Kakashi had been to worse barracks. He was sure of it. He just needed time to think of someplace worse than this.
It started with the eyes. News about Rin's death spread quickly. Kakashi could feel the eyes anchored to him as he walked in. A stream of shinobi was being herded towards the medic corps, and Kakashi frowned. They had too many injured. With Kannabi Bridge destroyed, Konoha might have the upper hand, but it only took one more battle for the tide to change.
"— and then Kakashi used his new electric jutsu, and took out three Iwa shinobi at once!" Gai's hands were flying, nearly smacking a nearby medic in the eye. Kakashi could feel the eyes like fingers, prodding him as they walked to the bunks. Some averted their eyes as he passed. Others stared head-on, a challenge in their gaze. "It was incredible!"
It's whispered, assisted by a firm bump as he passed. Jolted by the shoulder, Kakashi almost didn't register it. He paused, before continuing to walk.
It's Gai who stopped, like a rock in the flow of moving soldiers. More than a few shinobi pushed him, but Gai was too focused on lunging at the man who just walked by Kakashi. It's a chunin, a face Kakashi couldn't place, with dark, angry eyes. He's not expecting Gai to shove him into a nearby wall.
"Say it again," Gai was saying. His face was nearly as red as if he opened a gate. He's tenser than Kakashi has ever seen him, with a tone Kakashi's never heard. He held the chunin's arm at the right angle to snap it. "Say it again, I dare you."
"Gai," Kakashi said.
"Make sure you're not next, Maito." the boy sneered. "It doesn't seem like he can control himself—"
Gai's arm blurred. The chunin howled in pain, clutching his arm. Luckily, it didn't look broken.
"Gai."
Shaking fingers let go of the chunin's sleeve. The boy's glare did not hide his fear. Kakashi grabbed Gai's arm. He continued the walk back to the bunks. "He can't just say that," Gai seethed. "I'll tell his commanding officer he's harassing others—"
"It's fine, Gai." Shinobi were giving him a wide berth. None of it mattered. As long as Konoha won this war, Kakashi could deal with it. He closed the door after Gai stomped in. "They might give you an infraction," Kakashi noted. The bunk let out a shriek as he sat.
"I don't care!" Gai threw his hands up. "They can't call you friend killer and get away with it."
"He's not the first," Kakashi muttered.
"Who else?"
"That's not the point, Gai. Someone else will say the same thing." Someone already had, a genin on a dare. The kid looked like he was beyond death's door as he muttered it under his breath, before sprinting away. The name had spread, and even with his transfer to Gai's team, he couldn't escape it. Looking at Gai's reddening face, Kakashi didn't think answering was in the best interest of the genin.
After all, it was only fitting.
War Starter Sakumo. Friend Killer Kakashi.
Kakashi never thought he'd understand just how tired his father was. There was a weight to each step he had never felt before. The weight fell on his shoulders, sat on his chest, wrapped around his neck. Sometimes, the majority of his energy went to getting out of his tent and starting the day with the squad.
He had to do his part in the war. He would do his part. But sometimes, Kakashi thought he could fall asleep and never wake up.
"You know it's not true, right?"
Kakashi looked up. He wasn't sure what look he had on his face, but Gai stared at him like he'd been struck. Where Gai leaned before, he stood straight at attention. "No, Kakashi, no. You're not…that." A big hand grabbed his shoulder, squeezing. "What they chose is not your fault."
Kakashi frowned—Gai's voice sounded strained.
"What is it?"
Gai shook his head. "Nothing."
"Just say it, Gai." Kakashi could handle it.
Gai paused. His friend looked like he was wrestling with his words. Gai sighed and walked towards the door. "Of all the people on your team, you're the least to blame, Kakashi." With that, Gai walked out of the barracks, shutting it with a quiet click.
Rin lay on the ground, panting, while Mikazuki stood, victorious.
Mikazuki weaved around her punches with a grace she'd never seen before. Not even her mother fought that way. It was as if she knew Rin's next moves before they landed, dodging and weaving before landing quick, solid strikes. All Rin could do was defend the attacks that came, and try to get in a few of her own.
While Rin was ready to sleep inside her dream, Mikazuki barely looked winded. A tanned arm reached out for her. "Good job, Rin. You're good at evasion already, and you're fast. We'll work on more offensive strategies." Mikazuki frowned as she tied her hair back with a leather strap."You need to protect your left side more."
Minato-sensei said the same thing, after Kannabi. Rin knew it was dangerous, leaving any part of the body undefended, but Obi was supposed to be there. Had been there, sparring with her since they were five years old.
Mikazuki reached a hand out. Rin took the offered hand, and Mikazuki pulled her up.
"Who's up next?" Mikazuki said.
Naruto raised his hand, jumping up and down. "Me! I can go!"
"Maybe chakra control should be next?" Ashura asked. He glanced at Hashirama, who began walking forward. "It's perhaps the most pressing matter."
Naruto deflated like a balloon.
"I agree. Perhaps we switch off?" Hashirama looked at Rin. "What do you think, Rin? Chakra control and taijutsu one night, and working with Sanbi and ninjutsu other nights."
It sounded like Rin wasn't going to be dreaming anytime soon. If that's what it took to get stronger, she didn't mind. If Obito could learn through genjutsu, so she could learn through dreams. She nodded.
"Excellent." He clapped his hands, and the world flashed white.
Rin and Hashirama stood in a forest clearing. A sweet scent wound through the trees, the smell of fresh flowers and clean air. A river burbled in the distance. Hashirama stopped abruptly in the middle of the clearing, grinning.
"Before we raised the village, Tobi and I would come here to spar." His grin faded slightly, as the man looked around the space, voice thick with longing. "My youngest brother, Itama, would place bets on who would come out victorious, and collect from the rest of the clan." When he turned back to her, it was gone, replaced by the same grin Naruto and Mikazuki wore.
"As Senju, it's only fitting we use our ancestral land."
Rin blinked. She hadn't had time to think of her heritage, nor its effect on the timeline. Her mother must have Senju blood — her hair was just like Hashirama's, falling straight to her waist. But how odd, how oddly fitting, that the clan she descended from and the one Obito hailed from were rivals, when they had never been closer.
Hashirama clapped his hands. "In truth, while I will show you the techniques Mito used for chakra control, I brought you here for another reason."
Rin tilted her head. "Why?"
"Clan history." He gestured towards the clearing. "There are few Senju left, I've heard, and if no one is left to tell our stories, how will they survive?"
He plopped down on the ground. The grass in the circle around him began to sway, entranced by some unheard beat. A siren song, just from Hashirama's presence. Rin couldn't stop staring. Hashirama patted the ground, and Rin sat. The grass tickled the space between her sandals and toes.
"Close your eyes, and hold out your hands."
She obeyed. Two warm, calloused hands met her own.
"The Senju clan gravitates towards earth and water, the same way the Uchiha are ruled by fire. Where my father, Butsuma, was known for his earth jutsus, my mother, Emi, was known for her water jutsus. Tobi and Itama inherited water, Kawarama inherited earth, and I was fortunate enough to inherit both. We are the earth and its flowers, the sea and her currents. Breathe in."
Rin took a breath, inhaling fresh pine and cedar. Trees swayed gently in the breeze.
"The story goes that the first Senju, Senju Yu, grew the first tree in this forest. She raised her family in its shade, and each of her children planted a tree around hers. Then their children, and their children, and the generations afterward. Every once in a while, a mokuton user would appear, and they grew a ceremonial tree near Yu's own. Breathe out."
She exhaled.
"During the Battle of Nagi, the Uchiha clan, headed at the time by Uchiha Sumiko, burnt down most of this forest, with many Senju inside. The Senju clan head at the time, Senju Aina, was said to have wept so bitterly that she created the river you hear with only her chakra and tears. She dragged the Uchiha into its depths, and the animosity between the Senju and Uchiha turned into true war. Breathe in."
The hands holding hers pulsed with chakra. She could feel it thrum through her body, a sudden livewire. Rin's breaths stuttered in her chest.
"Try to pass the chakra back to me," Hashirama instructed. "Breathe out."
Again, Rin let go of her breath. Her chakra control was still mangled. Still, Rin imagined the chakra winding a path through her body, starting from her head and ending at her hands. She pushed her chakra through, ignoring the pain. They continued like that, passing chakra back and forth like a ball.
"Decades later," Hashirama continued, "Senju Hiro would meet his lover, Uchiha Fumiko, in this same clearing. When they were discovered, Hiro used his mokuton to rebuild the forest as a maze, so no one could find him or his lover. Breathe in."
She inhaled.
"When the war between Uchiha and Senju ended, much of this forest was cleared to make room for Konoha. Still, I fought for Yu's tree to remain. You might see that tree in the center of the village. Place your hands on the ground."
Rin followed. Her chakra pulsed as it met the grass.
She could hear a smile in Hashirama's voice. "Our history and the Uchiha's history has always been intertwined. It is no coincidence that you will rescue your friend, Uchiha Obito, and bring him back to Konoha, built on the same forest Senju Yu grew. Open your eyes."
Rin blinked her eyes open. Hashirama beamed at her, then glanced down.
In between them was a small flower, its purple petals curved like a cone. A pale stamen peeked out from the tiny petals. A bellflower.
A lifetime ago, her mother would bring these flowers home after volunteering at the flower shop. It was how her parents had met—her father, a gardener, had come to the shop after a shipment of bellflowers had been sent to Yamanaka Flowers by mistake. Ever since her father had told the story, they had become her favorite.
"Congratulations, Rin," Hashirama said, still with that wide grin. "Ashura was right. Senju Yu's ability lives on in you."
Rin gaped. She looked between the flower, then Hashirama, then the flower again. "I grew this?" she said faintly.
Hashirama nodded, chuckling softly. "All I did was stabilize your chakra. Ashura and I believed that with the ease in which you were able to save that boy with earth jutsu, you might be earth- and water-natured now, instead of fire-natured. Both natures are necessary for the ability, as well as Senju lineage, and most likely Ashura's chakra imprint."
Rin wouldn't have called it ease. Still, she stared down at the bellflower, astonished.
"It may be harder to recreate outside of your dreams, but with more chakra control, it will come easier."
Time passed while Rin tried to recreate the first bellflower. The second came out as a little bud, the third wilted. By the time the sun rose, Rin's first flower was the only one standing. Hashirama put a hand on the ground next to the flower, and the bellflower swayed towards him.
"That should keep the flower secure while we figure out more of your mokuton."
"There's more?" She blurted.
Hashirama laughed, a booming sound. "Of course there is! Similar to the Uchiha's Mangekyo Sharingan, mokuton appears in a few Senju, in different ways. Senju Yu could make any tree she could think of. I'm able to create new varieties of trees." His grin wavered. "The Zetsu mainly make wooden projectiles. Obito can make thorned branches. Now, you can make flowers. Your ability could grow. Who knows?"
The first Hokage looked towards the sky, and blanched. "We should probably wake you up, you have some ground to cover. You'll meet with Isobu and Naruto later." With one more wave, Rin's world flashed white.
She blinked back into awareness at the ruins of Kannabi. From the position of the sun, it was still early morning, but she had some ground to cover before reaching Ame. Rin stumbled to her feet, staring at her hands. They trembled, slightly.
Mokuton. She had—
Rin pushed the thought from her mind. There wasn't enough time to think of it. She had to keep moving.
Rin looked back at the ruins of Kannabi Bridge, where they had left Obi behind. She put a hand on the rocks that killed him. "I'm going to find you," she whispered. "Just hold on, Obi. I'll bring you home."
—
Rin snacked on cold bread, but couldn't seem to sate her hunger. She wondered how Naruto had dealt with it. Maybe this explained why Kushina-nee ate so much ramen.
Rin was halfway through Kusa. She was thankful that Minato-sensei made them memorize the maps of the five nations. As long as she could pass through Kikyo, she could reach Ame in the next few days.
Before we go, Ashura said, Uzushio accent thick in his voice, we should fix that seal.
Rin looked at her arm, where Fuyuki's sealing still wrapped around her bicep.
I don't have ink, Rin thought.
That's what blood is for.
Rin grimaced, but bit down on her thumb. She waited for crimson to bead on her fingertip. With Isobu's healing we won't have much time, but it shouldn't take long. Rin spread the seal on the ground in front of her, and immediately, her chakra broke out into a hazy burgundy aura around her. The stripes on her face glowed.
Follow my lead, Ashura said. Two arrays on the left, and one on the right. Balance them out with a downward stroke over the right array.
It was bittersweet, Rin thought, as the impromptu sealing lesson continued. Kakashi had gotten his sealing lessons from Minato-sensei, and Obi had never cared to learn the lost art. It had been Rin to sit down with Kushina on the training ground, in Ichiraku's, and at the Namikaze-Uzumaki house to learn sealing from the greatest living sealing master in Konoha. It was a welcome change from sitting in an empty apartment, waiting for her mother.
I want someone else to learn it, 'ttebane. It can't die with me and Minato.
By the time Isobu healed her finger, the matrixes were rebalanced, and all arrays equally spaced. Rin felt her aura fade, Her chakra, still much larger than she was used to, felt more settled.
You'll still need to train up your chakra control, but this should help, Ashura said.
Rin began walking, sticking to the main path. Before she knew it, her mind strayed to her team.
At this point in the timeline, Kakashi hadn't been doing well. The war would end soon, Rin knew, and there would be a year of peace, before Konoha was under attack (by Obito.) She hoped…she hoped Kakashi didn't blame himself, for what had happened. But she knew, from the ways he washed his hands, from his reckless descent into ANBU…he had.
Obito…Obito was training, somewhere in the five nations, under Black Zetsu. His body would still need to heal, and he'd still be learning how to dismantle the five nations for Madara's plans. Minato-sensei would become a war hero if he hadn't been called the Yellow Flash already. He'd be on a straight path towards the Hokage hat, the way he always wanted.
You will have another chance, Rin-chan. Isobu's soft voice cut her out of her thoughts. They are not lost to you. She sent her gratitude to Isobu, who hummed in her soul. At that moment, her stomach grumbled. She sighed, reaching for her pack. Rin had been trying to ration her food, but the bread Himari had given her was finished.
Remember Rin, you can grow food too! Ashura called.
Could she?
Rin placed her hands on the floor. She thought of the strawberry plant, thick and vibrant and bursting with fruit. The way strawberry juice would run down her and Obi's fingers. Pulsing chakra to her hands, she placed them on the floor.
The grasses flashed with chakra, and a sole blackberry popped out of the grass. Rin frowned at the small fruit.
You have to be very familiar with how the plant grows before making it with chakra, Ashura explained. Perhaps another plant?
Sighing, Rin nodded. She thought of her kunoichi training, picking wild dandelions with Kurenai and learning of their medicinal properties. The dandelions that dotted the training grounds. The teas she could make with them. How they could be augmented to be poisonous with just the right hybrid.
Thinking of the way the roots reached into the ground, Rin put her hands on the ground, sending chakra to the earth. In a burst of yellow, dandelions sprung up from the ground. Rin laughed to herself, in Kusa's backwoods. She picked them, chewing on one. It didn't taste great, but if she could keep making plants, at least she wouldn't go completely hungry.
Hours passed, with Rin trudging through Kusa. She had known most of this journey would be her alone, but it was…lonely, quiet, in a way she hadn't anticipated. Rin was lucky enough to have Ashura and Isobu with her, but she wished there was someone close by, someone who could tell her it was going to be okay.
Rin knew she was going in the right direction when she saw Kusa refugees fleeing the opposite path. As sounds of battle approached, Rin took shelter in a nearby tree—
and stopped.
Rin tried to swallow but found her throat had dried.
Isobu radiated what could only be called joy. Nii-san!
Kikyo Pass had been reduced to dust. Dozens of soldiers lay broken in the field, most dead. The ground could barely hold the pools of blood. And a chakra, expansive enough to reach her, strong enough to reach the other end of the country, pulsed with a familiarity that brought tears to her eyes.
Uzumaki Kushina stood in the center of the battlefield, whipping soldiers to the side with eight tails of crimson chakra, and eight flailing chakra chains. Her teeth were bared, displaying sharper than normal canines. Lines carved deep in her face, like a fox. She swept the soldier in front of her with one tail, and stabbed a soldier in the chest with a golden chain. Kushina was a one-woman hurricane, but she wasn't alone.
Mikoto-san fought outside Kushina's radius with a dark sword, black as night. She weaved through her opponents, slicing one's throat and kicking another back with her foot. She leapt into the air, twisting, before piercing a third shinobi in the heart. She held her hand in a seal, and the blade burst into flames. Somehow, the metal didn't burn—Mikoto continued her rampage, decapitating a shinobi that dared to come close to her.
"Hizashi!" she barked, as she slit another throat. With a gurgle, the man dropped to the ground.
A Hyuuga man began twisting his fingers through seals, understanding some unknown signal. A shield of white chakra emanated from him, pushing soldiers right back into Kushina's vortex. When the kunoichi closest to him ran forward, fist raised, he moved quickly, jabbing her in the arm, before twisting to jab her in the side. Her eyes bugged. His hits grew faster, until all of his fighting was a blur, and the kunoichi let out a scream. A quick jab to the throat ruined any more chances she had to shout.
Mom had a team? Naruto spoke through Ashura, thick with grief. I didn't know she fought in the war, 'ttebayo.
Of course she did, Rin thought. Konoha wouldn't fight a war without their jinchuriki at their side. But Kushina's missions always had an air of secrecy—even in the original timeline, sometimes the woman was gone for days at a time, coming back with a thousand secrets tucked behind her smile.
Now, Rin understood why. It explained why Mikoto and Kushina-nee were sometimes a two-woman squad. But Rin hadn't seen them fight with Hyuuga Hizashi. They twisted around each other like a dance, never hurting their comrades despite the destruction they wielded.
With the way they fought, no one had stood a chance. As the dust cleared, all Rin could see were bodies—and three left standing.
Rin, you need to go—the Hyuuga can see through a henge.
Rin imagined stepping out onto the emptied field, where Kushina-nee would cry, possibly scream, but welcome her back. They would go back to Konoha, and Obito would visit, see her alive and not dead. He would come home. She could go home.
Rin, Ashura said sharply.
She brushed away a tear. Ashura was right. Still, it took herculean effort to turn away from Kushina-nee, from the glowing chakra, the victorious shouts. She could feel Isobu's loneliness like smoke, choking her. Maybe it was her own.
She continued the path to Ame, alone.
Kushina panted as her chains shot back into her body. She hadn't thought she would need the chains and the nine tails' chakra, but Kiri soldiers were surprisingly durable. She grinned. Not durable enough to survive eight tails.
(She didn't need the eight tails—at most, four would have done the trick. But for Uzushio, for her new village, for Rin…
Well, Kushina didn't hold much love for Kiri.)
Her stomach grumbled, as if on cue. Kushina sidestepped the dead bodies and blood, before venturing towards the cowering medic corps. A few of them had managed to stick around before the fighting truly started.
"I need some ration bars," she said bluntly.
"H-how many?" a man stuttered.
"All of them."
As she walked back to Mikoto and Hizashi, she could see that they weren't looking at each other. Mikoto was cleaning her blade, and Hizashi flexed his fingers, saying nothing. Kushina sighed inwardly. She had thought that Team 6 getting back together would mean things would go back to normal, but after little Itachi was born…after Fugaku…
There was no use dwelling on the past. Not now, when they still had a war to win. Kushina had scarfed down three ration bars and was going for her fourth by the time she reached them. She dangled a grass-tasting ration bar in front of Hizashi's face.
"Look what I got!"
He sighed, turning to her with a fond smile. "How is food on your mind at a time like this, Kushina?" Still, he accepted the ration bar, eating it much quicker than any other Hyuuga would. In the corner of her eye, she saw Mikoto smile, before she wiped her face clean. Mikoto turned to Kushina, hand outstretched.
"Say please, 'Koto."
"No."
"Then I guess you're not hungry."
Mikoto scoffed. "Hizashi-san didn't say please."
Hizashi swallowed the last of his ration bar. "You know how stubborn Kushina is, Mikoto-san," he said coolly
Oh, were they back to honorifics too? It was like her first day on the Fancy Eye squad all over again. Kushina rolled her eyes when Mikoto finally snatched the bar out of her hand."What would the Uchiha say?" Kushina said, hand to her chest. They began walking towards their tents, where Kushina would sleep for 10 hours. It didn't matter though—Kikyo Pass was theirs. With Kannabi down and Kikyo out of commission, Iwa and Kiri would have no way to keep their supply chain moving. Kushina laughed at the thought.
"What is it, Kushina?"
"We're so gonna win this war, Zashi!"
Hizashi paused. "During the battle, did you sense—"
"Someone watching?" Kushina interrupted, mouth full of ration bar. "Yes."
It was a prickle at the back of her neck, and if she wasn't mid-battle, maybe she'd focus on the person perched in a tree not far from their battle. But she hadn't. By the time she could come up for air, the chakra was gone.
"Who did you sense?" Mikoto asked. She turned all her attention to Kushina.
She shrugged. Whoever it was had disappeared. Spy or not, it didn't matter. The only thing a spy could bring back was how devastated Kiri and Iwa's forces were.
But for a moment…she felt the slight burn of a corrosive chakra that wasn't her own. For a moment, Kushina could have sworn she felt the nine tails prick its ears up and stare, exactly in the direction of their intruder.
"Doesn't matter now," she shrugged. Kushina pasted on a smile, looking at her two closest friends, behind Minato. She began running, letting her hair trail behind her.
"Race you to the tents!"
