I am."

"Cool. Myth or fact: Tailed Beasts cannot die."

"Myth. We can die. It doesn't stick, though. We come back."

"Then … then you can't die,"

"No, we can be killed, we just don't—oh. Fact, then. We can't die."

"Sheesh, Isobu-kun, listen to the question next time… Myth or fact: Isobu-kun is the cutest of all his siblings."

"Haha, fact! Fact! You think I'm cute, Puny-Rin?"

"Sure I do. You're super adorable, Isobu-kun. Now, myth or fact: Matatabi is a water-type beast."

"Myth. Who told you that? Matatabi's a fire type! Her flames are so strong they're blue! That's so insulting… I hope Matatabi never finds out who said that, she won't like it."

"It was just something I heard in the frontlines. Okay, myth or fact…"

23 months

"How long has it been, Isobu-kun?"

"Since when?"

"Since I… died, I guess."

"Ano… two years, I think."

"...Ah. So everyone definitely believes I'm dead."

"Mmm, yeah, but at least you have me, Puny-Rin! So we're not alone. And we have Ika and Tenshi and Hoshi and Yoi and Isonade as well."

"That's true. Thank you, Isobu-kun."

26 months

"What was your Dad like, Puny-Rin?"

"Tall."

"How tall?"

"My Papa is the tallest man I know! I hope I get his height, but I don't think I will, which is a shame. He's not a shinobi like Mama was—she's retired now, knee injury—but he is a medicine peddler, so he knows his stuff. He's actually not from Konohagakure, did I tell you that? He comes from one of the islands off the coast of the Fire Country. I think it was on the border between Fire and Water or something, he never talked about it much. He moved to the village because his home town wasn't enough for him…"

28 months

"What about your Papa?"

"My Dad was the strongest shinobi in the entire world."

"I'll give you benefit of the doubt, Isobu-kun. What was he like? Was he nice?"

"He was the nicest. I've never met a human as nice as Dad was. All he wanted was for us to be happy! Of course, he didn't foresee that the world would be full of mean puny humans who don't compare to his kindness, but he really wanted us to be good. I think Choumei and Saiken are winning at that. Kurama's definitely not, that's for sure."

"He was human?"

"Yeah, what else would he be? My Dad was the first shinobi."

"Are… are you telling me that the Sage of Six Paths is your Father?"

"Who else would be?"

"...That's a good point, Isobu-kun. Continue."

30 months

"How long now?"

"It's only been 6 months since the last time you asked,"

"'Only'."

31 months

"Your Obito seems pretty lame, Puny-Rin."

"He kind of was. But he was pretty cool, too."

"You know what I think? I think Puny-Rin had a crush!"

"What—"

"Puny-Riin's in love! You wanna kiss him! You wanna love him! You wanna marry him!"

"Isobu why—"

"PUNY-RIN AND LAME-OBITO SITTING IN A TREE, K-I-S-S-I-N-G. FIRST COMES LOVE, THEN COMES MARRIAGE, THEN COMES A BABY IN A BABY CARRIAGE!"

"P-Please stop that, Isobu-kun…"

"Okay… Mrs. Uchiha Rin."

"You're the worst boy I know."

33 months

"Myth or fact: The Tailed Beasts have been here since the beginning of Ninshu."

"Fact. Well, a little bit. It's complicated. But we were there, yup."

"Myth or fact: You are very, very old."

"Fact!"

"Alright… Myth or fact: You are going to outlive me."

"Uh, fact?"

"Myth or fact: You'll forget about me, one day. When you've lived all those years and I'm nothing more than someone you used to know but can't remember anything about, because you're very old and I'm very young and my life is one blink compared to your lifespan. You won't be able to help it."

"Myth! Myth, myth, myth, myth—"

"Isobu-kun..."

"That's a lie! Puny-Rin! Dumb-Rin! Stupid-Rin! Myth! As if I'd forget about you!"

"You've been alive since the beginning of Ninshu, Isobu-kun, and this has just been… two years of thousands. You won't be able to help it, and I'm not all that memorable in the first place. It's okay, I'm not mad."

"I am! I'm mad! Puny-Rin, I'm not a dumb human like you are! My memory's way better! I don't forget a thing unless they're boring, and you're the dumbest person I know but you're not boring or forgettable! I'm gonna remember you always, stupid!"

"..."

"What are you crying about now!? I should be the one who's sad, if you're underestimating me like that!"

"I'm not sad, Isobu-kun… This is happy. Humans cry when they're happy, too."

"... You're so weird. Whatever, we're not playing this game anymore. It's not even that fun. I want to play tag, can we play tag?"

"Sure, Isobu-kun. Don't forget to include Ika this time."

36 months

It was before Rin's seventeenth birthday—not that she was aware of this—when Isobu came to her with a proposition.

"Kurama's gone and made a mess of things," He started, his single eye glazed over. She had no idea how he knew things like this about his siblings, how he was able to keep track of them even if he didn't get every detail of their situation, but she couldn't ask. Isobu didn't know how he did it either. He came back to her in time to see the bare horror on her face. "The village is still standing," He assured her, knowing what her first concern would be.

"What about the people?" Rin gasped.

Isobu hummed. "Not… not so good," He said quietly, nervously, and for a split-second, Rin hated Isobu's brother so passionately she couldn't breathe, "He did a number on it, that's for sure. He's kind of muted again. I think someone sealed him up again."

It took everything she had not to say, 'good.' Isobu hated talking about his old vessels and she had the feeling that he wouldn't appreciate her pleasure regarding his brother's imprisonment.

"What about… do you know anything about Kakashi? And Minato-sensei and Kushina-nee? Are they okay?"

"Eh, I can't tell. Kurama isn't telling anyone anything. I guess he's really mad."

"Mad?" Her hands shook. She stared at them and willed them to stop. She was a medic. She couldn't have shaky hands. "Why is he mad?"

"I can't tell," Isobu said uncomfortably, "I'm- I'm sure he has a good reason."

Rin doubted it.

"But that isn't what I wanted to talk about. It's related, though. I know… I know Puny-Rin has been wanting to visit the village lately, and since it's kind of a mess right now… I think… it'll be okay if we visit." Her head shot up. Isobu wasn't looking directly at her. "Just—for a bit, okay? We can't stay long and you can't talk to anyone, otherwise they'll try and capture us, and I'm not going to become a prisoner again!"

"You won't," She promised, voice trembling with emotion, "You're my friend, Isobu. I won't let them take you."

And Isobu said, "Us. Take us. You can't stay, okay?"

"I know. I know. I'm a jinchuuriki now; the village won't take kindly to them, after what your… and I've been dead to them for a while, Minato-sensei will want to know what took me so long to come back and the explanation won't sit well with them." I was just trapped in my mindspace while my friend, the Tailed Beast, took control of my body for three years. They'd think she was compromised. She sort of was. "But if I could just make sure everyone is okay… that'll be all I need, Isobu-kun."

He still seemed a bit unsure. "You won't let them take us?" His voice warbled.

Rin smiled as reassuringly as she could and promised him—you're a medic, Rin, don't promise anything you can't guarantee—"We won't be separated, Isobu-kun."

Isobu bowed his head and let her cling to the rough shell around his head.

And then he started swimming up.