"You're progressing." The dark half of Zetsu said. The clones the being had generated poofed into smoke. In the genjutsu, Obito wiped sweat off his brow, panting on the forest floor. "Your Mangekyo is strong, and will benefit your fighting style. Once your body heals, we can start the Eye of the Moon plan."
Obito still struggled to understand the ability. Objects sometimes passed through his without his control. He fell out of bed often, something Guruguru always laughed at.
(He named the ability Kamui. Grandma Masae's stories were never too far from his mind.)
He struggled to his feet. Even in the genjutsu, he was exhausted. "We'll need to go to Konoha, first," Obito said, panting. "There's something I have to do." Zetsu looked down at him, disgusted.
The being rolled its eyes. "What could you possibly need from that worthless village."
"Not for me. For Rin." He wouldn't continue with the plan without at least one visit. Rin couldn't go anymore, but they had kept the end of July theirs for a reason. Obito wouldn't miss it, not for anything.
Not even for the plan to bring her back. It's what Rin would want.
"Everything you need will be solved with the Eye of the Moon plan," the being said bluntly. "That village is beneath you—"
Waves began to pound in Obito's ears. "You can come with me," he said calmly, "or I can leave your body here. Take your pick." Old Man Madara's plans could wait for a few days. He'd still have eternity with his best friend. But this…
For a long moment, Zetsu said nothing. Obito was preparing himself to fight when the being scoffed, cutting the genjutsu. Obito blinked up at the rock surrounding him. "Fine," the being said. "Where?"
"Konoha Cemetary," Obito replied. "July 27th."
"Then we have less than two months," Zetsu said. "Get up. Let's spar again."
Rin fell into a routine as she scouted the edges of Ame. She'd need to infiltrate, but first, she needed to train.
Her days swam together. By morning, she trained on the water. Mikazuki's taijutsu involved evasion, ducking and weaving before the opponent had a chance to land blows. She practiced her katas with shadow clones until she grew tired, then grew her meals as she watched the sunrise. During the night, she would spend her time either inside the soulspace, relearning her chakra with Isobu, or with Hashirama, learning Senju history and wood release, or with Mikazuki, Ashura, and Naruto, learning taijutsu and ninjutsu.
One night, Mikazuki looked at her, panting, and said, "I think you're ready."
"Ready for what?" Rin managed. Mikazuki had gotten her with a sharp right kick to the stomach that Rin couldn't block. Mikazuki grinned like a shark, and let her hair down.
"The reason why Uzu shinobi were a pain to fight in battle. Water sensing."
Rin wiped the sweat off her brow, sitting up. Her body ached, but the feeling was psychological—by the time she woke up, the injuries would be gone. "Water sensing? Like, finding water?"
Minato-sensei taught them how to sense when water was closeby. Rin was the best at it on the team, with her water nature. But Mikazuki shook her head. She clapped her hands, and the world flashed white.
She heard the crash of the waves first. Rin had missed the sea. She breathed in the salty air for a moment, before opening her eyes.
Her eyes widened.
In the distance, white and blue buildings towered over sea cliffs. She spotted a mansion in the distance, looking over the entire village. A small river ran through a marketplace, which children splashed in, shrieking. Fisherman carried glowing nets of grouper and tuna made from interlocking chakra chains. She had never been here, but…
Kushina smiled, a faraway look in her gaze. She looked up from her notes. "She was beautiful by day. Everyone had something to do, but they helped each other, you know? And by nighttime, the sun would touch the water, and the whole sea burned red."
Uzushio.
Rin turned to Mikazuki, who was watching fisherman sing on their boats. Grief had burrowed its home in her. They stood on one of the beaches, where the sand tickled Rin's toes. Out of habit, her eyes searched for shells.
"Uzu was humid all year round, and our shinobi found a way to use it," Mikazuki said, still watching the fishermen. When she turned back to Rin, her smile looked painful. "By sensing the water in the air, you can sense when the water is disrupted around you, therefore evading an attack before it begins." She kicked off her shoes, and took steps backward in the sand. Inexplicably, her eyes fell closed. "Try to hit me."
Rin stood, frowning. She feigned a punch as her foot struck out to kick Mikazuki. Before the kick could land, the Uzumaki spun around Rin. A fist glanced Rin in the side. She made to grab it, but the hand was gone. Sand flew in her face and before she could cough it out, Mikazuki was back, sweeping her legs. Rin hit the sand with a thud, and the air left her lungs in one whoosh.
It was over almost as soon as it began. Mikazuki's eyes were still closed, a small smile on her lips. "See?"
"How?" Rin asked. She began brushing off the sand, knowing it was futile, knowing it wouldn't matter when she woke. Mikazuki was a ghost, drifting between blows like they weren't there.
"Uzu air has always been humid." Mikazuki opened her eyes, and her smile looked sad, Rin thought. "Even after I left, I used the water-sensing trick wherever I could. Be warned though, it won't work as well in places of high altitude, like Kumo, or deserts like Suna."
"You left Uzu?" Rin blinked. "Why?"
Violet eyes cut towards the village, where ghosts began their daily tasks. In a faraway voice, she said, "I was to be married to a man I didn't care for, to strengthen a treaty I never agreed with. The night before my wedding, I grabbed my katana, my seals, and I left. So Uzu and Kiri sent their best shinobi after me."
Rin could only imagine the backlash. If Uzu and Kiri were involved, was she to be married off to a Kiri shinobi?
"The treaty fell through, Kiri grew a grudge against Uzu, and decades later…" She waved a hand. "Well, there was no Uzu to do diplomacy with, as I understand."
"I'm sorry," Rin rasped. Finally, Mikazuki looked at her. The Uzumaki scrubbed her face with an irritated hand, ridding herself of tears.
"Not your fault, Rin. But now that your chakra control is better, you might be able to learn water sensing, too. Close your eyes."
Rin followed, eyes slipping shut.
"Now, I know you've been working on wood release with Hashirama," she said. "So it should help. But water moves differently from earth—they both shift, but water can be fluid where earth is not. Water is everything we are, our lifeblood."
Sitting in the sand, they meditated. "Breathe in with the sea," Mikazuki ordered. Rin followed, coughing out sand on the exhale. With her eyes closed, she could pretend she was still at Moriya—breathing in the day until they were forced to return home. Mikazuki said she'd feel "the switch," but all Rin felt was the sea soaking into her skin, the sand squished between her toes.
"It takes time," Mikazuki answered. The woman looked perfectly at ease. "It took me a year, but we don't have that time. Hopefully, learning a bit of water-sensing can increase your defensive skills. You'll need it to get into Ame."
By the time Rin began swimming to the surface, she was already exhausted. She reminded herself to breathe, taking water into her lungs like it was oxygen. She swerved to avoid crashing into an otter, and paused. For just a moment she watched the schools of fish flit by.
Rin hoped she wasn't too late. She could only estimate how much time had passed. A few weeks, she supposed, by the warmth of the water, bringing them to the beginning of June. Obito would still be recovering from fighting the Kiri shinobi and burying her. The war had ended or was at least at its very end. Minato-sensei was on his way to becoming Hokage. Kakashi was well on his way to ANBU.
Her head broke water. A shrill shriek came a moment later.
Rin's head snapped to her left, where a boy around her age was pointing at her. Long black hair fell to his shoulders. He looked at her like he'd seen a ghost. Next to him, a tall bald boy was panting, hands on his knees. Rin treaded water as they stared at one another.
"Is she a ningyo?" The bald boy breathed. There was something familiar about the two, something Rin couldn't place.
"Too pretty to be a ningyo," the black-haired boy responded, and Rin could feel herself blush. Besides her aunts, no one had ever told her she was pretty, before. She rose from the water, notably showing her lack of a tail. She walked across its surface to reach the shore.
Her fingers twitched in a few seals, and a wind jutsu dried her off. "I can hear you," Rin said. The black-haired boy blushed, nearly hiding his clan marks.
"I come here to run every day—have you been under the water this whole time?!"
So the figure she saw running had a name. Rin didn't know how to answer, so she shrugged. The black-haired boy continued to stare at her, open-mouthed. He was pretty, Rin thought privately, with blue clan markings striping across the pale bridge of his nose and curving under his eyes. He wore an all-black cloak, trailing to the floor. But what was most intriguing—his pupils were angular, slit like a cat.
His friend elbowed him, and the black-haired boy coughed. "Uh, my name's Kyusuke! This is my friend, Daibutsu."
"Nori," Rin said. Then it hit her.
These boys were part of Akatsuki. Or, they would be, judging by the lack of black and red cloaks. Obito would kill these two boys in a few months, and the rest of their friends.
"So, you live under the lake?" Daibutsu asked.
Rin shrugged. "I had nowhere else to go. With the war—" she cut herself off. Rin didn't know what else to say. Both boys nodded solemly.
"But the war is over," Kyusuke said slowly. "Have you been living under a—never mind." He coughed, cutting himself off. "You can live in Ame," he exclaimed, raising his hands. "We still live under Hanzo, but it's better than having to sleep in the lake."
After a few weeks, she didn't mind the lake. She was sure that if she could have actual dreams again, she'd remember the pressing sensation of being buried, the initial moments of breathing underwater when Rin thought she would drown. But nowhere else was safer—no one would find her under the water. "They turned me away at the gate," Rin said.
Daibutsu shook his head. "That's not right."
"We can help you get into the village!" Kyusuke beamed at her. "The refugee center is open, so long as you're not from Konoha, Iwa, or Suna. I'm originally from Tani, myself."
Once again, Rin was struck by the kindness of strangers. Minori, and her generosity with clothes, though she barely had more than the ones on her back. Fuyuki-san, his herbs, and the sealing paper wrapped around her bicep. Himari, and the cold bread she managed to stow away. And these two boys, who would die from her best friend within the next season.
You can stop it, Rin, Ashura said. I know you can.
Rin grabbed her bag and her nearly destroyed sandals. "Thank you," she said quietly. At least now she didn't need to find a way into the village. The three trudged toward the gate, where refugees waited in line.
"So, you're a shinobi?" Kyusuke asked. And there was the suspicion she was expecting, as he narrowed his eyes. Daibutsu squinted at her. "You must be, to walk across water like that."
Rin shrugged, wracking her brain for a story. "…I learned what I could. I came here from Taki." She pushed out her vowels, the same way she'd heard Minori and Himari speak.
Kyusuke whistled. "All the way from Taki? I can't believe you made it this far."
"I made it here just as Konoha destroyed Kikyo pass."
The boy balled up his fists, falling silent. His friend had a similar look of distaste. "Konoha," Daibutsu said sourly, crossing his arms. "Don't worry, you won't find those dogs here." He spat dogs like a curse. Rin kept her expression even.
They had made it to the front of the line. In daylight, the village looked even more imposing, with metallic and mechanical structures shooting into the sky. A light spring rain covered them all.
"State your name and purpose," the machine buzzed.
It was a different voice this time, a woman, judging by her tone. Kyusuke stepped forward, until he was next to the speaker. He grinned widely, and Rin was struck with an odd feeling of deja vu.
"Kyusuke the Swift, checking in!"
A sigh. "We need your clan name, Kyusuke." Under the fuzz of the speakers, the voice sounded almost fond.
The boy rolled his eyes. "Akiyama Kyusuke, checking in."
"Oda Daibutsu, checking in." his friend said. They both looked at her, Kyusuke with an almost embarrassed look. Rin had learned her lesson. She moved closer to the speaker, leaning in.
"Nori, no clan name," she murmured. "I've come from Taki."
"Do you have any proof of origin, Nori?"
Rin swallowed. She reached into her bag, and pulled out the burnt stick of the Bodhi tree. It looked even smaller in the morning light, charred at both ends. "Konoha burned our tree," she said slowly, hating herself for each word. "This is all I have left." For a moment, no one said anything. Kyusuke looked at the stick with ill-hidden horror. Daibutsu looked sick.
The voice paused. "I'm sorry, but we can't—"
"Come on, Ayako," Kyusuke said. "Nori managed to make it across multiple countries to get here. She's been living in the lake. Can't you skip documentation this time?"
"We have protocol, Akiyama," Ayako said sharply through the speaker. "Anyone could be an enemy."
"Look at her," Kyusuke said. Rin wasn't sure what that was supposed to mean, but she probably was a sight, with her damp hair and wrinkled clothes. Besides dips in the lake, she hadn't bathed in weeks. "Can't you make an exception, this once?"
"...I can't," Ayako replied eventually. "But if you're willing to vouch for her, I can use character references from permanent citizens to make her a temporary resident."
Kyusuke looked at her, squinting. Rin wasn't sure exactly who he saw. She barely recognized herself, these days. But Kyusuke nodded, grim determination on his face. "Refugees have to stick together," he said quietly. Then, louder, "I, Akiyama Kyusuke, vouch for Nori's character."
Daibutsu gaped at his friend. For a moment, Kyusuke and Daibutsu glared at each other. The taller boy sighed, shaking his head, before saying, "I, Oda Daibutsu, vouch for Nori."
The gates sputtered, then opened with a metallic hiss. "Welcome back, Kyusuke and Daibutsu. Nori, welcome to Amegakure." A paper slid out of a nearly invisible slot, and she took it. On it, a number was in neat lettering. 10562. "Please report to the refugee center to receive temporary documentation. May the rain bless you always."
Rin wiped the rain from her eyes and stared. Buildings towered into the sky. Every time Rin looked up, the rain blurred her vision. The metallic buildings and rain-slick streets were filled with worn, tired faces. Despite the rain, she saw not one umbrella. It was as if the rain was sliding off the skin of the villagers.
Kyusuke walked forward, before spinning around to face her. "Welcome to Ame! I've been here for the past year, and so has Daibutsu. We can show you around."
"This might not be a good idea, Kyu." Daibutsu still looked at her with suspicion. She couldn't blame him—they had just met. She shuffled her feet. Kyusuke glared at his friend.
"If she was a spy, why would she live in the lake?"
"Because she wanted to infiltrate the village!" Daibutsu whispered, throwing his hands up. "She could be anyone, and we just let her in."
"You were a stranger to me one year ago, and look at us now!"
Daibutsu shook his head. "I still think this is a bad idea."
"Um, I can help?" Both boys whipped around to face her. Rin wracked her brain for an answer that wouldn't incriminate her. "I learned some mystical palm jutsu while I was in the Academy. I can help in the hospital." It wouldn't be ideal with her training, but if she had to earn her keep in Ame, Rin would. It would force her to control her chakra more, too.
They came to a halt in the middle of the street. Passerby gave them dirty looks as Kyusuke whipped around, mouth agape. "You know mystical palm?" he said faintly. Daibutsu looked similarly startled. Rin nodded slowly.
Is mystical palm really that rare? She thought.
You're thinking of Konoha, where Tsuna had a chance to train medic nin. This is Ame, Ashura said. Their population is mainly refugees fleeing war. Healing would be essential.
The boys began whispering. Rin could only catch a few words.
"…hospital—"
"—no, the group!"
"Kie—"
"Boys?" she said, wiping rain out of her face. They turned back to her. Daibutsu sighed, waving a hand.
"Fine. Ask her."
Kyusuke's eyes were still a bit wide. "You really can heal?" he said, hesitant.
Rin nodded. She hadn't healed anyone in months (or decades, if she thought about it too hard) but if there was one ability she was sure of, it was her mystical palm.
"We have a friend who's hurt bad," Kyusuke said. "If you can heal, can you look at him? Consider us even if you can heal him." He stuck a hand out teasingly, but his eyes narrowed, just like a cat.
This would be the best opportunity she had to gain their trust. She hoped she had the chakra control to back it up.
You can do it, Rin-chan. Ease dripped down her spine once more, and Rin sent her thanks to Isobu.
She grabbed Kyusuke's hand, and shook it.
—
It was bad. Worse than she thought.
"The hospitals are overrun," Kyusuke said as they walked. They wound a path through the village, and Rin could finally take in Ame. Up close, the buildings were intimidating, but the shops were small, and full of warmth, despite the circumstances. "We've been trying to get Kie in, but they're only taking life-or-death emergencies. Even then, there's a line."
Rin watched as a child crowed, tearing into sweet bread. Next to him, a woman looked on, hunger in her eyes. Feeling oddly guilty, she turned away.
"Kie was fighting a Suna nin when the bastard broke his arm," Daibutsu snarled. "We put it in a sling, but we didn't notice the poison until a few days later."
They had reached the other end of the village, where tall spires gave way to small, dilapidated houses. Buckets were placed outside to collect rainwater, probably to drink. Kyusuke, Daibutsu, and Rin walked up to a small brown house. One of the windows had been shattered, and someone had tried to fix it with tape and plastic.
Daibutsu knocked once, then three times, then four times, then once again. After a pause, the door swung open. A man with brown hair peeked out, hair in a low ponytail.
"Took you two long enough—who's the girl? Where's the bread?"
"We found a healer," Kyusuke said in a rush. Dark green eyes shot to her, assessing. She must have passed, because without another word, the door opened wider. The inside was dark, and cold. She could make out a few chairs, a leaning table. One single lightbulb flickered to life, casting long shadows on the sitting room. Rain pattered on the roof, filling the room with a gentle sound.
"Kie's this way," a voice said gruffly. She turned back to Daibutsu, and followed.
Rin followed the tall boy to a room off the sitting room, where she could make out one bed. Pillows were scattered across the floor. The figure in bed tried to sit up, wincing in obvious pain. A brighter light flooded the room, and Rin could look at Kie.
Kie looked to be a few years older than her. His tanned forehead beaded with sweat, and dark brown strands clung to his face. He was looking at nothing in particular, mumbling to himself.
"The poison spread," Kyusuke muttered. When Rin looked at him, the boy was staring at his friend with concern. "He's hot, confused, and always thirsty. We don't know what to do."
Rin could feel a familiar calm settle over her, one born through hours at the hospital. She looked back at Kyusuke. "I'll do the best I can," she said, walking over to Kie. The boy could barely track her as she walked into the room.
"Kie-san," she said. "My name is Nori. I'll be healing you today."
The boy's feverish eyes met hers. "Nice to meet you," he croaked.
Rin's lips quirked. "I'll need to unwrap the bandages. Is that okay?"
Kie nodded, wincing as the bandages jarred his broken arm. When Rin could finally see the whole wound, she held in a wince. The original break, just above the elbow, was inflamed and swollen. Poison spread in blotchy red patches from the break outward. Bubbles of pus surrounded the wound, emitting a foul odor.
"How long has this been infected?" she asked.
Kie shrugged, and from his hissed curse, immediately regretted the action. "I battled the missing-nin a little over two weeks ago."
Over two weeks? Rin nodded, before turning to Kyusuke and Daibutsu. Kyusuke looked at her, wide-eyed. "You can help, right?" he asked.
She had done ocular surgery in a dark cave while Iwa tried to kill Rin and her teammates. Rin could take care of poison. "I'll need three buckets: two filled with clean water, and one that's empty. He'll also need new bandages."
"On it." Kyusuke sped out the door.
Daibutsu hovered, arms crossed. She didn't give the boy another glance, instead shaking out her hands.
I can do this.
Breathing out, she hovered her hands over the break to feel it out. Rin pulsed chakra to her hands, but it was too much.
Kie swore as her chakra met his system.
"What are you doing?" Daibutsu snarled.
Rin didn't answer. She took a thread of chakra, far less than she normally would, and immediately went back to the wound. If she couldn't get it together, the boy would die.
Help me, Ashura, she thought.
I'll try.
The color, rather than the green she was used to, flickered burgundy. Rin could hear Daibutsu's gasp, but she was too preoccupied with making sure she didn't burn his friend with the sheer amount of chakra she had.
She could see the infection climbing to Kie's bicep, towards his neck. The infection had set in, and Rin worried about sepsis. The other issue was that the original infection was so close to the joint—she didn't want the boy to lose range of motion.
"Here." Kyusuke had returned, with two buckets of water. He held a chipped cup in his other hand. The water sloshed over as he put it down.
"Thank you," Rin said. She looked at the water dubiously. It looked like rainwater. "It will take hours to remove the poison, and set his arm."
"We'll wait," Daibutsu said.
"This will hurt," Rin warned Kie.
Kie let out a rasp of a laugh. "Can't be worse than what it already is," he said.
She set to work. Rin began teasing the pus from the wound, pushing the infection out with one hand and holding the bucket with another. Blood and pus poured from the entrance site, dripping into the bucket. Someone shuffled beside her, and two hands held the bucket under Kie's arm. Kyusuke. Rin nodded a quick thanks. With her other hand, she poured water to clean the wound. She couldn't irrigate the wound unless the poison was fully out.
Time fell away from her. Inch by inch, she removed the poison she could find, dropping it in the empty bucket. Kie thrashed on the bed, until Daibutsu was forced to hold him down. Rin encountered her first problem when she began feeling around for the bone with her chakra. The bone itself wasn't just broken—the poison had left it infected. She hissed under her breath.
"What is it?" Kyusuke whispered. Rin nearly jolted. How much time had passed?
"The infection spread to the bone."
"Is that bad?"
Terrible. "Yes," she said honestly. He would need medicine, medicine Rin didn't have. "I can remove as much as I can, but it will take time. He'll need medicine—antibiotics."
"We don't have antibiotics," Kyusuke said. He held up a roll of white bandages. "I just managed to steal this."
Rin sighed. "Then I'll have to remove the infection by hand."
"You can do that?" Kyusuke breathed.
"I can try." Luckily for them, she had a tailed beast in her soul. This would take a lot more chakra than she was expecting. She scanned his body again, dim burgundy light flickering over Kie's sweaty face. If she took it on in quadrants, maybe she'd be done by the next morning.
Rin set to work.
First came the worst of the infection—the entrance point at the break, right above the elbow. Her chakra flared as she began teasing the infection out of the bone. Kie screamed, a piercing shriek. She was surprised he was even conscious. Her arms trembled, but she kept her hands steady, burning bit by bit of infection with her chakra. She flushed away dried blood and pus with the buckets of clean water, until she had no water left. Kyusuke hurried to get more.
When it looked like the surrounding elbow area had no more discernable infection, she moved on, burning the pieces of infection she could find at his bicep, then his tricep, then his shoulder joint. She wiped sweat off her brow, and continued. Kie had fallen unconscious, which helped the process.
By the time the poison had been flushed out of his body, Daibutsu was snoring on the floor, and a pale sunrise peeked through the window. Rin sagged, swallowing. All that was left was the fracture itself. She channeled more chakra to her fingertips and directed it to Kie's elbow. The boy barely moved from his feverish sleep.
Slowly, the bone fused. He'd need to keep it in a sling, but she'd done all she could. With shaking hands, she reached into her bag. She pulled out sprigs of echinacea from Fuyuki, and with quick twists of her fingers, had the clean water in the bucket boiling. She seeped the herbs inside as she unwrapped the bandages.
"What are you doing?" came a faint, raspy voice. Kie had woken up. He looked down at his arm, then at her, then back at his arm. "How did you—"
"I don't have antibiotics, but these herbs should help a little." She poured the water into a cup on the table, before handing it to Kie. "Drink."
Kie obeyed. As he drank, Rin wrapped his arm with the bandages, and put his arm back in the sling.
"The bone is still healing—you shouldn't use that arm for another week or two while your body continues the healing process," Rin warned. She was too exhausted to keep her eyes open. "You still need medicine, but I've taken care of all the poison I could find."
Kie's eyes were wide and moist. He laughed, a short bark, and rubbed his eye. "I thought I'd lose the arm forever. Thank you."
Good job, Rin! Ashura cheered.
She could barely keep her eyes open. Rin staggered back, resting against the wall. In moments, she was asleep.
