Human

Whirlpool Arc

Chapter 5

Kushina

Rin's condition deteriorated to the point where Kushina flat-out refused to let her do her chakra exercises, but she couldn't tell if Rin was grateful for or upset by this change in their routine. Instead, she kept Rin busy by pouring over Fuinjutsu lessons, and teaching her what she knew about shinobi battle tactics and cooking. Otherwise, they played card games.

Despite Kushina's best efforts, Rin had become moody and combative and preferred solitude to company. Kushina hated seeing her so miserable.

Whatever tenuous control they had managed to exert over their situation had slipped away, leaving in its wake a brittle tension that settled over Uzushiogakure. It had Kushina on edge and Rin jumping at shadows.

Three passed by, albeit slowly. In that time, Kushina found herself unable to determine the source of Rin's mysterious assailant.

On the fourth day, with her nerves on edge, Kushina rose early and stepped out of the house while Rin was still asleep. As she had done each morning since Rin's collapse, Kushina swept the village, looking for signs of an intruder, and feeling for a source of chakra that didn't belong to either herself or Rin. And as had been the case each morning, she found nothing.

Until, of course, she made one final perimeter sweep at the edge of the island and found several of the seals protecting the outskirts of the island had been dismantled. Kushina examined the wreckage of the seals, expertly dismantled, and found no trace of residual chakra from whoever had destroyed them.

Someone had come to Uzushiogakure, though Kushina thought it unlikely that this person was what Rin was afraid of. There was something else going on.

Kushina reached out with her chakra sense, and searched for the new arrival. She felt Rin first, the massive beacon of chakra lighting up her mind immediately. And far, far off the coast to the east, were two chakra signatures that were large and focused enough to belong to ninja. They were moving southwest. If their trajectory held, they would pass by and make landfall somewhere in the Land of Fire or the Land of Noodles.

"Hard to say if they were involved," Kushina muttered, rising and making her way back to the center of the village.

She was careful as she went, double checking everywhere to make sure nobody had managed to slip past her sensory abilities to hide within the ruins of the village. She found nothing.

Back at the house, Kushina busied herself with preparing breakfast when she returned to their house, and set the table before going to wake her charge. Rin was in a deep, but fitful sleep, the bruising beneath her eyes clear even in her sleep, and her forehead slick with sweat. Kushina let her be, and had breakfast alone, hoping that the extra rest would help.

Throughout the day, Kushina patrolled the village, and occasionally checked on Rin, who stayed sleeping.

As evening approached, Kushina found herself once again on the training ground. She moved slowly, purposefully through her katas, seeking a tranquility she knew would not come. Still, she persevered.

As the sun set, she again took up her lotus position to meditate, and to sweep the village with her chakra sense.

Her eyes snapped open when something in the fabric of the village snapped. There was the uncomfortable silence of a terrible calm before the storm for the briefest instant, and then the village was embattled by an explosion of chakra from a Biju.

Kushina staggered to her feet, disoriented as she was by the waves of chakra pulsing outward from the cabin she'd shared with Rin.

No, no, no! Kushina raised an arm to keep the dust and dirt out of her eyes and took off towards the house.

She crashed through the door and slid to Rin's bedside in record time. Given the history of Rin's condition, Kushina was grateful that Rin slept on as the three-tails chakra went haywire. Nevertheless, waking her would, perhaps, end the episode.

"It's okay, Rin," Kushina said. "Wake up. You're dreaming." Rin thrashed violently in her sleep. Kushina caught an errant limb and tried to still the girl. Rin fought against her grip.

"Rin!" Kushina shouted, shaking the girl's shoulder. "Rin, wake up. It's just a dream, it's not real. Rin!"

But it was no use. Whatever nightmare gripped Rin held little interest in letting her go.

Kushina attempted to wake Rin by disrupting the flow of her chakra, but that was no more effective than shaking the girl.

Beneath the surface, Rin's chakra roiled and raged and fought against the influence of the three-tails. What to do? Kushina wondered, biting down hard on that little part of her that wanted to panic. It was her job to figure this out. The chakra emanating from Rin was so dense, and so acrid, that it was visible to the naked eye. Very few things created tangibly visible chakra, and when they did, it spoke volumes about their immense power.

"Gotta contain it," Kushina muttered, reaching down to pull Rin out from her sleeping bag and onto the floor. The chakra from Rin's seal redoubled itself, and Kushina pulled her singed fingers away.

Chains burst forth from Kushina's back, wrapping themselves around Rin and battling with the three-tails chakra directly. It did not go back quietly as it had before.

Rin

Birds chirped merrily, leaves rustled in the breeze, and the sweet smell of honeysuckle wafted in through the window alongside the lazy sunshine that peeked through the clouds. It was warm, not hot — comfortable. Rin stirred slowly, enjoying the warmth and sunshine and the fact that she was finally, after months of suffering, comfortable. She snuggled deeper into the soft sheets of her bed, enjoying their warm embrace. It was nice to be away from the road and grime that she'd become so accustomed to.

A door slid open, the sounds of people from beyond the door reached her ears for a brief moment. The sound was cut off as the door closed again. Someone approached her bed and she heard shuffling at her bedside.

Rin blinked the sleep from her eyes and sat up with a yawn.

"Good afternoon, miss Nohara. How are you feeling?"

From beside the bed, a woman, a nurse, was smiling at her softly. She was wearing the cream-colored jacket and dark pants that were standard in Konoha's hospital. Rin was home.

Tears pricked at her eyes and she rubbed them away. "I'm good," she said. "Real good."

The nurse smiled at her. "That's excellent news. We were worried about you. Your condition was touch and go for a while, but you pulled through. The doctors were very pleased with the speed of your recovery once your condition stabilized."

"My condition?" Rin asked.

"Yes, when Uzumaki-san transferred your… guest to it's new home, your heart stopped for a few minutes, and your body had a hard time readjusting to the change. If not for your timely arrival back here in Konoha, you wouldn't have pulled through."

Rin considered that for a moment, staring listlessly at her bedsheets. "Oh…"

"Don't worry too much. The fact that you're awake now means that you are on your way to recovery. We'll give you another check up to monitor your chakra, and then you can more than likely be released and placed on rest in the comfort of your own home." The nurse smiled sweetly at her.

"You remind me of my mom," Rin blurted, and then slapped a hand over her mouth.

"That's very kind of you to say, Nohara-san."

Rin nodded, and tried to will away the flush that made its way to her cheeks.

"I'll go and get your doctor so we can get you checked out and on your way." The nurse made to leave the room.

Before she got to the door, Rin blurted, "What's your name?"

"Gaido Yume. You are free to call me Yume, of course."

And then she was gone with a click of the door and Rin was sitting alone in her room. She sat like that for a few minutes, and then slid out of her bed and padded her way over to the window. It was open already, and Rin sucked in a deep breath of the Konoha air. The aromas of plants and flowers hit her nose, and it was a welcome change to the salty sea-air that had been the standard in the Whirlpool Village.

From her window, Rin could see several of the streets of her village, and she watched the distant forms of the villagers as they went around their business.

She was home. She was home! She couldn't stop the broad grin that took over her face.

Her weight sagged against the windowsill as she took it all in. She had been so certain she would never see any of it again. Never see her home, never see her friends… Kakashi.

Rin whipped around and staggered hastily towards the door. She made it halfway across the room before the door slid open again, and a man who must have been her doctor entered the room. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw her up and out of bed, but he hit it quickly enough with a warm smile. She thought that it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Miss Nohara," he said. "It's good to see you up and walking. We were quite worried about you."

"I— thank you," Rin said.

"But of course!" He said, and Rin once more felt a sense of wrongness from the doctor. It sent chills down her spine, and her entire body screamed danger! "It's my job to take care of shinobi such as yourself."

Rin nodded. "Do you know when I'll be able to go home?"

He chuckled. "I should think you'll be able to leave the hospital after you've had a physical examination to make sure you're recovering fully. And of course you'll be placed on leave with strict instructions not to do anything strenuous for a few weeks."

"Okay," Rin said, shuffling back to her bed.

The doctor, Rin didn't know his name, made his way to her bedside, took her temperature, and then ran a glowing palm across her from head to toe. Rin cringed away from the touch. Something about him was wrong wrong wrong wrong.

She forced herself not to tremble. He would be gone soon, she told herself. Soon.

And then he was leaving the room. "You'll be discharged soon. I'll have a nurse get your paperwork together."

"Right, thank you," Rin said, forcing herself to smile. Just like they teach in kunoichi class.

The instant the doctor left and the door closed, Rin was out of bed and searching for her clothes. She found them in the third cabinet she checked, washed and folded - the same standard issue shinobi garb that Kushina had given her.

She dressed quickly, eyes flicking to the door every few seconds, dreading the possible return of that doctor whose smile did not reach his eyes, whose touch was like a poisoned knife.

Once dressed, she forced open the window to her room and stepped up onto the windowsill.

The door slid open.

"Miss Nohara!" Nurse Yume shouted in alarm. "What are you doing?"

Rin cringed and turned on the sill to face her nurse. "I was, um, leaving."

Yume sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Ninja are all the same. Anything to get out of the hospital faster and avoid paperwork. Please get down and let me discharge you the normal way."

Rin balked at the idea of going back into the hospital, but the disappointment on Yume's face convinced her. She stepped down from the window and shrugged sheepishly.

"Well, follow me and we'll get you all sorted out at the nurse's station."

Wondering if she'd manage to get out of the hospital without seeing that doctor again, Rin followed her through the door.

"...and you're not even listening to me. Hello? Hello? Rin!"

Chopsticks waved in front of her face, and Rin jerked up with a start. She was sitting at the bar of a ramen stand, staring at an annoyed Kushina Uzumaki, and wondering how exactly she'd gotten there.

"What?" Rin asked. "How?"

"What do you mean?" Kushina asked, but Rin didn't acknowledge her question. She spun on her stool and walked to the exit, looking out into the street. It was night, and the lanterns were lit. The cool air floated lazily into the ramen stand and brushed across Rin's face.

Hadn't it been just before midday?

How had she come here from the hospital?

Rin turned to ask Kushina, but the question died on her lips when she saw the shadowy figure behind the bar, watching her, featureless. That same fear she'd felt all those days in the Whirlpool Village rose up again and Rin stood rooted to the spot, trembling.

How had it followed her home?

It couldn't be here.

She was supposed to be safe here, but she wasn't.

Rin reached for a kunai with a trembling hand, but found she wasn't wearing any mission gear. She looked down and found she was wearing civilian clothes.

With no weapons, and an unknown grasp on her own chakra, Rin knew she was done for.

"What do you want?" She screamed.

The silent, shadowy figure did not answer. It did not move, or give any indication that it had heard her at all— and that made it all the more unnerving.

Kushina rose from her seat and stepped to her side. "What does who want?" She put a hand on Rin's arm, and that horrible, crawling feeling of wrongness that had been present in the hospital with the doctor came back in full force.

Rin jerked away from her and stumbled back, out of the ramen bar and into the cool night air.

Only she wasn't standing in the street outside of a restaurant at all. She was sitting beside her mother's grave and watching the sunrise. The cool, hard surface of the gravestone was comforting, and she breathed a sigh of relief when she realized she was alone.

She took several breaths to collect herself and stop the shaking, before surveying her surroundings. It was the large graveyard in Konoha near where she'd grown up. It wasn't the only gravesite in the village, nor was it the largest, but it was where her mother had been laid to rest.

For all that the graveyard was as she remembered, it was the little details that were wrong. The buildings across the street were amorphous and too heavily shadowed for the time of day, and the names on the graves were not as they should be.

Obito's name was etched into the stone beside her mother's, and the one past that had Kakashi's name.

Rin inhaled sharply.

She had to escape this hell, whatever it was.

From the wrong buildings across the street from the wrong graveyard came the shadowy figure she'd seen too many times before. It strode towards her with cold, detached purpose, and Rin knew it meant to kill her.

Minato

Minato returned to the village just as the sun was setting. His mission to the Land of Earth had been tiring, stressful, and far too long. Pulling the Leaf's forces out of formerly hostile territory was no small task. Small groups of ninja on both sides refusing to follow the orders of their superiors and ignoring the terms of the armistice had extended Minato's mission time by weeks. Trying to de-escalate violence against the ninja of Iwagakure was not a simple task, and it was made much more difficult because of his role in winning the war on that front. The ninja of the Land of Earth hated him. And honestly, he believed it was justified. Minato had personally killed countless hundreds of Stone ninja.

He was called the Yellow Flash of the Leaf, he was listed as an S-rank ninja, and had a do not engage order in every village's bingo books. Sending him had been… shortsighted.

While the mission had been undeniably important, Minato felt that the mission would have gone smoother if another qualified Jonin to the Land of Earth. A man with his reputation was a poor choice for the mission. He would have been far more suited to a mission in the Land of Lightning or the Land of Water.

Even children were petrified of him. He'd heard their stupid chant when he'd stopped to help a farmer who's cart had broken an axle. It reminded him of a nursery rhyme.

'If you see the Flash, your neck has a slash, with blood comes pouring laughter. He comes in the night, His jutsu is bright, you'll rest forever after.'

Still, he had done his duty and seen the mission through to the end.

He was tired.

At the gate of the village, he produced his ninja id card and was allowed through the gates by the Chunin on duty. He stretched his neck from side to side, and tried to relieve some tension in his shoulders with one hand as he walked to the Hokage's tower to debrief and get the forms for a full mission report. Not that he wanted to. He wanted to go home and curl up with his soon to be wife, Kushina.

But that wasn't the mission.

The mission was to go to the tower, give his report, and hope that he wasn't immediately sent back out in the field.

He was allowed into the Hokage's tower with little fanfare. "The Hokage will see you in his office," The secretary had told him before ushering him upstairs. His office, not the mission desk, which meant that the old man wanted to speak to him about something. Minato sighed as he took the stairs. This was just great. More work.

He knocked twice on the door to the Hokage's office.

"Enter."

Minato pushed the door open and stepped into the office. "You requested my presence, Lord Hokage?"

Hiruzen gestured for him to take a seat. He did so. "How was your mission, Minato?" Hiruzen asked.

"I think anyone else would have been a better fit for the mission. I'm not exactly on friendly terms with people," Minato said.

"You were in charge of withdrawing our forces, Minato, not making friends," The Hokage said as he lit his pipe.

Minato grimaced. "Still… those people are terrified of me. It was cruel."

"No, it was effective," The Hokage said. "Nobody would consider risking sparking hostilities again when the one in charge of the withdrawal was the Yellow Flash. Calculated, efficient, tactically sound. The concessions we requested were accepted, were they not?"

Minato nodded. All of that was certainly true. "Still, Lord Hokage, the duration of my mission was extended for over two weeks because of my reputation."

Hiruzen puffed out a cloud of smoke. "Is there anything that can't wait for your full mission report?"

Minato shook his head. "No. Nothing that can't wait. It was all rather routine, besides the kicking and dragging of feet."

"That's good. That's good. You can fill me in on the finer details in your mission in your report." The Hokage began fiddling with a scroll on his desk, idly puffing on his pipe as he turned something over in his head. Minato found himself growing tense. "Minato, I called you here because I'm afraid I have some bad news, and it, unfortunately, cannot wait."

Minato was sitting forward in his chair now, hands on his knees. "Is everyone okay?"

Hiruzen let out a long, slow breath. "No. I'm afraid not. Both of your students have met with rather unfortunate circumstances."

"Where are they?" Minato asked cooly, rising to his feet.

"Minato, please remain calm and I will explain," The Hokage said.

Minato scowled at the Hokage, his entire body tense, but he made no move to leave the office. "Kakashi is in the hospital, condition critical. Rin is with Kushina in unknown condition. They are not in the village."

"What. Happened," Minato managed. It felt as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over him and he forced himself to stay upright.

"It was a rather unfortunate turn of events on what should have been a routine scouting mission, I'm afraid," Hiruzen said. "It seems our conflict with the Hidden Mist may not me as concluded as we once thought. Though problematically, I admit there is no indication that this was an officially sanctioned action. All signs point to a rogue cell."

"I'm going to need the details," Minato said, swallowing the lump in his throat. "All of them."

Author's Note: I know it's been a long time. But I have more than just this chapter written already. So if you're enjoying, please consider leaving a fav or review.

Cheers!