Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Every village has its secrets, some more important than others, and some that could lead to full-out war if they were leaked to the world. For the safety of most of the major villages, one of the most well-kept secrets, even within their villages, was the identity of their most powerful weapon: the jinchuuriki. And with that secret identity for the jinchuuriki came the real reason for them to stay unknown to the world: the bijuu that were forcefully sealed within the host/hostess. The identity of the powerful weapons of their villages, needed to stay hidden even mostly among their fellow ninja to keep their jinchuuriki from being kidnapped, used against the same village, or even exploited for their unique abilities by others trying to mess with the beast within.

Nine bijuu exist in the world and they had long since been distributed to their respective villages, for profit for the leaf village, by the Great First Hokage. Some villages acquired two, but for the most part, the bijuu's power helped balance the villages and keep the peace for a time between the world. There was nothing written down on paper on what the villages would or could do with said jinchuuriki and bijuu, but no one would have thought Kirigakure village would use one of their most valuable weapons in such a risky manner. They took the chance to use one of their two bijuus as a bargaining chip to tip the deadly scale of the third ninja world and lost all their money when their plan failed.

To capture a highly prized medical kunoichi from the enemy village and someone connected to a very strong and important fellow ninja and force her to become a jinchuuriki. Then let her loose to run back toward the enemy village to wreak havoc and chaos and lead to the downfall of said village. Well... they didn't take into mind that this said very valuable kunoichi wasn't just tied to the future Fourth Hokage but was also someone who would cause an even greater ninja world around 15 years down the road because of such plans... anyway...

Said kunoichi survived the process and the attack failed on Konohagakure failed in more ways than one. That valuable kunoichi had the will of fire on her side when she turned the Mist's plans completely on their head. Saying that in the simplest way possible as the fallout from said attack was anything but simple, especially for the newly made three-tailed jinchuuriki. Konohagakure gained a new powerful bijuu/jinchuuriki combo and jumping through steps and major hurdles Kirigakure was none the wiser on getting back their same bijuu. Steps were taken to assure that the Mist village kind of received their 'bijuu' back (very kind of), because of true threats for full war if Kirigakure didn't receive the three tails back, only a handful of individuals truly know what fate fell upon the real three tails bijuu.

Sitting up on one of the benches within the female Anbu locker room, the three-tailed jinchuuriki let out an exhausted mistfil sigh and ran her fingers over the smooth outline of her white Anbu mask. She sat with the mask in her lap and hunched over a bit in an attempt to calm her still loud thoughts in her brain. Her finger lingered over the purple ears of the cat-like mask as her mind was trying to catch up to her body and finally relax a little bit from the gruesome week-long mission the Third Hokage had her on. It wasn't an overly hard mission by a long shot, especially for the ones that she was given by a certain other Anbu group, but she hated needing to be out of the village for more than a few days at a time. She might have even pushed this mission a few ways to guarantee that it finished in a more timely manner and Rin was able to complete it right in the nick of time.

"Naruto is going to be excited to see us home for his graduation, yeah." The three-tailed bijuu spoke up causing the jinchuuriki to look down from her held Anbu mask and toward the huge beast she sat upon within their shared mindscape. "If we had gotten back yesterday then we could have slept and been more mentally prepared for today too." Her tone didn't show her true emotions for the day, but it did show how truly tired she was. Rin just shrugged at the wishful thinking a good night's sleep could have given her as she stood up from the bench and returned her Anbu mask and sword to her locker.

Scratching her left shoulder right under the vest strap, the strong desire for a shower or bath was in the water jinchuuriki's plan. The stress and sweat from the past week were starting to get to her and caused her scars to itch slightly of course the rubbing of her Anbu vest wasn't helping, but Rin wouldn't complain out loud. Isobu seconded the idea of really getting clean and having a good water source to use was great for both their moods, especially the turtle. Rin wasn't sure if Isobu was more excited about the shower waiting for them at home or his brother's jinchuuriki waiting as well.

It wasn't the day that had Rin down, nor the lack of energy after the hard mission, the kunoichi was truly excited for the day that her son would become a true ninja. Rin had planned for this day to come multiple times before, but Naruto had failed the genin test twice before and left her plans for his future in the air. Being very understanding that Naruto's time would come eventually for him to eventually become a genin, Rin would be there to celebrate such a huge life event in the young boy's life.

It wasn't the process of him becoming a genin and one of the few steps of really stepping out into the dangerous world that caused Rin to slightly dread the day. It was the fact that Rin knew she would eventually have to break the horrible news of Naruto's real existence and she just so happened to think that it would be best to tell the news when Naruto really 'grew up'. The idea of breaking the rules never sat well with the three-tailed jinchuuriki, but Rin's whole life revolved around more rules than even the Hokage, himself, it seemed. It was all for the safety of herself, the three tails bijuu, and the village, but it was bothersome for those in Rin's life that didn't know who she truly was.

"How do you think he will take it?" Questioning her bijuu, Rin finished up her mission statements on the mission, made sure she was cleaned up enough for the trek outside and stepped out from the Anbu building upon the Hokage Rock. She stretched her arms to get the flow going back in them as there wouldn't be time to truly rest until later that night, but if everything went according to plan then maybe the big reveal wouldn't completely break apart their family. "If it's coming from you, I think he will have more questions than anything, but he is a smart brat. He will hopefully connect the dots on how the village treats him and then you can explain what positives this will lead to in his future, yeah." Isobu tried to think outside the box on how the nine-tailed jinchuuriki would react, but he was such an excited individual that there was no telling what the blonde male would do. Probably anger and sadness, more confusion, but Rin wouldn't let anything bad happen from the reveal.

"Well, it'll be a start.. then.." Shaking her head to another sad revelation that had yet to be spoken between the two jinchuurikis, the one thing that connected the two in the village. Naruto had yet to find out about the fact that his caretaker was also a jinchuuriki. That was a secret that Rin had no idea how to tread upon, but for now, she focused on one thing at a time in her son's life. She didn't want the idea of their whole relationship being built off of lies since she adopted him at the age of six. However looking at their relationship from the outside, there were so many secrets that Rin kept from Naruto for everyone's safety, especially his own, that it looked like Rin raised him on lies.

One of the most important truths that the three-tailed jinchuuriki vocalized almost every chance she got was her deep love for the nine-tailed jinchuuriki. And that was never going to be a lie.

As Rin started down the flight of stairs to the ground below before she would jump off toward the ninja academy, a yell pulled her attention to the Hokage faces above. "Oi, Nohara!" She stopped in her tracks and lifted her head to look at two male jonin standing on top of the Second Hokage's busts. They seemed angered for some reason, but Rin wasn't sure if she was in the mood to deal with this at the moment or not. Especially when she didn't want to be late for Naruto's graduation. "Hm? Can I help you with something?" Pushing some stray hairs from her face as she glanced upward, she didn't have to go far as the jonins started to head down the stairs.

"Yeah, you can tell your brat to stop messing with the Hokage faces for once in his lifetime!" One male shouted at her from a few staircases away causing Rin to pay more attention to the busts but didn't notice anything right off the bat that anything was different about them. "Messing with them? And please don't call Naruto a brat. He's just a kid." Feeling herself saying that a little more as of late, Rin couldn't help what Naruto did when she wasn't in the village but was grateful that the child had such a good rapport with his teacher that Iruka made sure things were slightly under control when Rin got back. Such a busy life as an anbu black ops. Freedom and safety came at a cost sadly.

One of the males growled in annoyance at how ignorant Rin seemed to be coming off, especially an individual of such high rank like the female, but they were at the end of their rope when dealing with Naruto. "He painted the faces again! It was only thanks to Iruka, again that Naruto even cleaned in the first place. You need to get your brat under control or next time we will make sure the Third Hokage does something about him." The threat to have Hiruzen do something about Naruto made Rin laugh silently but caused Isobu to grumble at the idea of that happening. Hiruzen was a busy man and trusted Rin enough to keep Naruto under control and taken care of. Even if told a thousand times, the Hokage wouldn't get involved himself to deal with Naruto. Though Rin would probably get a slight scolding if the trouble wasn't taken care of properly and in decent timing, just like how Iruka handled it.

Letting out a sigh and a shake of her head, Rin turned her head to look at her sensei's bust then turned her attention to the jonins in front of her. "Forgive me. I'll have a talk with my son about it, but I do believe that it won't happen again. He's becoming a genin today gentlemen, and a true ninja would never pull such pranks. So if you excuse me." Rin bowed respectfully and started back down the stairs, but that answer didn't seem to sit well with the men for some reason.

With a slight growl, one turned to glare at the other one in annoyance only for them to speak under their voice and laugh as a result of what was said. Choosing to be the more mature of the three, Rin ignored what she just heard and kept walking only for the older male to repeat what he just said only louder. "Your brat will never become a ninja! His karma caught up to him and I heard he was the only one who didn't pass the test!" The news caused the jinchuuriki to fully stop in her steps again, causing her to stare down at the stairs and jump away to the ground below to head off faster toward the academy. "I'm sure they are lying, if not... we can get through this. There is always next time, but I still think I should tell him.

Frowning about the whole situation, Rin hated the idea of putting more bad news on top of other bad news, but some ideas of a family trip might be in order. It wasn't like an anbu member could take time off, but the jinchuuriki could plead her case that Naruto needs some special training so he doesn't fail the next time. She was sure that would get approval no matter what from the professor. At least the two of them can set the stage even easier to tell Naruto of his demonic side if anything else.

"As Naruto gets older I'm sure Kurama is getting just as impatient as ever. It's either we tell him or the fox shows himself to the boy.." Isobu spoke up causing Rin to nod her head in agreement and swallow some fear from the idea of the fox doing such a thing. That damn thing still haunted her nightmares at times. And that burning smell still twisted her stomach, but this wasn't something that could just be spilled as if ripping off a bandage. It's never easy being a jinchuuriki...

----

Sitting on the side of the deck of his shared apartment that overlooked most of the village, the nine-tailed jinchuuriki sat in such a dark state. The boy couldn't remember the last time he had gotten this deep down in his depressing thoughts and yet nothing came to mind to maybe help him feel better. Not even ramen could help perk up his mood as if there was anyone who would take him out for such a great treat. Naruto doubted Iruka would have the time nor the energy to even fancy the idea to treat him to ramen, especially since the two just had it the night before.

Looking at the village below, he kept adjusting the goggles on his forehead and thinking about how a ninja headband would feel in place of the old headgear. He had tried on his mother's before and the cold steel with the soft fabric pressed against his forehead excited him to no end. That leaf symbol meant one more step closer to the dream of becoming a Hokage and someone who the whole village would look up to! Even for a moment the blonde let his mind slip into the dream and imagined that his goggles were an actual headband until his other teacher snapped the young student back to the present.

"Don't worry Naruto, there is always next time. Don't give up now." An older silver hair teacher spoke to the young boy in a very enthusiastic tone of encouragement. He looked over his shoulder and smiled at the young boy before turning to look at the village below as well. "How many more times can I fail before I just get kicked from the program? Why didn't Iruka sensei pass me? Why only me?" Naruto questioned in a low, quiet tone and kicked his feet to try to wrack his brain on what even happened during the failed test.

"Iruka-sensei is hard on you, but he knows what you are capable of and pushes you to do your best. He can't go easy on you Naruto just because you want something. You two are a lot alike, you know." Naruto looked at Mizuki from the corner of his eye trying to think of what made the two alike, but couldn't think of much. "No real parents to speak of. No real family." That comment made Naruto's face turn sour at the idea of him not having a real family. True that his mom wasn't his real mom, but Rin was his mom. And he wouldn't change that for the world. "B-but I have a mom. You've met her Mizuki sensei.." Naruto spoke in a confused tone as if maybe the silver-haired teacher forgot since it had been a little bit, and Rin deals more with Iruka sensei, but the jinchuuriki didn't Believe that Mizuki had just forgotten about her.

"Well, yes. But again you don't have a real mom. Besides a real mother would have been here to help you pass the test. Not away when you are in trouble." The teacher's slightly happy tone started to rub more hard on Naruto's mood but it didn't bring something else that seemed to kill his spirit even further. "What is she going to think when she hears that I didn't pass..?" Feeling the negative energy coming from the fox jinchuuriki, Mizuki seemed to smirk a bit and turn his attention fully toward Naruto. "What if I was to tell you of a way to cut corners and become a genin to make your mother proud?" Mizuki questioned as if knowing what Naruto was thinking about causing the young boy to gasp out in confusion, but mixed with excitement. "Cut a corner? Yeah! I'm up for it! What do I have to do?!" He questioned so innocently, and just as quick to his feet to get started on it.

Maybe he could still follow his dream of becoming Hokage and make his mother proud.

Chapter Text

Luckily for Rin, the academy building just so happened to be at the foot of the same mountain she worked on top of, albeit a few meters further down it. It wasn't hard for the female jinchuuriki to see a huge group of families and friends gathered in front of the academy building. The hype and cheering among the happy group of new graduates seemed to melt off and affect Rin as she couldn't hide help but hide her excitement at the idea of her son passing too. A part of her remembered what those Jonin men said to her earlier, but the kunoichi didn't get this far in life believing every piece of news she was told. Especially by angry people and definitely by those that were angered by Naruto in some way. So it was quickly pushed out of her memory as nothing more than a lie told out of anger and jealousy.

Feeling slightly outdressed with her still wearing her Anbu gear, Rin thought for a moment that maybe a quick trip home would have been better than coming straight to the academy, but she pushed it from her mind when the excitement of seeing her son overrode her self-conscious thoughts. Naruto wouldn't care what she was wearing regardless of when he sees her so the female jinchuuriki didn't give the idea a second thought when it crossed her mind.

"Looks like everyone is excited to become a ninja. This is an exciting day." Feeling a huge grin growing upon her lips and finding herself adjusting her headband on her forehead, Rin couldn't help when her memory fell back on the day both she and her best friend became genin the same day. Of course, the Uchiha had been late that day just like Rin was late for this day. If only there was some old person she could help with so it could be a great excuse for being late. Well, at least that was a better excuse than her other best friend's excuse of being lost in the meaning of life, or whatever he said to other people when late.

Speaking of Uchihas, Rin ducked behind the corner of a nearby building and peeked around a building as one of her son's classmates started to walk by it. Though sidetracked, the black-haired boy was just staring down at the headband in his hands as he quickly, but calmly left the huge group of celebrating families and friends. Did this young boy even think of any of these people in those terms? "...." The look of discontent was plastered over the young Uchiha's face and Rin could only guess why. Not even a guess, but she understood the reason for such a low sense of achievement and excitement about something that only happened once in a ninja's life. Maybe the kunoichi could help.

Right, as the young boy was about to pass by her and Rin was about to speak to him, a yell came from behind him and pulled both of their attention that way. "Hey, Sasuke! You leaving already?" A pinkette female came running up holding her headband in her hands and from what Rin could see, the younger kunoichi didn't know exactly how she wanted to wear it. Very understandable especially if she wasn't used to wearing such a permanent piece of equipment on their head, but luckily the headbands were light enough and easy to get used to.

Poking her head out to watch the exchange between the two younger teens, Rin instantly knew that this pinkette was Sakura Haruno from her son's class. Sasuke shared the same class as well, but Rin knew more about the young Uchiha than maybe Naruto even knew and probably would never find out about. And of course, Rin knew a lot about Sakura from what Naruto kept talking about her. Mostly about her looks and how amazing she was, but Rin didn't know much about her besides the hearsay.

Sasuke turned slightly to look at the running kunoichi and held tight to the headband in his hands as if conflicted by it for some reason. He didn't say anything to her and just waited for Sakura to keep talking. "M-my parents are taking me out to celebrate my graduating from the academy and I thought that maybe you would like to join us too. Especially since I'm sure you made the test look as easy as ever." Hearing the compliment on the Uchiha's skills of sorts, Rin was curious about what Sasuke was going to do in the situation, and of course, wasn't sure what she was expecting when he turned her down. "Not interested. I'm just going to head home." Letting her down gently enough, Rin still waited her turn to speak, but Sakura didn't seem done with the conversation just yet.

"Are you sure? We were going to go to this fancy restaurant that only the elite can get into. It'll be really good." Not taking no for an answer, Sakura tried her best to try to get him to come along but Rin wasn't sure if it was a friend or if the young kunoichi was hoping for something more. Again, Sasuke just looked down at the headband in his hands and twiddled with it for a second before answering a little more aggressively this time. "Like I said. Not interested. Go find someone else." Sasuke turned and started walking again until he passed by the corner Rin was standing at. He kept walking, only to stop and turn his head to look up at the female with a slightly irritated look on his face, but Rin just calmly smiled back at the young boy.

From the way Rin was standing around the corner, Sakura wasn't able to see her but the adult's attention was completely on the Uchiha in front of her. "Hm fine, if you say so. But I'll celebrate even more now since I just found out that annoying Naruto didn't pass either. Good riddance imagine someone like him becoming a ninja. He would just be a danger to everyone on his team. Either way, I'll see you next week when they choose who's the team we're on. Enjoy your weekend." Sakura said excitingly and ran back toward the crowd to where her parents waited for her, but Sasuke didn't even look her way and instead chose to keep his eye on Rin and the headband in his hands.

".... So they weren't lying about Naruto not passing..?" Rin whispered to the young Uchiha and he just watched as she dropped to her knees to sit evenly to his face. She frowned, let out a sigh, and, gave a slight shake of her head of the bad news. The mother jinchuuriki felt horrible about the news and knew how to hide it well, but it didn't mean her love for Naruto changed in any way. She was just really hoping that she wouldn't have to drop more bad news on top of already horrible news. They would get passed it. They always did, but this was a huge hurdle to get over.

And of course, Rin chose to ignore the horrible things Sakura said about her son, the mother was not going to help her son make friends with kids his age. She was a good support system in more ways than one and Rin felt more comfortable dealing with the adults in the fox jinchuuriki's life instead of the other children. That was a battle he would have to figure out and not have his mother fight for him. Besides Naruto made some real friends with Choji and Shikamaru in his class, though they were a really bad influence on the young blonde and led to them all three skipping out on class at times.

Giving a quiet nod to what Rin had just said, the female gave another sigh but chose to pick her head up and give a huge smile toward the Uchiha. It wasn't just a day about Naruto, she remembered. "Congratulations on passing with flying colors, I'm sure still top of your class like always?" She held her hand out toward the headband and Sasuke hesitated to even move it closer toward the held-out hand. Sending the hesitation, the female looked up at Sasuke's forehead and could imagine what his brother would say and do in the moment but that was something that far from appropriate at the moment.

"One step closer, Sasuke. One step closer to becoming stronger for your clan. Your parents would be proud." Rin rested her hands on her knees and saw the different emotions and thoughts going through the young Uchiha's mind. The mother jinchuuriki reached her hand out and patted the young boy on the head as a slight affectionate gesture but it made Sasuke just gently smack her hand away. It made Rin chortle slightly with how gentle it was and understood it wasn't out of full contempt. More like an embarrassment of the gesture. And again Sasuke just kept his attention on the headband as Rin stood back up on her feet.

"I found out about a very difficult fire jutsu that we can work on later if you are interested. Think of it as a present for finally becoming a genin." The idea pulled Uchiha's attention toward the female as he watched her stand up. Especially if it was a jutsu that could easily make him stronger than his brother. "You still owe me a training day, Nohara, but that will work for now. Just don't forget." Sasuke pocketed the headband, gave a nod of his head toward the Anbu member and just turn to walk home.

His feelings for Naruto were complicated as ever as even Sasuke couldn't explain their relationship, but he wasn't stupid like Sakura to just voice his opinion on the loser. Not in front of Rin anyway, but also knew that Rin wouldn't have said anything if the Uchiha needed to vent in any way. If anything, the new genin knew she would try to butter up Sasuke and Naruto's relationship and try to find new ways to make it better for some reason. The young boy just didn't understand why Rin tried to make the two boys work together. It wasn't much of an interaction, but Rin hoped that maybe it helped Sasuke feel better about the whole day. And not just being alone.

Done with one orphan now to deal with another.

"Gossip around this village travels so fast, yeah. It amazing the children of this generation don't know that Naruto is a jinchuuriki at this point." The turtle shook his head at the whole interaction with the loud mouth kunoichi from earlier and even slight disagreement whenever Rin interacted with the Uchiha. The bijuu had no real say on what his jinchuuriki did or the people she interacted with, but for some reason, the duo always seemed to get a slight headache when interacting with Sasuke. They never could pinpoint its cause and it never affected their daily lives enough to research it deeper, but Rin just blamed it on a broken heart for a clan she felt so close to at one point in her life.

And now it's gone and her only way to show her true love for the clan was placed upon the shoulders of a 12-year-old boy and whatever interaction Rin was able to get out of Sasuke. They had a good relationship in Rin's opinion but Sasuke wasn't that easy to read as most kids his age. She was there if he needed her, but that was as rare as Naruto passing the genin exam...

Arriving at the actual groups of people and looking among those talking, Rin looked up and down at all the villagers and still held a smile on her own. She wasn't going to let the first time her son sees her be with a look of sadness or anger, it would be with excitement of just being able to see him after so long apart. Looking high and low at every single person around the building, the female did a few double takes and was easily able to tell that her son wasn't there among the groups. It wasn't like his orange jumpsuit made it hard for her to pick him out from the crowd or the likeness to his father, but she was sure the fox jinchuuriki wasn't there. Maybe inside still?

Waving and saying hello to some of the other families as she passed by, Rin chose to just say congrats and move on as she felt the wave of pity for her being the only parent without a graduating child coming if she lingered too long in one place. She didn't want nor care about that fact and only focused on one thing.

"Hey, Nohara." Just as she was about to open the door to the academy building, Rin had her attention pulled up to her son's teacher, Iruka Umino. And of course, her eyes grew a bit when she noticed her own 'boss' was standing next to him as well. The kunoichi could kick herself for how careless she was for not noticing the Hokage and the very man who was responsible for where she was today. Quickly joining next to them, but still looking around to see if she was still overseeing her son's face, Rin fully bowed with respect for the third Hokage out of habit. However, it was clear to see that her full attention wasn't on it like when she was working.

"Hello, Iruka, Lord Hiruzen.." Standing back up, the female scratched the back of her head and again looked amongst the kids with worry starting to rise in her core for some reason."Naruto isn't here anymore, Nohara. He left a few minutes ago to go home with Mizuki-sensei." Trying to reassure the young mother, it wasn't hard for the teacher to figure out what was distracting her so much. She glanced up at the sky and nodded, trying to figure out what her next step would be but her eyes slipped to look at the stern look from the Hokage. Taking in a slight inhale, the female shifted her gaze and weakly smiled at the teacher.

"Thanks, Iruka.. how did he seem?" The female questioned with some worry, but Iruka just let out his sigh. "He seemed depressed, not passing for a third time seems to be catching up to him. I'm sure Mizuki can help him feel better, but I'll leave it to you to help even further." Again trying to reassure the mother, Rin took a step back and again scratched at her shoulder. "We can plan out something together Nohara if you would like when things calm down. I don't like seeing him fail like that, you know." Iruka saw some of Rin being stuck in her thoughts and was surprised when she shook her head at that idea. "No, that's okay Iruka. I have some ideas on how to help the situation. You might not see Naruto for a while, but I have a plan to help little Kitsune." Again another big grin before taking another step back.

"Please, forgive me, Lord Hokage, I'll come talk to you after I've dealt with Naruto. " That seemed to be a common phrase for Rin to say to the older gentleman, but she always backed it up and made it worth saying. Asking for forgiveness was easier than permission at times during the years when dealing with the Jinchuuriki family.

Jumping off toward home, Iruka watched rather curiously and figured now would be the time to ask the one person who knew more about the relationship between Naruto and Rin than even himself. Especially with the fox demon being within her son. "Why does she care so much for Naruto? Does she know what he is?" They spoke quietly as the time went on and families started to leave, of course taking breaks if someone got too close.

"Rin was one of the fourth Hokage's students," Hiruzen spoke up to the male teacher who just gasped slightly at that rare connection Iruka had no idea about. "Oh really, I wasn't aware he had his team." It explained so much, but also made it more complicated. Hiruzen watched the families together and gave Iruka a side-eye look. The Hokage wasn't sure how he felt talking about Rin's past like this but trusted Iruka's strong relationship with Naruto with some slightly more details than just common knowledge.

"Yes, and that connection seemed to have drawn her to the boy when he was younger." It wasn't that simple, it couldn't be. "I remember seeing Rin at the memorial stone growing up a few times when I went to go pray for my parents. She never said who she was there for, but it seemed to be her favorite place at times. I caught her with a silver hair man before a few times as well, but she seems like a very kind and decent person. I'm surprised she puts up with Naruto's tricks." One thing seemed to nag Iruka more than just it that simple, especially with the fox involved. "Does.. is she aware of what she is caring for?" Understanding what the teacher was getting at, Hiruzen gave a sharp nod and he turned to walk with Iruka when everyone was gone. "Yes, she is aware. And she doesn't care." Iruka's eyes grew a bit at that news and the idea of her simply not caring about it didn't sit well with the teacher at all.

"How does she not care? Does she understand what she is dealing with?" Iruka didn't understand how someone like her could care for someone or something like Naruto. Iruka cared for the boy, but he never thought to adopt the young boy. Never in a million years.

"Iruka, you and Naruto are a lot alike in more ways than one. Sure, he has Rin but I can see the way he looks at you at times you two spend time together outside the classroom. She doesn't say it outright, but Rin also appreciates you more than a lot of people because of what you do for Naruto. Being a strong male figure in his life is important for someone in Naruto's age and with Rin being busy with Anbu's duties, she understands the struggles you go through when dealing with Naruto's behavior and pranks. So don't worry about their relationship, and focus on helping Naruto become the ninja he truly can be. The two of you could work together and connect in some way if you voice your concerns for Naruto in a different way to Rin. She understands what you went through with your parents and I feel like you might be able to connect on a level you won't find in other people."

Hiruzen let out a sigh and looked at the sky. "Rin understands Naruto on a level neither of us will ever truly understand, but if you put yourself out there you might be able to see it from her perspective and understand why she chose Naruto. Hokage or not, the two of them are connected in more ways than one."

Chapter Text

Returning straight home after leaving the academy, the female jinchuuriki looked only slightly around as she went since she thought that Naruto would only go there after leaving the academy. With a small pant of exhaustion from pushing herself so much, Rin pulled her house key from her ninja pouch but tried to turn the lock to see if maybe it was unlocked for her. A frown grew upon her lips when she found it to be locked, but didn't let it get her down too far. He probably wanted to take a nap or just be by himself so a locked door didn't mean anything at that point.

Unlocking the door, Rin started to slip her off ninja shoes almost even before she was through the doorway inside. "Naruto? Guess who is home early?" She shouted within the apartment and had to do a few one-legged jumps as she was in too much of a hurry to even stop to get her other shoe off before stepping onto the hardwood floors and around the corner to check both rooms. She stood at the entryway and opened up the next door to the main apartment, but moved a little slower to listen around the place. Not a single peep and Rin knew she never needed to repeat herself when she came home so either the nine-tailed jinchuuriki was taking a deep nap or he wasn't home.

Taking a right, Rin knocked on the door to Naruto's bedroom and when again no sound came from the other side, she opened the door to see if maybe her son was taking a nap. "He isn't here Iso.." Fully popping her head in to give it a full check inside, Rin knew Naruto wouldn't hide from her, and if he did, never inside their apartment. Letting out a mistfil sigh full of worry about where he might have gone, she walked to the kitchen/her bedroom to at least wash her face and get some gunk of the past mission off her itchy body. A full shower will have to wait until she had her kitsune in her arms.

Running a washcloth under the water, Isobu summoned himself next to her on the floor and slid himself next to the bed. "Maybe that Mizuki guy took him for ramen to cheer him up? Or maybe train him, yeah?" Trying to offer his sort of ideas, the two didn't ever really interact with the silver-haired chunin so they didn't know much about him or where he might take the young jinchuuriki, but didn't instantly think anything ill about the situation. Konohagakure was a huge village so they were probably up to all sorts of fun or distractions. Rin just hoped it didn't have to deal with any more paint.

Rin rubbed the cool rag over her neck before turning to look at the bijuu about to pull himself into the female's bed, but Rin just took a few steps toward the strangely calm turtle. "We need to find Naruto before we can rest and clean ourselves up, Isobu." The turtle swayed his three tails toward her hand and she grabbed ahold of two of them to hoist the turtle up into one of her arms while the rag rested on her neck. Isobu wasn't truly worried about not finding Naruto but knew Rin's motherly side always seemed to freak out for some reason. Humans were so strange.

Rin ran the washcloth over the spikes on his normally cool back and could feel a slightly dry texture to the normally smooth scales on his stomach. "I should change and give it some time before I go and look for him, but I don't feel good about this whole thing. He doesn't know I'm back yet, but still. " She finished cleaning the bijuu's top shell and threw the washcloth into the sink before looking Isobu in the eye with determination. "I'm sure no matter what Mizuki does to help Naruto feel better that there is nothing compared to seeing the two of us, you know." Growing a huge grin, Rin watched as Isobu just shrugged and poofed away back into their shared mindscape.

It was too early to worry about the younger jinchuuriki, but wouldn't waste his breath to try to change his jinchuuriki's mind. At least they were cleaned up enough to feel refreshed and though exhausted, they could spare some energy to try to find the fox boy.

----

Isobu found that after a few hours of searching and the sun starting to set that he was very wrong for not being worried earlier. As each hour passed and the three-tail jinchuuriki watched the sun creep away into the distance, she slowly started to grow a little frantic in her search. The thought of going to see the third Hokage for his help passed her mind once or twice as well, but she didn't know if or when that was a level they had crossed for this issue.

Hiruzen would listen to her pleas and maybe tell her that she was overreacting, and maybe she was, but today was not the day she would let the boy just do what he wanted. She wasn't the strictest parent, and if she was then maybe the painting tricks would stop and maybe Naruto wouldn't have failed the genin test for the third time, but Rin didn't want Naruto to grow up too fast. She wanted him to enjoy his childhood at his own pace. And not end up like her with scars, both psychical and emotional.

It wasn't like they were at war, and yes ninjas were needed to keep the peace among the nations, but Rin didn't want that sweet young boy to become corrupted by the ninja system. For him to grow up too fast and become a different person than he was. She didn't want Naruto to fall into the same darkness that clouded her heart and the heart of her beloved teammate for years before they saved each other.

The mother jinchuuriki didn't raise the younger Jinchuuriki to be the weapon that her old 'boss' wanted him to be raised as. Neither Jinchuuriki chose this life as a weapon, and it was one life she refused for Naruto. Even if it meant for Rin to go back to the foundation just to keep Naruto, and Kyuubi, safe from the greedy, twisted hands of those in the shadows and above her title in the Anbu. If she wanted Naruto corrupted like that then she never would have agreed to adopt him in the first place... The three-tails duo might have signed a dirty contract when taking on the nine-tails duo, but she's loved every hard moment of it.

"Where could he be?" Rin questioned as she needed to take a quick knee just to catch her breath and energy. The past week and lack of real food for the whole day was starting to catch up to her. Especially the stress messing with her whole system and even Isobu was starting to stress out from Rin's emotions. " We need to get more help to search for him. We aren't sensory ninjas and this place is too big to search for clues for him, yeah." The idea of getting her beloved involved crossed her mind, but that idea was quickly pushed away when two or three Jonin members passed over her and looked like they were heading for the Hokage manor. "Lord Hokage can help us. He has other ways to find Naruto and more help than I could ever ask for."

With that idea, the three-tailed turtle agreed that was a wise choice to go with. If Hiruzen was too busy, then the two could easily rely on the ninken for their next step of tracking down the blonde jinchuuriki. This was so important to Rin that Isobu knew this was going to lead to some very bad things for their health if the boy wasn't found within a decent amount of time. The last Rin freaked out over the bijuu and jinchuuriki business, and they both almost lost their lives. And even worst almost lost their secret.

Taking in a deep breath to pull enough energy to get to her feet, the kunoichi jumped up and followed the others to what looked like a meeting in front of Lord Hiruzen. There was a bunch of Jonin she recognized, but none of them were her friends or comrades that could trust to ask for a favor to help find Naruto. No Asuma, Kurenai, Maito, or any of the others she could rely on at that moment for help, but she couldn't wish for a chance that they might come around when Hiruzen was right there with maybe some hopeful help.

Arriving in front of the Hokage, Rin ran around the standing group of jonins to attempt to get closer to Hiruzen, get his attention, and plead for his help. Well, that was the plan until some of the other jonin saw her arrive and attempt to talk to the Hokage, then suddenly all eyes were on the one responsible for all the commotion. "Hey! Nohara! Where is Naruto?" That question made Rin stop in her very panting, exhausted tracks and turn her attention to the growing crowd as Iruka and Mizuki came running up the group as well.

Starting to pant mist as if she was just breathing it like normal air, the stress was starting to get to the jinchuuriki and Hiruzen seemed to perk his head up to watch Rin when he noticed it. "W-what are you talking about? That's why I'm here in the first place. I've been searching all day since I've gotten back... For.. for my son." She defended herself and turned her attention to the main protector of their village only for two males to step in front of Rin and get in her way to see the Hokage. "Naruto has stolen the secret scroll! And you just so happen to get back the same day he does it? And you expect us to believe that you aren't in on this?"

They growled and vocalized their anger toward the female causing Rin to take a step back and put her hands up in a slight panic. " The scroll of sealings was passed down from the first Hokage! This isn't just some dumb prank we can just push under the rug this time, Nohara. We are going to start holding you responsible." Just as if she was being pushed into a corner, the mistfil breaths became stronger and even Isobu hissed within their shared mindscape from the added stress this was adding to their plates. Especially when they had no idea what they were talking about but bringing up the first Hokage did not add any pleasure points for the abused three-tailed bijuu.

"I-I..!" Just as she was about to speak the Hokage came to her aid once again." That's enough! If Rin hasn't seen Naruto then I believe her. We don't have time to be bickering amongst one another. Just find Naruto and bring him here at once." Lord Hiruzen ordered the Jonin squad and they all left, but Rin's eyes fell upon Mizuki and Iruka's figure as they were about to leave. "Mizuki! Where is my son!?" She called out, quickly intercepting the male just getting in front of him fast enough that the silvered hair male didn't even see her step to do it. He gasped and took a huge step back from her, even questioning why her breath was so strangely visible when it wasn't even cold outside.

"Woah, Nohara. Calm down. I haven't seen Naruto in a few hours. I left him at home once I calmed him down since you weren't there and I went home myself." The little comment caused Rin to grumble under her breath and clinch her hands into fists. Her exhaustion wasn't just for her energy, but also her kind nature as well. "Why.. you.." Lifting her leg as if going to take a step toward the taller male, Isobu bucked up his head in their shared mindscape to get the female's attention. "We don't have time for this, Rin. "

Taking in a deep breath with her eyes closed to refocus her energy more positively, Rin gave a slight nod of acceptance for whatever type of confession the teacher gave and stalk it up as a lame way of helping the two out. She trusted Iruka more than Mizuki but that might be because of their small relationship at the memorial stone, and not based on professionalism as a fellow ninja. "Please just help me find Naruto. I'll take whatever consequences that fall upon me." She bowed her head, turned to look at Hiruzen, and gave him a slight nod. "I'll find him first so he doesn't get hurt."

"And before a little fox tries to manipulate him into digging deeper into whatever Hashirama or Tobirama might have put within that scroll.." Rin loved her son but also knew that he couldn't have been intelligent enough to figure out what to do with a whole scroll, nor what some of the jutsus inside could do if not performed correctly. She wasn't sure what he was thinking, or how he could have figured out where/what scroll he nabbed was but either way there was no time to lose.

Mizuki watched Rin jump off before looking at Iruka. "We should split up to cover more ground Iruka-sensei." The two split up only for Mizuki to growl in frustration at having Naruto's crazy mother involved now. His plans to get his hands on the sealing scroll now become much more difficult with her involved, but he smirked at himself as the cocky male was certain that his plan would work out. If anything Rin would take the blame and the punishment, Mizuki would end up with the scroll and the power, and the village would be down two freaks to deal with. Now came the fun part of killing the number one freak monster in the village: the nine-tail fox.

Iruka tried to follow Rin to attempt to help her closer to finding Naruto but somehow lost her with how fast she was able to jump away. Those Anbu skills were easy to see when put to the test and something he didn't want to push if he was forced to fight someone like the female. "If he isn't home, where could Naruto be?" Thinking with some worry Iruka hopped off toward the ramen shop to maybe find Naruto over there for some reason.

----

Once away from the group, Rin knew it was hopeless to spend any more time and energy just looking around for someone she knew all his hiding spots were. She wasn't giving up but had some ideas on some other helpful figures that would benefit the searching blindly around. "Using my idea, huh?" Isobu questioned as he looked upward toward his forehead and Rin just gave his head a few soft, but loving pats as a way to show some appreciation for the turtle's nice way of calming her down. "Should have used them earlier, but better late than never.."

Reaching into her ninja pack on her thigh, Rin grabbed a kunai and sliced her index finger with it to draw some blood. She needed to be quick as the high bijuu chakra almost always healed her cuts, but a little blood was all she needed for such a jutsu. "Ninja art: summoning jutsu!" From the explosion of clouds around her body and ground in front of her popped out eight ninja dogs of all shapes and sizes for her aid.

The dogs looked around rather confused as to why they were summoned so late in the night, especially when they noticed who it was. They stepped up toward Rin who just leaned over and patted all their heads, leaving all the dogs except for one with wagging tails and excitement from not seeing her for so long. "Rin, why did you summon us? What's so urgent?" Pakkun spoke out in a serious tone but wasn't too upset about having his sleep interrupted all of a sudden. "Boys, Naruto is missing. Please help me find him and fast. He's in trouble if we don't get to him first."

Reaching into her sack, Rin couldn't find anything that had his smell on it but was able to pull out one of Naruto's nightcaps that he wears when the jinchuuriki goes to bed. He only had two and she kept one In case they were to camp outside under the stars. The dogs took their turns sniffing it and then the air around to get a trail started to follow. "Pakkun, I'll follow you and you can come to find us if there is any word or trail, okay?" With a bark of acknowledgment, the dogs all scattered into the wind and Rin followed Pakkun toward the nine tails direction. And it wasn't toward the way home. "You look rough, Rin. Have you been taking care of yourself?" Pakkun questioned causing Rin to snort a bit at his caring question but still nodded.

"Week-long mission. Just got back and now spending even more energy trying to find a son that doesn't seem to want to be found.. either way, yes Pakkun. I'm taking care of myself, no need to worry Kakashi on my end.." As they jumped she kept her eyes and attention all around them to make sure she didn't see any familiar color orange or hear that loud voice of her son. "We'll find him, Rin. He couldn't have gotten too far and even outside the village Naruto couldn't go too far with not that much knowledge outside the walls." Trying to reassure Rin, she was scared that he might have left out of fear of her hating him. Or maybe being mad about him failing. If that was the case then she would just have to crack down on some hard loving in the nine tails jinchuuriki's future.

"He wouldn't leave Konohagakure. Ninjas can't become Hokage if they don't have a village to call home."

Chapter Text

After another hour or two of searching, Rin ended up picking up and carrying Pakkun in her arms since it made it easier for them to coordinate the direction to go to follow the young boy's scent. Pakkun didn't like being carried as if he was a puppy but didn't say much as the stress coming off of Rin kept him mostly quiet except to point her in the direction of where to go. She kept an almost deadpan look on her face as they passed by multiple people just trying to find a needle in the haystack in a village of thousands of people, but each passing minute also led to sinking deeper into some dark thoughts on what could have happened to her son. Or what did she let happen when she wasn't there...

"Hey, I promise everything will be okay, yeah. We will find him Rin, don't worry. I doubt he will be able to crack that scroll that easily. Especially for only being a student-level Shinobi." Lifting his head upward to stare at his overly focused jinchuuriki, he recognized that she got this serious when in deep combat or at arms deep level of surgery. At each moment thousands of thoughts and ideas were going through her mind about what and where Naruto could be or doing at that moment, and some were and some were horrible to repeat. She let out she held her breath as she used her breathing control to help to keep herself calm at times, this being the most important time to practice such a technique.

"Kyuubi might though. A whisper or suggestion. That dark twisted nature Kurama has can easily taint Naruto if he gets stressed enough. Especially if Kurama tells Naruto the truth about his past. I just don't like this. No one said Naruto was alone in this little prank of his, so who knows who could manipulate him into doing something that might accidentally hurt the village.." Rin patted her hand against the bijuu's head before a few barks in the distance pulled her attention back to the real world. Pakkun lifted his head and listened to the barking before turning his attention toward Rin. She opened her arms to allow him to jump on by himself and followed along behind like the helpless kunoichi she felt at the moment.

"Did I understand them correctly?" Rin questioned as Pakkun turned his head to give Rin a backward look before looking forward to making sure he didn't jump into anything. "What did you think they said?" He questioned as the two seemed to head into a forested area that was an area that the jinchuuriki had never recognized before. "Blood? And signs of some sort of fight?" Sounding utterly unsure of herself, the jinchuuriki could have sworn she heard the words blood in the barking, but put some words together in the final parts of the message. Pakkun have a nod to the female and sniffed the air to confirm they were both on the right trail.

"Yes, the team found his scent led to a shed or house of some sort in this direction but there is blood and ninja tools thrown around the area as well. No signs of Naruto though." Rin felt pretty confident about being able to understand a little of what the ninken said and thought it was a quick thought of pride and excitement to be able to show some progress in the training Kakashi was giving her. But it was quickly pushed out of her mind when blood came up as a subject again. "Blood and ninja tools..?" She whispered a statement and questioned as she tried to figure out what it could mean.

The third Hokage ordered them to just bring the boy back to him, that didn't mean to attack or injure him. And even though Naruto attacked, it was most likely for self-defense as even he didn't have free access to ninja tools as a normal academy student wouldn't either.

Another trail of mist slipped past her lips and she squinted her eyes as her emotions went from worry to slight anger to the idea of anyone attacking her son. Fox or not, she doubted her son could learn and matter a jutsu in such a short amount of time and yet only end up with some blood and ninja tools thrown around everywhere. Meaning Naruto wasn't training with any elemental chakra or had yet to tap into that bijuu chakra that everyone, including herself, is so worried about. So why attack a helpless academy student?

Pakkun led the female to the old shed-type building and he sniffed around the area along with Bisuke, Akino and Guruko, while Bull sat watching Rin examine some of the tools and blood spots around the area to try to get an idea how what went down in the area. Meanwhile Urushi and Shiba jumped in down near the female jinchuuriki to bring some news. "Naruto wasn't by himself. There were two others.." Urushi sniffed the air and Pakkun confirmed. " Two older males but we aren't sure who they are. They headed in that direction." Lifting his paw, all eight dogs turned to point off toward the east of the shed. Rin stood up from examining the blood on the floor and turned to look in that direction as well.

"Fetch." Rin spoke in a demonic manner almost in Isobu's deeper tone, and all nine were off toward the three different scent trails. Someone was hurt and Rin just hoped for the sake of those involved it wasn't Naruto. Good thing a highly sought medical Anbu black ops was on the case.

The sounds of howling and barking rang out throughout the forested area and easily caught onto the three males that were all playing cat-mouse-fox of sorts. Three different males, all three at different ranks in the ninja totem poll, all had a different reaction to hearing the howls echoing through the forest.

One huddled behind a tree for dear life, holding on to a scroll as some sort of comfort in this hell-type dream. This couldn't be real life. He had to be dreaming and he would wake up at any moment to find it was just a horrible nightmare that never happened. He'd wake up to take the graduation test, he'd pass with flying colors and everyone would be so proud of him, especially his mother. Damn, how he'd wished she was there to save him... He wasn't a monster.. he wasn't... He couldn't be...

He let out a small gasp of fear when two growls came close from in front of him and from in between the forest and brush. And two figures walked out toward the boy target slowly with their fangs barring his way. When they came into clearer light of the moon, it caused the younger male to clinch to the scroll for dear life only for him to tilt his head when the littlest pooch started to speak. "Naruto, right?" Speaking in a gruff time, he waited for the younger boy to nod before putting his paw up. "Nice to meet you.." When the younger boy didn't move his hand or move anything, Pakkun just stared at him. "Shake." He ordered to which Naruto reluctantly followed and reached to shake the dog's paw.

The boy frowned and leaned back against the tree while Bull just put his head in Naruto's lap to make sure the boy didn't move. "We're friends of your mother. She is worried sick." Pakkn hopped off Bull's back and looked around the tree, making sure to keep out of sight but watched the other two males from behind the tree.

One male sat in the same position with a matching scroll in his lap, his back pressed against the back of a tree and a proud smile upon his lips. Across from him laid an academy teacher, the same one who had taught him a lot of things the male knew in his ninja career and yet was just attacked as if none of that mattered. Panting and trying to catch his breath and energy, the sitting male just watched as the teacher grunted in pain from being gut punched and struggled to keep from laying down on the ground. They both ignored the howling as coming from stupid animals in the area and were no real threat if left alone. And of course, had nothing to do with the little game they had going on.

"Naruto? How did you know? How did you know that I wasn't Iruka?" Right as the teacher grasped onto his stomach in pain, the transformation jutsu he had used to try to trick the exhausted male completely broke. It revealed that it was indeed still a teacher, but was Mizuki and not Iruka. "Because I'm-..!" The younger male chuckled at the little stunt he just pulled, only for him to gasp out and his eyes grow wider when a powerful chakra feeling was caught on by all three of them. Another round of barking and howling came across the field and this time much clearer and louder than they were before. And right behind this Naruto.

"What the hell?!" Mizuki fell to his side and frantically looked around at the forest around them as six dogs came from in various directions toward the two of them with their fangs barred and ready to strike. "What the hell are you dogs doing here? This is my find. Get out of here!" Mizuki saw the dogs get closer to him and sniff at him, but they jumped back when he attempted to hit them as if they were pests. "Why are there dogs here?" The grinning blonde let out one more pant and dropped the scroll from his lap, allowing it to fall to the dirt as if it was nothing. He didn't recognize any of them, but it wasn't hard to see that they were far from normal dogs and were ninja trained.

Three dogs growled toward Mizuki but another three did the same toward the so-called blonde but didn't attempt to get any closer toward either of the males. That was until Mizuki got to his feet and attempted to charge at Naruto to get the scroll as if he was ignoring the dogs and found them as no threat to his plan. All six dogs turned their attention fully toward the charging teacher and found himself knocked back on his ass by two of the dogs fully charging into the male to get that distance back. He recoiled back to where he was and debated his chances of taking on the animals or if he even had a chance.

"Don't move! We're here for the boy, but will attack if you try something like that again." One of the dogs spoke up until their ears stood up from a distant sound got their attention. A whistle from the tree behind the sitting blonde caused the six dogs to regroup between the two males again, not allowing any of them to move. Ears perked high and twitched to respond to any sound their summoner made, their tales were still and ready to pounce at a moment noticed and Rin loved seeing them ready in stance.

Mist poured along the ground and the panting mother jinchuuriki finally managed to catch up to the eight ninken. A few more whistles and pants and Rin stood in front of the slouched blonde and between the silver-haired chunin with a demon wind shuriken on his back. The dogs sat down and waited for their next order from the female and she calmly let out a sigh while running her fingers through her overly sweaty hair. Her movements were very unnatural, to say the least, but Rin didn't even notice it. "Mizuki, what the hell are you doing attacking Naruto like that?" She whispered in a low tone as her anger slipped in a few words.

The mist producing off the three tails jinchuuriki almost bathed the whole floor and if it kept up would make it impossible for anyone to see if this kept up. Mizuki growled in frustration as this just made his plan 1000 times more difficult with the stupid mother catching up to them in time before he could get his hands on the scroll. And yet, he still had some sleaze ideas on how to turn this in his favor. He noticed that she refused to look back at her son behind her and only on him so he tried to turn the tide of this.

"Hello, Miss Rin. Just like you to show up late to the party." Rin's eyes never left Mizuki with a deadpanned expression going straight toward him at all times and yet she twitched her eye to count her ninken around her. She counted six, couldn't see where Pakkun and Bull had gotten off to, and had no idea what they could be up to. The summoning contract was reaching its limit as they spoke and one by one the dogs began to unsummin themselves, but Rin still kept her eyes on the male in front of her. Two pops came behind a close by caught Rin's attention to a nearby tree, but the other males didn't seem to have caught that sound or meaning behind it. "Good boys.."

"M-mother, you're here! Thank goodness." The blonde kept his eyes on the female's back the whole time since she arrived but didn't want to blow his cover just yet. "Don't trust this man! He attacked for no reason and wants the scroll for '"Be quiet Naruto! You've caused enough trouble for the night! From what I can tell you attacked him for no reason." Rin still didn't turn to look completely behind her, but turned her head to look to the side and away from them. "N-no wait! Really, mother. Please believe me!" The voice pleaded and Rin just frowned at the whole situation, and yet some telltale signs alerted her to what was happening. However, it was just making Mizuki chuckle under his breath. "Look Naruto, not even your mother believes you. No one in this village will ever believe a monster like you!"

"Monster?.." A twitch of Rin's eye caused her to rub it as she fought off a quick twinge of a very dangerous feeling envelope her soul of sorts that would have destroyed Mizuki if she had let it loose. It took a lot more to make her and Isobu snap like that, but the bijuu understood that this man had attacked Naruto and also attacked his brother. That wasn't something that could be overlooked so easily. "Easy. Isobu.." Isobu hadn't even moved in the slightest but she used some of their shared trust to keep the beast from straight out summoning himself from that word. Rin could feel the hatred for this academy teacher and yet she was the humanity that kept the bijuu from straight out killing him. They were past those years and were just trying to keep each other calm.

The jinchuuriki tilted her head in confusion about where this came from as a plot to keep Mizuki talking. "Just because he stole the sealing scroll does not make my son a monster, Mizuki." She slightly defended the boy, all while the sitting blonde just grunted out in anger from what was taking place. He tried to get up to move but struggled to just keep it all together and not break it too early. He needed to prove someone innocent of this whole scam but needed Mizuki to confess to his crimes.

The look of hilarity, amusement, and ironic humor crossed Mizuki's face as he couldn't believe just how easy this had just gotten for him. "Oh, you're telling me you didn't know? Rin Nohara didn't know the major secret of the village. About the same son, she loves so dearly?" He took a step and put his hands out as if this couldn't get any easier. Rin kept a straight face and kept an eye on Mizuki with her hands by her side the whole time. "Where are you getting at Mizuki? My son is just a normal future Hokage of the Leaf." She frowned and tensed up as Mizuki approached her, even just saying the lies made her feel sick. Naruto was much more than that, but this wasn't the time or place to gawk at her son.

"Mother. Please!" The blonde pleaded only for Rin to growl out in frustration. "Naruto, hush up. Like I've said, you've done enough today!" The outburst made Mizuki chuckle at the whole thing as if it was a show. "Did no one tell you that were raising the same monster that killed your sensei those twelve years ago? They lied to you for those years if you are stupid enough not to know." Rin gasped out and finally turned to look at the blonde boy behind her. Her eyes grew wider as she looked him over and took a step back away in fear. "F-fox? You're the nine-tailed fox? You're the demon that killed all those people long ago." She hated this whole thing. She hated this lie almost as much as keeping it for twelve years. It made her heart bleed and her stomach burn with discomfort for the whole ordeal, and yet she couldn't stop just yet. What's worse was when she figured out what this truly meant.

"He knows.. and this guy told him." Isobu processed their shared feelings and rage was a kind word to explain what they were feeling and yet couldn't share it just yet. It felt like something broke within both bijuu and jinchuuriki. A huge missed opportunity to teach Naruto about jinchuuriki and the fox within him, and yet the words monster were thrown around in the same words as the fox and it almost pushed the jinchuuriki to break her facade.

The blonde sitting in front of her gasped out in fear and confusion about the whole situation. "M-mother.. please.." He pleaded out only for Mizuki to step right up next to Rin, place his arm on her shoulder, and laugh at the boy. "Now, no one is on your side now, you little freak." Again Mizuki turned to look at the fear on Rin's face and she even teared up a bit at the memories of that night when she lost her beloved sensei. "So many people died because of you. You don't deserve to live." It wasn't just her son hearing these lies coming from her lips, Rin felt bad that the nine tails had to hear them as well. Especially after all those years of trying to calm the ass-hole fox. She just hoped that hasn't completely set her back to ground zero with a future friendship with the asshole.

A small gasp came from behind the tree as the real jinchuuriki listened to the exchange between his mother and the two other males in this stupid game or whatever it was. His stomach felt like it was on fire and he felt like he was going to be sick. Tears rolled down his cheeks as the feeling of betrayal and hatred rolled over his body and soul. He clinched the scroll and looked at the scroll in his arms. If those dogs came from his mom because she was worried about his safety, that was quickly killed when she received the worst news of the day. Naruto wasn't sure what to do at the moment. Maybe the scroll could save him since no one was on his side now maybe he was a monster...

"I like your thinking Nohara, let's put an end to this freak and make the village a safer place." He stepped forward while holding the demon shuriken from his back, Mizuki was about to twirl it up to throw it on Naruto's way. Rin's eyes shifted toward the chunin, ever so slowly reaching out toward the blade to catch it in the middle of his twirl but was stopped when Iruka finally broke the transformation that he had used to seemingly trick the two other adults. Rin was quick to pull her hand back and seemed her actions had been missed by the others.

"Iruka?!" Mizuki cried out in surprise and grunted out in shock from the reveal, but Rin just stayed behind the teacher to see where this is going. "You're never going to find Naruto. He's long gone by now to suffer and Mizuki you're never getting that scroll!" Rin had to resist the urge to just smirk at the whole situation as her eyes looked to the side one more time and then back at Iruka. Mizuki gasped out in annoyance when his plans had to change again and the scroll that had been placed on the floor turned out to be nothing more than a broken branch.

"Clever Umino." Letting out a slight hiss of mist from her lips, Rin was very impressed by the move he took to trick Mizuki, and how stupidly dense the trick worked... "Nohara, Iruka here is a fox sympathizer. He let Naruto escape by attacking me. We need to work together to find Naruto again and get the scroll back to Hiruzen. He's trying to work with Naruto to use the scroll to release the beast onto the village." Mizuki turned to look at the frowning jinchuuriki mother as her eyes took in many details on Iruka's body and even saw the wounds that caused the blood she saw earlier. "Nohara! Naruto is nothing like that damn beast. You know this! I lost my parents to it just like you lost your beloved sensei! Don't believe Mizuki's lies, please. Naruto is a great student and I know if we work together he can be a great Hokage."

The words didn't look to have any effect on Rin but she reached into her ninja pack to pull out her kunai knife. "Mizuki.. allow me to kill the fox sympathizer. My dogs can track down Naruto and we can share the success." Mizuki again just chuckled at how easy this was and how easier it was getting every second. He didn't plan on sharing success, but anything to take down one more opponent then he would use it to his advantage. The scroll would be his and Lord Orochimaru would be impressed that he snagged Naruto's mother along the ride.

Stepping aside, Iruka gasped and tried to get away only to fall on his stomach from the pain and exhaustion finally catching up to him. He lay below the tree and Mizuki waited in anticipation to watch someone he hated more than anything be killed by a comrade. Maybe he could twist her against the village even further. Iruka looked at Rin with fear in his eyes and noticed that her eyes were huge when she looked at him as if looking like a deer in headlights. "Almost done. Almost through. Just hold on.." Repeating to herself a few times to keep in character, this was different than whenever she allowed Isobu to take over. This facade was just going on too long for her taste. "Rin," Iruka whispered her name and seemed to finally give in to what was about to happen. At least this meant he would be with his parents and he knew Naruto was safe out of Mizuki's hands.

Rin stepped up next to the fallen teacher, dropped down to her knees, and held him down with one hand on his back while the other hand held a kunai above his back. "Iruka." She whispered with some added pressure on his back to ensure he didn't move. Iruka grunted from the pain and pressure the kunoichi was placing upon his back so he didn't move, only to gasp out when a green chakra form started to warm up his back. He couldn't feel it everywhere but it did help with the pain from where the shuriken stabbed into his spine.

Unable to hear or see what was happening Naruto was close to revealing himself just to save the one person he believed and trusted in from getting killed. He couldn't handle living in a world where he just sat by while his loved ones were killed like that. But he hesitated since he was getting killed by the person he trusted more in this life than anyone ever before. Naruto couldn't believe that his mother was going to kill the one person that believed in him. He tightened his grasp on the scroll and glared up as he gained the courage to fight even against his mother if it came down to it.

"W-what are you doing Nohara? Finish him off!" The silver-haired genin cried out in frustration only for Rin to turn her head and glare toward the stupid chunin. Mizuki must have never seen healing chakra before. Figures someone this idiotic couldn't tell the difference or even realize what she was doing. "I'm a medical kunoichi Mizuki. I took an oath not to take an innocent life, and that includes one that is a 'fox sympathizer'." She lifted the kunai toward Mizuki and then dropped it onto the ground to show she wasn't going to finish off anyone.

Giving Mizuki the cold shoulder to focus on healing Iruka's back, she might have not been paying attention but that didn't mean she was vulnerable. "I'm not letting you get that scroll, Mizuki. I don't care what you say or how you twist the truth. I'll keep searching for my son even if I have to drag myself to Kirigakure just to do it. I'm going to be on my son's side no matter what anyone says to me. Prank or not. Evil or not. I will take the punishment for him stealing the scroll and I don't care if that means being locked up. As long as he can live his dream to become Hokage, I'll stay behind his steam no matter what." Keeping her attention on healing the injured academy teacher, Rin's ears twitched when she heard the swooshing sound of Mizuki starting to twirl up his shuriken.

"Then I will take you both down. A measly medical ninja doesn't mean you have more power than me. You're just as crazy and monstrous as your freak son. He is probably already releasing the fox upon the village as we speak and getting his revenge. He's just like me!" Rin let out a small held snort at the threat and glanced at the side at the 'threatening' male. Her hands tightened into fists and Iruka grunted slightly when he felt her leaning on his for some slight support to keep herself calm. "Once monsters put their minds to something, they will never let it go. No matter the cost." Finally, something she could agree on, but every word Mizuki said seemed to push Isobu even further into an anger fit. He was about to go down that blood-lust hole that the turtle hadn't been interested in ever since Hiruzen saved them from the foundation. Fish was a good meat, but humans were the meat of a different kind.

Rin jumped down from the top of Isobu's head and she pressed her arms against the bottom of his head plate to keep them both calm. Part of Rin was going to let the bijuu do his part, but not yet. Soon but not yet. Returning to the real world, Rin still had enough. "You are nothing like my little kitsune. Naruto is nothing like the Kyuubi, and you'll never understand either of them ... just like you'll never understand what it means to be a true villager hidden in the leaves, Mizuki. You lack the fire that burns in people like my son and Iruka." Rin tightened her hands into fists as Iruka just watched the exchange between the two in the hope that he can gather some energy to help but still felt empty.

"Hell... You're nothing like the asshole fox either. You're a pathetic excuse of a chunin and don't deserve that headband on your head." A small snort and she leaned over closer toward Iruka to whisper something to him. "Don't worry. He won't put his hands on your again. I promise." Iruka tried to lean away from the female only for him to gasp out when Mizuki lunged forward in an attempt to take down both older ninjas in front of him. "I'll show you my true strength then I'll take down that damn fox!"

All the big words until a sudden surprise finally showed up at the party. Another full headbutt to the face by the hard-headed nine-tailed jinchuuriki was enough to throw the demon shuriken off his path and out of Mizuki's grasp. It was such a hard enough hit that it sent Mizuki flying a few meters away from the three of them. The female jinchuuriki Rin her head up and Iruka gasped out at the sudden appearance of the fox jinchuuriki. "Naruto! Run away! Get away from here for your safety!" Iruka cried out only for Rin to sit him up against the tree and watch what was about to happen. "You can threaten me, but you crossed the line when you went after my mom and my sensei." Naruto glared at Mizuki while leaning on the scroll.

Seeing her son after so long caused Rin's heart to skip a beat and her desire to cry out in happiness almost happened. If only it was in a different situation they were in. "If you try to hurt a single hair on their heads, then I'll kill you!" Naruto glared at the silver-haired chunin, and though she wanted to vocalize her support to the younger jinchuuriki. Rin decided to stay quiet and would get involved if needed. "You all are fools if you believe you can someone like me down! I could take you all down with a single move!" He threatened, ready to reach for more ninja tools if that was needed to end the fox's life.

Placing his fingers together in a overlapping hand style, and held it out in front of his face. "I want to see you try, fool ." He mocked the teacher's insult and twisted it back on Mizuki only for Mizuki to grow more razzled by the threat from the nine-tailed jinchuuriki. "Bring it on nine-tailed fox. Show me what you can do!" The chunin yelled at the younger boy, moving into a defensive mode and ready for anything the fox might throw at him.

Both Rin and Iruka's eyes grew in surprise when Naruto managed to pull a surprise that neither of them would have guessed he could pull off."Multi shadow clone jutsu!" Within a burst of clouds across the field more than 100 copies of the nine-tailed jinchuuriki were produced by his high chakra count and evenly distributed among all the bodies. "Woah.." Whispering out in surprise, Rin let go of Iruka's body and leaned more on the tree for support, examining his technique thoroughly.

"Those aren't just illusions, they are solid clones!" Iruka spoke out causing Rin to try to stand up and see what was going on as all the clones were circled Mizuki and made it impossible to see the chunin. She didn't make it that far as the tree became her main support. That little bit of healing to Iruka took the last of her energy reserves and though she could push it if she wanted, even dip into Isobu's chakra reserves Rin had no desire to do that.

Falling onto her butt a little bit away from Iruka but still next to him, Rin turned her head when her bijuu suddenly summoned himself in a surprising form next to her in a cloud of mist. Taking the form of the nine-tailed jinchuuriki, but this one had no whiskers and was yellow with crimson pupils. It was a very bad attempt at copying Naruto to join the group, but the bijuu didn't put his full heart and energy into it. Iso just wanted to teach some respect to the chunin. "If you aren't coming at us, then we're coming after you." One of the clones yelled out as they all began to gang up on the pathetic, stupid chunin. "No killing. Just.. cripple I guess.." Rin had to think of another term to use besides something they hadn't done in a while when she allowed Isobu to go join the gang up.

Letting out a sigh, Rin leaned forward to use her legs for balance while looking over at the other exhausted teacher with her half smile. "So, Umino. What happened?" Finally able to maybe get some real answers and not ones based on speculation or ideas, Rin was glad this was almost over. She wasn't fully sure if maybe this was over, but she was still fully ready to take her punishment for whatever trouble Naruto had caused. With a still proud look on his face from seeing what he believed the next Hokage could do, Iruka gave Rin a side glance and a slight nod. He was so caught up in the excitement of the shadow clone technique Iruka had forgotten that he hasn't explained himself to Rin. "Mizuki tricked Naruto into stealing the sealing scroll under the guise that it would allow him to graduate if perfected one of the techniques inside." They both looked at the discarded scroll that had been thrown away from both of them but no longer was the main focus of either of their mission.

"He broke the rule about the nine tails and told Naruto that he possesses the fox. Or I guess is the fox if that makes sense." Those words caused the fake shadow clone to stop and turn to watch the two adults talking from the crowd. Though apart from his jinchuuriki, the bijuu still processed and heard the same information even if they were miles apart. "You understand that Naruto isn't the fox right? They are two different beings?" Rin held up to fingers and separated her hands to show one to make her point, but knew that Iruka didn't need her to show him that to understand what a jinchuuriki and bijuu were, though the kunoichi doubted he had ever heard the term in his life.

"Yes, I understand. Mizuki then tried to turn Naruto against the village and use this opportunity to kill him and take the scroll. I got in the middle of that plan and managed to trick him with that transformation jutsu that you saw earlier.." He leaned forward to match her sitting style and leaned on his legs for support to see Rin easier around the tree. "You had me going for a moment there. I almost said you were an unfit mother for him to be changing your mind so easily. If Lord Hiruzen hadn't told me you knew about him possessing the fox earlier I might have fallen for the whole thing." The way he said made Rin look to the side in guilt and then up toward the mess in front of her. She watched Isobu dance around with Mizuki as the other clones waited their turn but the bijuu kept getting in their ways and taking more than his share of time with the teacher.

"Okay, that's enough Iso. I need your help please." Rin smiled slightly but then rested her head on her knee as the fake clone broke off from the group, jumped up out of the brawl, and started walking toward the two adults, quickly poofing from the nine tails clone jutsu and into one that looked exactly like Rin. However this clone, like the ones earlier, had sunflower demonic eyes and crimson-red pupils. Iruka looked between the two beings and questioned why that clone looked so strange compared to the completely perfect ones that Naruto had just made. Maybe this Anbu female couldn't perform clone jutsu as well as her son?

Letting out a small snort, the female let out another sigh as well at the whole situation. "No, I'm still an unfit mother. I shouldn't have let this happen, if not for you, Iruka then I would have lost him today." That idea caused her to clench her hands into fists and she placed one of her hands on her forehead to keep from growing a headache. "Ugh, Gods I wish I had gotten here sooner. I had planned on telling him the truth when the time was right. But that's out the window." She clenched her eyes shut as the lack of food the past day and a half, real sleep, and added stress was starting to show its effect on the jinchuuriki.

"Give yourself some credit, Nohara, not everyone can match that young energy that Naruto comes with. You're doing the best you can and keeping the village safe, and I don't think he turned out that bad in the end." Iruka spoke out, but Rin didn't react much only reacting to the messed up clone finally coming to her side and seemingly starting to look her over. "We need to get some r and r or we will end up getting sick, Rin." Speaking out loud, Isobu looked at the glassy eyes Rin was starting to develop on top of the shared dehydration the two beings were starting to feel. They could drink a whole ocean at that point. "Strange.." Having a medical clone look over the main body is, an interesting idea to handle. If only it was that easy and what was happening, but Iruka doesn't know who hurt him.

Isobu pushed some hair from Rin's face and behind her ear, trying some small ways to clean her up and get her calmer. Iruka and Isobu looked over at the brawl as the clones took turns fighting against Mizuki, one of them stepped out from the group and headed toward the other two of this finished game of fox-mouse-and turtle now. The bijuu stopped attending to Rin and kept an eye on Naruto while he walked over to the scroll, picked it up, and walked over toward Iruka and Rin. He stopped in front of Iruka for a moment but gently turned his attention toward his injured mom. "Naruto, it's okay. I can wait. I'll be here when you're done. I wanna talk when you're done." Iruka could see the inner turmoil going through the blonde's mind and Naruto just kept walking the few extra steps toward his mother.

With a small grunt of pain, Rin focused on her own body to try to keep herself from developing some bad muscle aches in places or just falling asleep altogether while Isobu turned his head up to look at the depressed jinchuuriki. Isobu poked Rin in the cheek causing her to lift her head, open her eyes and realize that her son was right in front of her. He was looking to the side and couldn't seem to look her in the face, but it was bad enough that it made Rin match his look to make sure he wasn't looking at anything of interest in the same direction. It was a very rare time for Rin to see that her son was ashamed or something akin to that feeling, and she didn't understand why.

"Naruto.." With such care and love in her voice, the mother spoke her son's name only to watch as Naruto dropped the scroll into Rin's lap and yet still did not look her way. "Naru-" "I'm sorry! I'm sorry alright!" Naruto spoke up as the guilt of this whole thing seemed to finally catch up to the boy and some more mixed emotions that he didn't understand his to convey. Rin agonized over her son's pleas, even when they were short and to the point she hated hearing those words from his mouth. Naruto looked at the clone and his mother, not even feeling the need to bring up what he was seeing and focusing more on how he was feeling. "I'm sorry for the trouble I cause you, Mom.. but please don't push me away like everyone else. I know I'm not the best person to be around. Heck... I guess I'm not a person, but please.. please don't kick me out like everyone else just because of what I am.."

Hearing those words caused the last straw to break on the camel's back and Rin's eyes opened to see that the waterworks were starting to fall. Using Isobu's help to her feet while he took the scroll from her lap, Rin threw herself at the boy and unexpectedly ended up with them both on the ground. She wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck and torso, with an arm tucked under his arm to pull him close into an ever-tightening hug. "Kitsune. My little kitsune. My beloved little kitsune." Nuzzling her face into his cheek and against the side of his head, Rin closed her eyes while Naruto just tried to process that they were both on the ground. He looked at her with confusion before letting out a slight gasp as he broke down a bit as well.

"M-mom.." Naruto placed his hand on her arm and pressed his face to nuzzle her back, even doing his best to wrap his arm around her body to hug her back but she had him trapped in a vice-like grip. He was used to it at this point, but it had been such a long time since Rin used this level of strength to show her loving affection. "Naruto Uzamaki of the Hidden Leaf village. The Fifth Hokage to the Hidden Leaf and.. jinchuuriki of the nine tails." She spoke the first two titles with energy and whispered the last part to just the two of them. Hearing that new title, Naruto parted his eyes to look at his mother's eyes which were full of sympathy and understanding. "Jinchuuriki... I'm a jinchuuriki?" He knew that word from his mother's stories growing up and he knew about the nine bijuu beasts of the world from her stories as well, but he didn't think he would end up being one of them.

"My little kit, let's talk about this later, okay?" She whispered and kissed the young boy on his cheek after a few more nuzzles, fighting a losing war of staying awake with him in her arms. Her body felt the boy in her arms and almost gave out as this moment was what had her going for most of the day and now that it was there, she had to tell herself that now wasn't the time for r and r. "You are not a failure Naruto, and I will never push you away. I was going to tell you when I found you, in my terms but... I'm so sorry, Naruto. Please forgive me. I was waiting for the time to become a genin, but when I heard you failed I was still going to tell you. I don't know.." Rin lightened her grip when Iruka suddenly cleared his throat and reminded the two that he was still there.

"We're running out of time, Rin. It's getting late." The teacher reminded the two as all the clones had seemingly disappeared, leaving Mizuki beaten and broken to the side but not going anywhere any time soon. "Speaking of which, can I see you quick Naruto? Just for a moment." Letting go of her child, Rin accepted Naruto's help in sitting back up and even getting to her feet but chose to let her rest against a tree for support while he walked over to see what the teacher wanted.

All the fun they were having, Rin hadn't noticed that she hadn't heard from her bijuu for a hot minute causing her to look around a little frantic until she found the clone of herself looking at the contents of the scroll. A few clicks of her teeth pulled the bijuu's attention from the scroll and her way as Rin matched some of the noises she learned the bijuu made when he was irritated. "Hm?" With a shake of her head and a hand wave to become the turtle over the bijuu saw no big deal when reading human literature. Illegal or not. He was illegal as it gets. "Please don't read that... I don't need them thinking that I'm interested in the scroll as well." None of that scroll interested the female in the least, but suddenly the mental lag between the bijuu and jinchuuriki caught up to her and she gasped out from what little bit he read.

Though she tried her best to ignore or outright refuse to keep what he read to memory, she caught on to the readings about the Sharingan in more detail than she ever knew before. Some more details of the Uchiha clan that she knew about, but a few more facts that she didn't. Even something about a reaper death seal, but seemed to have stopped the three tails before he read anymore. "This still doesn't answer what he did to us, Isobu. I know you're curious, but getting us in trouble to research what happened five years ago will not change what happened." Isobu wrapped up the scroll back up and started to walk back with it back to his jinchuuriki. " I know, but that damn Uchiha did something to us. I can't remember. Neither can you, but he did something and we need to break it. Or we will never move past it." Another few steps before getting to Rin and even he couldn't keep the clone appearance up much longer.

They had one of the highest chakra reserves in the world, and yet with Rin's lack of care for herself, Isobu was unable to keep up with the demand. He could put up a few more fights if needed and be pushed into a corner, but keeping up a normal basic appearance jutsu was too much for the three-tailed bijuu.

The bijuu hit the floor with a hard thunk, but he managed to catch the scroll in his three tails and rubbed his hands on his face, grumbling the whole time. "Can we go home please?" He questioned while slowly pulling himself to his jinchuuriki's side. Rin chortled at the beast before turning her attention toward Iruka and Naruto. Right as she looked at the young boy, she saw him starting to run up to her with a new surprise. "Ahhh! Mom look! Look!" She had to put her hand out to stop the child from jumping onto her and pushing the mother jinchuuriki onto the floor like he had done with the teacher.

Placing her hand on his chest, Rin chuckled a bit at all that energy Naruto still had until she noticed the beautiful shine coming from the headband on his forehead. She gasped out and turned to look at Iruka as he was still getting to his feet, with a look of admiration and pride on his face for what Naruto was able to pull off. "Don't be so surprised, Nohara. Your son was about to pull off amazing stunts and was able to pass graduation after all." Rin lightened her grip on Naruto's chest and smirked when she bent over and they were able to clink their headbands together for the first time. The sound was something she will never forget. "Next Hokage, coming up." She whispered as Naruto couldn't hide his excitement, even around the tree to try to pick up the three tails bijuu by his side pieces.

Of course, a new headband still couldn't give him the strength to be able to move the beast at all. He grunted in frustration and growled toward the beast. "You're too fat Isobu. We're going to put you on a diet." He kicked some dirt but didn't let it keep him down too long before running around the two exhausted adults. Iruka walked up the Rin as she let Isobu come to her and she leaned over to pick up the turtle as if he weighed nothing more than a piece of paper. Allowing him to hold the scroll for the sake of ease, Rin rested the turtle on her shoulder with the scroll being carried behind her as if it was attached to a backpack.

Iruka wasn't sure what he was looking at when he first saw the turtle, maybe not letting it click when it passed his eyes but when Rin got closer and allowed the teacher to examine the turtle even closer his eyes grew wider. He looked at the tails and Rin didn't even stop the male from counting them as her slight attention was messing the forest around them to try to show off his 'new' strength. Isobu kept his eye on the academy teacher, waiting and watching what might happen next. "Poor Kurama. Naruto isn't going to sleep for a week now." Letting out a happy sigh, she looked at the corner of her eye toward Iruka when he slightly gasped. "Three.." Rin put a finger to her lips and shushed as Naruto was too far away to hear them talk, but Rin didn't want to take the chance.

"Kohari and Ikkaku Umino," Rin spoke out two random names but two names that were the most important in Iruka's life. He frowned but wasn't sure where she was coming from when they were suddenly brought up. "I'm sorry we couldn't save your parents back then Iruka." She turned her head and followed Naruto's movements but Isobu still kept the teacher in his sites as flashbacks of that night played out for both of them. "The nine tails is a real bastard, but you should have seen his reaction when another bijuu was dropped on top of him. Oh, it was almost worth the horrible burning and pain that those bijuu blasts caused us." Rin's body buckled causing her to fall to her knees and clinch to her shoulder as if it suddenly caught on fire. She clinched it under Isobu's body and whimpered in pain, and the sudden drop caused Naruto to run their way with fear and shock pastured across his face.

"M-mom, what's wrong? What happened?!" Naruto questioned as both males had the same scared reaction to the whole situation. With some mistfil pants, she waved Naruto closer and pulled him in for another hug. "Just another attack, Naruto. Give me a second." She closed her eyes and shivered as invisible pain pulsated through her body. Isobu and Naruto refixed their position to comfort Rin as much as they could. "This happens sometimes. Not often, but it happens." Isobu saw the shock when the turtle spoke from the teacher, but also saw that Iruka didn't see anything when not even Naruto reacted to it.

"How does he not know..?" Iruka thought for a moment as little answer box's checked themself in his mind that connected the two jinchuurikis and not just connect with the Fourth Hokage. "Naruto, let's all three of us go out to ramen to celebrate tonight. Celebrate your finally passing your exam." Naruto gasped out and like Rin earlier, Iruka kept his hand on his chest to prevent from being pushed back onto the floor. Rin paced her breathing and managed to get through the horrible parts of her attack, finally getting back to her feet and giving a weak smile at how it all worked out. "I like the idea of that. We can return the scroll together and explain what happened to Hiruzen. Other Anbu black ops can come back for Mizuki..though.." She looked at him and Isobu shook his head. "Arrest, yeah." Isobu agreed with the idea.

"Third times charm. Three is a lucky number in our household." Rin ran her fingers over Isobu's chin and they all three slowly made their way back toward the village. "Yeah so lucky we have a pet turtle with a freaky deformity and three tails. Mom says it took her years to find him and he just never leaves now. It's her favorite thing." Naruto put his hands behind his head as he lead the way back to the village and Rin winked toward Iruka as that answered his last question for the duo. "Hey, kitsune," Rin called out causing Naruto to turn and look at his mom with a curious look. Smiling as they lagged. "I love you." This caused the blonde to grin widely at the words he hadn't heard in over a week. "I love you too, mom."

---

Watching this whole fiasco taking place from his weird crystal ball, the Third Hokage let out a triumphant grunt while walking to the gathering group of Jonin outside his office. "Naruto has been found and dealt with. The scroll is heading back this way as we speak. You may all go home and I thank you for your help." He spoke out as the group slowly dispersed with a good job congratulations went around.

A silver-haired jonin stepped up next to the Hokage and let out a sigh of relief. "I'm glad it worked out great for Rin. I don't think Naruto would have done any of this by himself." The jonin spoke out and Hiruzen gave a nod in agreement. "You are correct, Kakashi. It was Mizuki the whole time, I had a feeling that he was up to something, but could never prove it. I'm just glad Rin and Naruto have one less hurdle to deal with, but now it's your turn." Taking an inhale of his pipe, he watched as Kakashi turned to leave as well to get ready for the fun that was going to come in the next coming days.

Chapter Text

It took so long for three-tailed jinchuuriki to fully recover, from that little hide-and-go-seek stunt with her son, that it felt that she and Isobu needed a full winter's hibernation just to fully recoup. All that energy and chakra she had burned during the week-long mission plus the supply needed during her thorough search for nine-tailed jinchuuriki was easily refiled with plenty of healthy food and a whole 24 hours worth of sleep. The bad news was that the pay for that mission went straight into filling her and her son's never-ending stomach. Jinchuuriki needed to eat a lot to keep the energy reserves up for both them and their bijuus, however, with Isobu being unsealed it only took her even more food to feel full. It was as if she was pregnant at times with how much food she needed to eat just to keep from losing weight.

Rin had to ignore some comments from Naruto on possibly being related to the Akimichi clan with how much she ate when needing a good boost. She was even gracious enough to share a small bit of food with even her bijuu just so Isobu could enjoy the taste straight from the source instead of needing to rely on the input lag he normally deals with. Their food bill was a good reminder that she would probably never stop working just to keep food on the table, even if meant fishing for free than just simply buying what they wanted.

With Naruto now knowing his fate as a jinchuuriki, she was able to explain the reason for her huge appetite but told him that she skipped some meals just to make sure he had food first. Isobu would complain but understood it wasn't his place just to let his brother starve either. A hungry fox was an angry fox... If that was the case then Kurama was always hangry.

If it wasn't for Hiruzen giving her a little 'gift' pay when dealing with Iruka, Naruto, and even Mizuki, then the Uzumaki household would be completely broke for the next two weeks. She hadn't accepted that allowance that Hiruzen has offered time and time again for raising Naruto, something that she has been told comes from Minato and Kushina's old bank account, but she might need only a little bit of it to afford a nice surprise with her son and his other classmate: Sasuke Uchiha. That money was for when Naruto wanted to go off on his own, or if she were to die in some way and leave the jinchuuriki alone. Hopefully, it wouldn't be until Rin could tell him about his connection with the Fourth Hokage, but that wouldn't hopefully be for many, many years to come.

"We can always hunt for the meal. I know they both like fish and it would give us a break from the village for a few hours, yeah." Isobu offered his suggestion as Rin looked in the turtle-shaped wallet, taking inspiration from the one her son own but instead is a frog, she counted and zipped up the shell to close it completely. Rin looked around the three tails dimension and all the ninja gear she had stored in the huge place and even lifted her head to look up at the fully sized humongous bijuu that was laying only a few meters from her.

The three tails dimension was huge and an easy way to store Isobu, in his full true form, away without him needing to stay couped up in her body and chakra lines all day and get couped up. It wasn't much, but a great way to feel connected without needing to hide the fact that Isobu passed as a pet deformed summoning or pet in the real world. She was just lucky she was stuck with such a low-level bijuu instead of having to explain if he had more than three. Especially since the three tails were already pushing it.

"That is true. I will probably take you up on that offer later on, I just need to figure out the best time to sneak away. Or maybe even take Naruto with me and we can trick him into helping us surprise him and Sasuke..." Rin placed the turtle next to the pile and though a lot of stuff was with the dimension, it was all organized and spread out so that even Isobu could grab things with the ultimate care to give if needed in an emergency. "He'll probably turn me down if I straight up tell him it has something to do with Sasuke, so best wait till we're ready to eat to let him know." With a slight chortle, Rin popped out of the dimension with some mist settling around her and she sat on her bed to relax a little bit more in the peace and quiet that she could get with her son being out.

With her off for the day, Rin was able to longer sleeve, purple with black shuriken stars sewn in on the bottom, kimono that she has had for years. She loved that it covered her Chidori scars and was as itchy as the Anbu outfit could be if she wore it too long. But in this outfit it allowed her to fully relax, but be reactive if an emergency was called in the village.

Naruto had been stuck in his room all morning and seemed to be getting ready for his picture to be taken for the ninja world records. Something of great importance, used to represent Naruto as a ninja, show on missions, and ninja training. However, for some reason, the mother turned her back and found that he had snuck out for some reason without her even being able to see how he looked.

Well at least she got a goodbye 'I love you' call out before he disappeared, but better to leave on time in a hurry than be late for his picture.. at least he wasn't as late as Obito was, but Rin would have dragged the boy down there herself if was that late. However, she still wanted to give him a goodbye hug or at least be able to see him before he left as Rin understood that they were about to see each other less and less with him going on missions starting soon. Man, it made Rin miss spending time with her mother…

Putting her hands over her ears, Rin grumbled as they seemed to ring for a few seconds and she even sneezed. With a shake of her, the female rested her head underneath her pillow… " Ugh, I think someone is talking about me.."

That was actually what was happening when the famous Lord Hokage needed to use a tissue to clean up a sudden nosebleed caused by her rambunctious son. Hiruzen didn't expect the sudden appearance of the sexy jutsu brought on just because the jinchuuriki didn't take a mature enough ninja picture. "Naruto, what does your mother say to your sexy jutsu?" He questioned the nervous boy when ordered not to do that damn jutsu again. Naruto scratched the back of his head and chuckled slightly.

"Uh, well she says that at least I'm medically accurate with my transformations but I don't think she likes that I perform them at really bad times." Quoting his mother, Naruto looked to the side and couldn't think of a time it made her mad when saw them. Only a few when he did it completely in the middle of the public. If anything it made her feel self-conscious about her scars, but Naruto knew it was all in good fun. It kept him from doing it in public in front of or near Rin to help keep

"I agree with your mother. But I would just put a stop to it completely.. Like in front of your teacher. and me." Hiruzen let out a puff of smoke from his pipe to the whole ordeal and was grateful the boy seemed to take his advice with some heart. Or so it appeared. That was until the honorable grandson appeared and seemed to ruin their whole conversation about the photo retake and seriousness about the sexy jutsu. One failed attempt after another and this was the worst of them when the young boy just ended up face-planting straight onto his face after tripping over nothing in particular. The Hokage let out an annoyed and tired sigh. This was going to be a long day...

Either way, the meeting concluded with Naruto slipping out early while some annoying Jonin seemed to be freaking out over an even more annoying little brat. Even when trying his best to be good, Naruto is accused of tripping someone when he was just minding his own business and sitting in his chair like a good jinchuuriki.

The newly made genin was very happy he was able to teach some respect to the oh-so-important grandson of the Hokage, or whatever title he was bolstering about, but either way, the event was pushed out of his mind and he was quick to want to go home to see his mother. He couldn't wait to show her a copy of his genin picture! Naruto knew she was going to love and probably want to keep it for sure!

---

Feeling a small weight pressed upon her stomach, Rin lifted the pillow from her face and looked down to see Isobu had summoned himself to lay on her body. He didn't stay there long before simply hopping off the resting jinchuuriki and sliding off to do something in the apartment. While the jinchuuriki took a slight nap and waited for her son to return so they could go shopping or fishing, depending on the deals, Isobu just lurked around the apartment. The bijuu had free reign even when Naruto was home, but the door to Rin's room/kitchen and the one in his room allowed the young male to have alone time if needed and desired. The best way to keep the bijuu busy for hours was to fill the tub up in the apartment and just let him sleep in it for hours. Even if the water got cold, the bijuu didn't mind, but Rin was the one that ended up feeling the cold and cutting his playtime short.

Hearing the sliding move back into her bedroom, Rin tightened the hold on the pillow on her face to try to drown out Isobu's sliding sound but it was useless that this point. It wasn't like she had the energy to take a nap anyway, she had too much on her mind to simply sleep the whole day. Especially when she had a plan and was never the type of person to wait for someone unless she said they were coming. If that was the case growing up then she never would have let Obito be late for their meetings. And man were they ever late.

Isobu pulled himself toward the resting female and used his three tails to pull himself up back onto the bedside. Lifting the pillow with one of his spikey tails, Rin tilted her head toward the beast and peeked up her head when something in his mouth pulled her attention fully his way. The familiar shine in the low-lit room told Rin what the object was, but didn't explain why her bijuu had it in the first place. "What you have, turtle?" Pushing herself up at an angle, she reached over to grab the now-soaked headband from his beak and looked it over. It was newer than her own and even confirmed when she looked over at her sitting on the kitchen table. "You can't control that water chakra, can you Iso?" Lightly poking fun at the turtle, she had to ring out some extra moisture that dropped from the fabric, even fully needing to get out of bed and rush over to the sink so it didn't drip on her sheets anymore.

"Let's go train. Or something. We've relaxed enough." Though they could easily sleep for another full day, the duo were content with where they were health-wise and just needed something new to work towards. They didn't want to admit it, but feeling couped up was something that they both had an irrational fear of. Rin's unhealthy relationship with the hospital, the painful memories behind that place, and refusal to stay even when desperately needed was one; while Isobu had the matching fear of being resealed up behind those damn bars. They trusted each other to make sure neither had to go back to those places and so far it's worked great for each other, but they never had too much trust in their luck.

"How about breakfast, er.. lunch, and then training? I'm sure Naruto will be around soon, if not then he can catch up later and we can surprise him with a fishing trip. He'll love it either way." Placed the headband to dry in the sink, it wasn't damaged or anything, if anything it was now infused with powerful demonic water chakra… Naw...

It would dry by the time they got back and Rin might play with her son a bit for not putting it on before he left for his pictures, but either way, she had a plan for the day. The fun came with something cheap, filling but tasty they could eat for breakfast that didn't involve cooking. An idea popped into her head that would probably make her son a little jealous for not being able to get involved, but she can always get him a bowl to go. "What is the point of eating there if Naruto isn't going to be with us? I can hear the complaining now, yeah." The bijuu grumbled and watched his jinchuuriki tye her headband on her forehead to finish up the look to head out on the village.

"Yeah, and I can hear Q complaining that we eat there too often too. It's something that can add variety so it'll be okay. Besides it's nice to talk to someone who gets along with Naruto and doesn't treat him like trash. Teuchi is a good man and deserves our money… limited as it is." Fixing her kimono, Rin stepped to look at herself in the mirror in the bathroom before returning to her bijuu on the bed. "You know… you haven't spent much time out in the sun lately. Do you want to play pet today?" She leaned over and saw Isobu squint at that word, and though they hated that term when referring to anything dealing with the bijuu, along with monster, tool, or weapon, Isobu thought for a second. "Yeah.. sorry... How about this: do you want to get some good fish today on top of the fishing you can do later on?"

Isobu finally nodded when she sweetened the deal before Rin picked him up and made sure the bijuu looked like his normal self. His shell was much shinier and smoother than a few days ago and the rest and relaxation didn't just improve her look. Heading out the front door by cutting through Naruto's bedroom, Rin locked the door and headed toward the ramen shop for some breakfast. "I want some shrimp, too." Isobu spoke out not pushing his luck, but trying to add more to their already planned day and it was something small that Rin had to think about. "Mm..mmhm." Without speaking the jinchuuriki agreed to the small request. " And eel?" That request made Rin stop and shake her head in disgust. Okay, he couldn't get everything he wanted, but better to ask and be denied than never knowing in the long run.

---

After a few hours after the three-tailed duos had left the apartment, the nine-tailed duo seemed to return but not by themselves. "Mom, I'm home." Jiggling his keys in the front door, the blonde jinchuuriki turned around to see that the same brat from earlier was still on his heels, and yet somehow Naruto had fallen for the younger kid. Maybe sympathy, or just being bored and lonely, Naruto agreed to train the grandson of the third Hokage. The kid even had his fancy title of honorable grandson, but Naruto wouldn't be caught dead calling anyone honorable, especially if he didn't know them.

Pressing up to see inside the apartment with curiosity, but a huge sense of hurry, Konohamaru tried to push Naruto inside faster in fear of his teacher finding them if they didn't hurry. "H-hey, stop pushing me!" The jinchuuriki growled in annoyance, taking off his shoes to step onto the wood planks of the apartment. The younger male tried to follow but found that his long scarf had snagged onto the front door so it took him a few extra moments to get untied and allowed inside. "Augh, stupid scarf!" He complained as Naruto just headed inside to see Rin and show her his first official ninja picture! He was excited for her it seemed.

Turning left and into the kitchen/bedroom area, when Naruto heard no sounds coming from within the apartment, he wasn't surprised to see the room empty too. "She must have gotten called away. We won't be sticking around for long, Konohamaru. I just want to drop something off to show that I've been home so she doesn't worry as much." Taking the picture of his ninja pouch, he placed it on the kitchen table and moved the water steamer to make sure the kunoichi noticed the difference in the room. It would at least give her an idea to look at the table instead of hoping she did.

"Boss, your place is really small. And you live here with your mom?" Konohamaru said as he adjusted his scarf once it was free from the doorway. He followed behind Naruto and looked around at some of the basic furniture that he saw in the kitchen/bedroom setup. It was clear to see that this room wasn't meant to house a bed inside it, let alone a table, fridge, sink, and a few other obvious things to show that it was a kitchen first. "Yep, it's just been me and Mom for a while. She moved in some time ago and just never left." The way Naruto talked about his relationship with his mother made Konohamaru tilt his head in confusion. What did he mean she just never left?

Naruto walked over to the fridge and saw how lightly filled it was beside some milk, bread, a few pieces of various types of fruits, and some weird other medical stuff that his mother says needs to stay cold for some reason. There wasn't much in there to snack on so he just grabbed a piece of bread to snack on for the moment. They needed to go shopping, but he was too excited to think of what his mother will think of his picture to think of the future past that. He took some bites of the bread before holding it in his teeth to pick up some of her bedspreads and threw it back on top of Rin's bed, even looking down at the picture that sat on her small desk side table. Naruto used one hand to hold the bread piece while the other one picked up the picture frame.

"She must be out on an errand or something. I guess you can meet her later, but.." Taking another bite, Naruto motioned for Konohamaru to come closer and he pointed to the brunette with purple clan marks to show to the younger male. "Think this but much older and stronger." Konohamaru looked at the picture before looking at the blonde adult in it then towards Naruto a few times. "Uh, boss.. are you sure that isn't your dad? He looks just like you." Konohamaru questioned before Naruto finished his bread piece and squinted at the picture a few times to think for a moment. He honestly didn't see it.

"Mmm naw, I think that's the fourth Hokage if I remember my mom telling me that correctly. She was one of his students, too." Sounding so proud to have a mother who trained under the Fourth Hokage, he grinned when Konohamaru gasped and gawked at him at the amazing news. "Woah boss, that's amazing! So then.. does that make a grandson to the Forth Hokage then?" That title made Naruto even more confused and slightly angry too, so he was quick to put it back, respectfully, and just shook his head. "You made it weird. Let's go get working on more on the sexy jutsu or you'll never learn it at this rate!" Naruto pushed Konohamaru outside their apartment and locked the door before they took off to do some research.

Chapter Text

Losing track of time throughout the day, Rin and Isobu didn't even notice that hours had passed after getting too focused on their random training routine. It was only when the sun started to set that the jinchuuriki finally let out a small pant and had to hold her mouth open for a few moments. It felt like it was still on fire after using so many fireball jutsus to attempt to set Isobu on fire, not really what happened, but the sparring between the two kept their attention for too long. "It'll be amazing if I can taste anything that isn't spicy for tonight's meal.." She coughed a few times as well as a way to clear her chest from the smoke as well.

That jutsu was long but perfected many years ago, but it still messed with the female's mostly water chakra system. The fun part of being forcefully made into a jinchuuriki at an 'older' age and not having the best candidate chosen, was the clashing between her main fire chakra and the newly introduced demonic water chakra. She could still remember her whole system being out of whack for months when she first woke up, only her yin chakra seemed in tack for all that was worth when Rin couldn't even keep herself up long enough to make it work on others. The Chidori attack didn't help either with it taking out her main connections around her heart, but another reason she was very grateful for her bijuu partner. Without him, she couldn't do what she was doing now.

"Naruto is going to be worried about us if we don't go home soon Rin, yeah." Isobu broke the human transformation he had been using for hours to help his jinchuuriki with her hardcore training instead of just staying on the sidelines and sliding over toward the female. "Yeah, you're right. Might have gone too long, but we should research new things to test out. Maybe more fire jutsus? The fireball jutsu can only get us so far and good practice to strengthen my chakra and balance against yours." Picking up the bijuu, she wiped some dirt off his shell before he disappeared back into her body. The training area she had used was completely devastated as if a huge tracker came through and plowed everything over. On top of various water puddles and burns all over the other trees in the area, nothing was off limits it seemed. The only thing they didn't test on was the bijuu blasts and that was for another day and a lot more discretion.

Making her way out of the forested area, the jinchuuriki still panted out a few clouds of mist to try to coat her mouth with Isobu's chakra to help the healing process in her mouth. It wasn't a big deal but the limit was there and she passed it. Today was a great day and it was only going to get better when she could see her son and properly spend time with him. Fishing, Naruto, the bijuu, and herself spending dinner time together was always a great time for the jinchuuriki and she was going to enjoy what little time she could spend with the future Hokage.

"Hope you have enough energy to swim later, Isobu. It wouldn't be any fun if this little training tired you out." The comment made Isobu click his beak and look to the side while he took a little break in the three-tails dimension. With his arms tucked under his head, he closed both eyes and just shrugged. "You better be able to hold so much fish then. We might eat every fish in all of Konohagakure, yeah." While making her way out of the forested area, a loud commotion caught her attention. There wasn't a set path in the huge area, and yet she still somehow managed to stumble across a little rest area. Even with a snack vending machine. Note to self: scope out the area further away when training with bijuu.

Some more screams and shuffling of twigs and branches caused the female to not even question what the cause was. Just instantly she pulled out a kunai from her ninja pouch and jumped over toward the source of the yelling. Sounded like two males, but one sounded familiar for some reason. A flash of bright orange caught her attention before anything else and just made the female sigh again… Naruto… What happened now..? And was.. was that Asuma's nephew?

Jumping down in front of the two running boys, she looked down at them with a curious smile only for Naruto to gasp and grin back at her. "M-mom! Quick Konohamaru, this way." Hearing that ancient name confirmed Rin's suspension of who the little boy was but didn't answer why or what they were running from. They both attempted to shove past Rin but when they found her almost impossible to move they just did a circle to run around her themselves. The push caused Rin to grumble as she could have easily picked both boys up to make them stop and slow down, but didn't want to truly stop their fun especially if Naruto made a friend with the young Saratobi.

"Mom, you gotta hide us. There is a guy who is coming after Konohamaru and me and all I did was teach him the sexy jutsu. Please!" The blonde jinchuuriki pleaded as Rin looked behind her from the corner of her eye and saw the slight fear in them before turning to look at the other younger male behind her. "Hello, Konohamaru. Long time no see." She stepped away from them when she felt that they were both leaning on her and they almost fell over from her moving. "Sexy jutsu? Oh no.." Her eyes fell upon the younger male who was hopping from place to place as he couldn't hide his nerves as easily as Naruto.

"Yeah, hello lady. Hide us!" Rin snorted at Konohamaru's rushing and slightly ordering tone but she just gave a nod to both their pleas. "As you wish, Lord Hiruzen." With a full-on bow to show her respect, she snapped her fingers and slammed her hands down upon their heads to send them into the three tails dimensional plan. Her tone was planned with the younger student, but her mind kept repeating the jutsu that he had just been taught. " Lord Third is going to kill me for this… Isobu. Make yourself decent, we have company heading your way."

Rin warned her bijuu at a moment's notice to which the bijuu parted his eye as both males suddenly popped into his dimension. Even thinking for a moment that they could come up with an easy excuse as to why he was that big. Summonings come this big, like that tasty slug or asshole snake and frog (toad) but knew this wasn't the time to push their lies even further. especially when Naruto only just found out about him being a jinchuuriki. "Great, yeah. I love babysitting.." Being sarcastic, Naruto and Konohamaru were almost blown over by the huge gust of mist Isobu created when he shrunk down to the normal size that Naruto was used to seeing.

"Augh! What the hell?" Konohamaru was thrown onto his chin from the sudden blast and Naruto had to stiffen his body to prevent it from being thrown over. Some of Rin's ninja tools were displaced but not as far as the two kids were. The sound of rolling Brought their attention to the small pet turtle as he rolled up beside Naruto and lifted his head to look at the two. "What are you doing here, Naruto?" Finally able to get to his feet and rub his elbow from landing on it, the young male grumbled about this whole thing and was confused for not even knowing where he was. The fact that the turtle could talk threw Konohamaru off more than he would have liked to admit.

Konohamaru flinched away from the ugly beast and took a few steps away, only to lean over and squint at it. "What's with the ugly thing? Ew, it's all spikey." The name-calling caused Isobu to glare his eye and sway his tails in annoyance, even hiss in reply. Naruto pulled Konohamaru away from Isobu by the collar of his shirt and grumbled softly at how quick the kid was to piss off his mother's favorite thing in the whole world, besides himself. The younger boy struggled from the sudden movement and staggered his feet to make sure he stayed standing. "Don't. Don't start with the turtle. He's… old.." Naruto whispered to the younger boy as Konohamaru watched the turtle glare their way and even click his beak a few times toward the two. "Naruto.." With a softer hiss, the beast lowered his head and just kept imagining what his brother would say in this situation.

"H-hey, Isobu. Just trying to hide from someone. No need to worry. It shouldn't be too long before we are out of here." Naruto sounded so conflicted and worried for some reason, but Isobu turned to start cleaning up some of the piles of Rin's stuff that had blown over. He didn't say anything in reaction to the kids being there, but Naruto waved for Konohamaru to help clean up and chose a few kunai that had fallen past the turtle. The nine-tailed jinchuuriki walked by Isobu, and the turtle turned to look at the side of Naruto with a deadpan look.

"Sexy jutsu, huh? Nice training fox, yeah." Whispering ever so softly, Isobu made sure to whisper so quietly that Naruto wasn't even sure that he was being spoken to, even fully turning around to look at the turtle in his eye. "Mm, did you say something Isobu?" The blonde questioned as he reached down and scratched his stomach as it started to heat up for some reason. Isobu sensed a small surge of different chakra that quickly dissolved with the Uzumaki chakra, but it didn't seem to affect Naruto all that much. " I said be careful, yeah. And good work training on the sexy jutsu.." He corrected himself and used his three long tails to fix the piles.

Meanwhile, the nine-tailed fox could sense the sarcasm coming from the three-tailed bijuu and bared his fangs. Kurama was jealous of his brother's freedom, but the comment made him growl in annoyance as well. It's not like he could control what the boy did, but one day he was going to be free and then there wouldn't be any more need for this pathetic host. He might get rid of his brother altogether if it came down to it. "Fuck you, sanbi.." Resting his head in his arms, he went back to patiently waiting but just added it to his list of revenge for later.

—
Back on the other side of the dimension, Rin clapped her hands together to clear them off before waiting for what or who could be chasing the boys. Removing her headband, holding it in her teeth, the jinchuuriki fixed her hair from being messed up from the hard training only for her to suddenly need to shimmy to the side of an incoming attack from above her. Rin watched in slow motion as an older male tried kicking her way, but she was able to move out of the way right as the connection was about to be made. Blinking toward the action, she turned to see the male needing to quickly pivot to keep from crashing into a tree when the kick failed to hit.

Not recognizing the Jonin male straight off the bat, the female watches him in confusion as she readjusted the headband back on her head. "Hey, what -" She was about to ask what issue the slightly familiar male had with her son and the Hokage's grandson until the male fixed his glasses and seemed to smirk at her. It was clear to see that the man was at the end of his rope with no more patience to deal with Naruto or even Konohamaru running away from him all day. He had his eyes pointed straight at Rin."What a ridiculous-looking transformation, you riff-raff! I can't believe you were able to twist the honorable grandson with your perverted ways, but luckily it's still early. I can still save him and teach him with my mighty elite skills. I've had enough of your games!" The cocky manner the male was coming off made Rin even more confused and even looked down at her clothes. Ridiculous looking?.

"And whose headband did you steal to perfect your look? Almost looks like the real thing." Standing in a fighting manner, the Jonin held a hand out toward Rin as if ready to fight her, but the female was just confused about the whole situation. Did this Jonin-level guy try to attack her? And even worse is that if he thought of her as her son, then he tried to use the skills and training of a jonin to attack a newly made genin... That realization only angered the mother jinchuuriki even further. "And what possible skills do you think you have that could teach Konohamaru?" She questioned as she rubbed her neck to get the blood flowing. Who knew the training skills would be used so early?

"Psh, as if someone on your level would understand power and finesse if it hit you in the face." The male smirked as he took a few steps towards Rin and she just fixed her headband one more time to make sure it didn't fall off this whole time. "Uh-huh. Yeah, so I'm warning you. You don't want this fight, whoever you are. You won't win and I don't think Lord Hiruzen would like you trying to fight me either." Giving a clear warning, the female stepped again out of the way of a thrown punch. The male clicked his teeth in annoyance and tried to rebalance himself rather quickly. Rin wasn't sure if she should just play dodge and defend like Isobu's powers were meant for, or try to use some of the taijutsu skills that Maito taught her. Either way, it would be justified if she explained why she crippled the man.

"How dare you say the Third Hokage's first name in such a casual way! You will never be able on his level to be able to talk so disrespectfully about him so never say it again!" Another throw and another dodge, until Rin got fed up and bored to keep this whole charade going. "Listen, sir. I don't know who you are, but I don't think you know who you are talking to. And.. by the way.." Grabbing the male's hand straight into her palm, she had to ignore the sensation of wanting to use her coral powers but simply pulled down to bring the male down to her level. "If only think I'm Naruto, then you need to work on your detection skills." The male grunted in pain and discomfort when he was forced to stand at an angle, with one leg bent, to look at the female through the top of his glasses as the angle caused them to almost fall off his face.

"A-ah….I can see that I've made a big mistake, ma'am. I'm sorry to have attacked like that. I-I thought you were that nuisance Naruto." Hearing those words, she tightened her grip on his hand causing it to pop as if cracking his knuckles, no harm no foul, but it did cause Ebisu to gasp and freak even more. "I'm sorry! Please don't hurt me! I need to stop Naruto from twisting the honorable grandson even further so I'm in a hurry. Please have a heart, miss!" Ebisu pleaded and cried for his safety in a way and Rin just let out a mistfil sigh as the pleading just annoyed her a lot less than him insulting her son. Having a heart made the whole thing even more amusing since hers wasn't exactly like everyone else's after the Chidori attack, but she ignored that part.

"Next time, try not to just assume that someone is a transformation.. that was just rude.." Pushing, or well throwing the jonin by his hand, Ebisu found himself almost pushed 180 in the air but managed to right himself to be back on his feet. He held his hand as if it was completely broken but Rin just made it a little sore. It would be fine later on. She wiped her hand on her kimono as if Ebisu had germs or something. "Again, I'm so sorry Miss. I need to find where that runt went before it gets too late.."

The jonin rubbed his hand a few times as he watched her narrow her eyes still in anger. "Maybe..". Rin started to talk, and Ebisu looked back at her with some more determination to find his student until they both had their attention turned behind the female. The two young boys were forced out of the three-tails dimension and went flying onto their butts behind Rin. The two adults looked back and Ebisu had the biggest gasp when he noticed who it was, even pointing and even gawking toward the older female when he noticed who the kids were. "H-hey! You tricked me!" He growled out as Ebisu took a few steps toward the two fallen boys and Rin just let out a defeated sigh.

"Never again, yeah. Not here.. ever.." Not having time to sneak into the dimension to try to understand what happened, Rin could only tell that Isobu was pissed and didn't have a clear answer as to why. "No foxes, no children. Only us in here, Rin. It was all organized and they wouldn't listen and stop touching things.." The bijuu had to go back through to reorganize a lot of the tools they used to do their jobs and keep themselves alive, so besides a small snort from Rin his the bijuu was acting, she could understand where Isobu was coming from.

Inside their mindscape, on a different plane than the dimension, it was a place where Isobu never had to worry about changing his size or anything of the sort. Only the two had access and was their safe space to voice any concerns. "You're the best bijuu in the world, Isobu." She ran her hands over the bijuu's head and then returned her attention to the real world.

………….

Naruto shook his head as he had to take a few moments to connect that they were no longer in his mother's misty dimension hiding place. He didn't understand what or how she made it, but it always left him feeling so strange whenever they used it and luckily for him, it was a very rare occurrence. "What the heck was that about?" With his hand on his head and rubbing the side of his face a few times, before looking up at the approaching Jonin, Naruto looked over at the twitching underling. "O-ow.. that turtle can kick people. Amazing with no legs.." Konohamaru sat up and rubbed his lower back as the younger boy slid on the ground on his back when they were pushed out of the weird place.

Ebisu stood above the two kids and crossed his arms over his chest with a smirk, looking down at the two children as they were finally caught again. "Nowhere to run now, you delinquent. I don't know how you managed to hide behind this lady's back like that. But because of you, I almost had my hand broken by her!" He grumbled out, ready to teach Naruto a lesson that would make it so that Konohamaru might find some truth in what the Jonin was saying.

Konohamaru chuckled very nervously and Naruto's eyes just glared slightly at the cocky Jonin. "You're lucky that's all she did to you, pal. Especially to a pervert like you, Mom should have ripped off your hands and beat you with them." Ebisu stood up as his brain slowly processed what was said to him and he turned his head to see that Rin had registered that her son said that this strange man was a pervert. She didn't know what kind of pervert this man could be, even remembering him saying something about Naruto's way of being perverse as well, but again trusted her son more than everyone in her life.

"M-mother.. you say?" His brown eyes grew wider as he could feel some powerful chakra coming from the very same female behind him. Everyone knew about the nine-tailed fox, and people knew of the strange female who took care of him, but not a lot of people could ever tell who she was right off the street. The village had so many people living in it and unless you saw them in public together, knew Naruto more personally, or did your research, a lot of people couldn't tell you what his mother looked like next to other villagers. Rin was a secret person, and she was going to keep it that way.

"Rin.. long time no see." Turning fully around, Rin crossed her arms across her chest and squinted toward the ever-powerful Jonin. "Konohamaru, Naruto. Come here please." She tilted her head to motion for them to get off the ground and come her way. Ebisu almost tried to stop Konohamaru from moving but Rin just shook her head at any movements the teacher made so he just stood there not moving an inch. He understood the risks that came with taking on an anbu black ops member and wasn't willing to risk it just to prove a point. He could see this as a 'don't challenge a mother bear or go after her cub' learning moment.

Both younger males got to their feet, giving Ebisu a wide birth, and ran up to hide behind Rin to which Rin just looked down calmly at both of them and let out a small sigh to show she had calmed down when Naruto was close enough to her to have that effect. "Konohamaru, who is this guy to you?" She questioned tilting her head down to look at the young Sarutobi member while he just looked at how annoyed but nervous Ebisu was. And just like a cocky adult to answer for the kid, even when no one wants to hear them talk.

"Why, Rin, don't you recognize me? From Team Choza? I'm the trainer of the future Hokage and the most trusted trainer of the honorable grandson." Ebisu smirked rather proudly of his title and Rin turned her attention from the younger boy to his teacher. "Oh, right. Ebisu. It has been a long time since I've seen you. I deal more with Maito nowadays." Both Konohamaru and Naruto looked at each other confused about how the two knew each other as they both listed off names of people the two kids didn't know. "Are you sure she can help us?" Konohamaru questioned and Naruto just nodded his head like a crazy guy. "Trust me, my mom is the best person to take down anyone who goes against us. Lightening up her stance since she was in the presence of a 'friend', it didn't mean he was off the hook by a long shot, but it made it easier for Rin to assess what was going on. She lowered her arms, moved to stand next to Naruto, and leaned over.

"What happened, my little kit?" Whispering to the boy, she even motioned for Konohamaru to get closer and listened to the story of Ebisu harassing the boys all day and even falling hard for Naruto's sexy jutsu. Hard enough that he had passed out but chased after the boys to maybe keep it a secret or something, they weren't sure. As they talked to Rin, Ebisu started to get more nervous as time went on, hoping that he wouldn't get his butt kicked from whatever they were saying. "W-whatever they are saying, Rin, they are lying!" He pleaded, only to watch Rin rub her cheek against Naruto's whiskered cheek and pat Konohamaru on the head. Both boys grumbled from the affection but all three turned to look at nervous Ebisu.

"Ebisu, you should thank Konohamaru for stopping me from teaching you some manners in how you talked about my son." Ebisu straightened up even further than before and swallowed nervously as Rin kept talking. "From the way it sounds, Naruto taught Konohamaru a very valuable jutsu. His very first one I'm assuming?" Rin looked down at Konohamaru who nodded in agreement and watched as Rin started to walk up closer to Ebisu. "You might be elite, Ebisu, and you might be very knowledgeable, but remember that title isn't everything. Just like knowledge isn't everything to being a ninja. Hard work and perseverance are both skills that truly make a ninja strive to become Hokage. Besides.." A smile grew on her face and she chortled softly to the whole deal. "Like a pervert to fall for something like that. They said it embolized you for a bit. For a perverse jutsu, it seemed to have some power to make even you fall. Are you worried that Konohamaru might try that little stunt on you to get his way?"

Naruto and Konohamaru grinned rather mischievously at the way Rin was talking to Ebisu only for Rin to rub her fingers along her shoulder. "Hmmp, at least I have my plans for when I'm given a team to work with. Konohamaru will become Hokage, and I'll make sure he gets there quickly and easily!" Ebisu spoke up causing Rin to frown with ideas for the future. She let out a soft sigh as she rubbed along the Chidori scars through the fabric of her kimono and remembered some of the things Obito went through for his dream to become Hokage. "You might be the trainer of the sixth Hokage. Maybe.." She winked one of her eyes to grin toward Konohamaru, trying to match her son's witty excitement that he always seems to have no matter the challenge placed in front of him.

Konohamaru ran between Rin and Ebisu and put his foot down. "I don't want to take the easy way! Boss said there is no easy way to become Hokage so I want to do it the right way. Not the easy way. I plan on taking out the Fifth Hokage and I'll take my place as the Sixth!" Shouting out his dream, Rin nodded her head in agreement while Ebisu just grumbled and nodded as well to that idea. "Boss?" Rin whispered to which Naruto just sheepishly laughed slightly at the title. "Hey, what can I say, we're rivals now."

"We'll talk about this later, honorable grandson. And Naruto don't think I'm letting you off the hook so easily for this." Ebisu fixed his glasses and proceeded to jump away from the group to which Rin grumbled. "Ebisu! I'm warning you I will send Maito after you if you come after my son again. He will teach you the true power of youth." The threat echoed through the forested area and caused Ebisu to frown at the idea of having his teammate try to kick his butt. He didn't know what their relationship was, but could only guess that they were closer than Ebisu was with Gai. "Hmmp, next Hokage indeed."

Konohamaru turned to look at Naruto leaning on his mother's shoulder and grinned as she looked back at him with an innocent smile. "I can't wait to show you my ninja picture, Mom. I look so badass. Iruka sensei says I should retake it, even old man Hokage but I think I'll keep it." He giggled and Rin used her free hand to pat the boy on the head. "Well, I think we need to go fishing for dinner before we head home, kit. I have a snack for you, but won't be enough to fill us both for dinner. So we fish then head home." Rin saw Naruto thinking of what they had planned and took steps back to stretch his muscles. He planned to use so many shadow clones that he was going to put Isobu out of the fishing business forever.

"Konohamaru, it was great seeing you by the way." Rin leaned over to get a better look at the young boy and smiled softly at him. He looked so much like his uncle, it was amazing. The jinchuuriki just hoped that he didn't grow up to be the same level of smoker as his uncle. "Hey, Mom? Why don't you call him honorable grandson like everyone else does?" Naruto questioned as Rin reached into the sleeve of her kimono to pull out something from her three-tailed dimension only for it to turn out to be a kunai. She tried a few more times before grumbling in defeat and needing to beg Isobu to grab what she needed. The boys did mess with her organized areas…

Holding out two lollipops, Konohamaru snatched it from her hands and Naruto growled at the disrespect, even from his rival before starting to eat on his own. "Well, protecting his grandfather is one of my main jobs in life. And so I do think it'd be very annoying to call Lord Hiruzen, honorable Hokage every time. Besides… I'm close with his uncle and I don't ever hear that nickname being brought up about him." Konohamaru stopped sucking on the pop to listen to her speak, before turning to leave as well. "I'll tell my uncle about meeting you, Miss Rin. I'll catch you around Naruto, and try not to get too far ahead in your ninja lessons. I'll catch up with you soon!" They both watched Konohamaru walk away to head home, while the two jinchuurikis chose to find a quiet place to fish.

With a casual shrug, as she prepared to summon Isobu out to do the fishing against her son, Rin looked to the sky and thought for another moment about the future she might have planned.

Jonins get their team, but was she even the right person to teach anyone anything? She barely even taught Naruto anything as he was a very stubborn boy who rarely ever wanted help with learning anything. Training together and spending time together, but Naruto never wanted it to feel like Rin was holding his hand… What type of skills could she pass on besides being a variable tool for Konohagakure?

"Tomorrow you start life as a genin. I'm just curious who will be on your team, my kitsune." She gave him a loving push and laughed softly when he tried to push her back, leading to the two running off toward the river.

"Naruto being the next Hokage would be amazing, Minato-sensei, then his face could be next to yours. Like a family photo of sorts. If only you could see your little boy all grown up."

Chapter Text

Sitting upon the river bank they chose to fish from, Rin watched as Isobu was able to use his water chakra and abilities to quickly get fish left and right, but it was funny to watch her son trying to keep up with the use of his shadow clones Rin sat with her feet in the river, allowing the cool nature of the water wash all her issues and fears away and truly just enjoy the time with her son and bijuu, and even with his bijuu. Though she doubted Kurama was enjoying as much within the little caged seal he had, Rin could imagine it being much better than the type of seal that Kushina had him in.

The three-tailed jinchuuriki watched her son's clothes to make sure they didn't get wet while in the river so he just fished in his green and orange boxers. Rin didn't care if she got wet, her outfit would dry but she didn't want her son's only orange jacket, pants, and ninja gear to be ruined for the special day tomorrow. Isobu barely made a splash as the fish seemed to become swallowed up by his never-ending mouth, while Naruto's shadow clones seemed to be scaring all the fish toward the turtle so not exactly helping anyone but who he was facing. "Aughh! Stupid fish! Come back here so we can eat you tonight!" Naruto growled out as he summoned two clones to dive headfirst, deep into the water and attempt to grab the slimy beasts in his hands.

"Isobu, try not to win too much. Need to save some fish for Naruto to catch." Screaming out, Rin watched as Isobu disappeared into the knee-deep water and seemingly disappeared completely from her view, but their connections allowed her to know exactly where he was. She turned her head toward the group Naruto and watched as Isobu snuck up slowly to steal a fish right in front of both Naruto and his three clones. "Huh?" Questioning where the fish had gone, Naruto growled when he saw Isobu's face breach the water in front of him with the three fish squirming in his beak.

"What's wrong? Foxes not made for water, yeah?" Though coming off as a joke, Isobu turned quickly to splash at the fox jinchuuriki causing the three to turn their attention from the fish and toward the turtle. The turtle was quick to dive back underwater to get out of the way as there was no way a simple genin could catch him in his element, but it had been a while since the family could just go out and have fun. Those times were going to become very rare with Naruto becoming a genin now, but it only made things more special. And even better whenever Naruto discovers how to get along with his bijuu, however long that might take.

"You bastard! Now you are going to be on the menu!" One of the clones growled out as they all three dove after him, only leading to them smacking each other face-first into each other. Rin frowned a bit at the joke Isobu made about calling Naruto a fox of sorts and pushed off the river bank to get to her feet. "Come on guys, let's go home. It's getting late and we still need to cook them.." Kicking her feet a few times, Rin stepped on top of the water and walked over to pick Isobu up straight from the surface once he was far enough away from the loudmouth blonde. Naruto grumbled as he kicked his legs to head closer to the shore and stared at the bijuu while trying to be a little sneaky as well.

"I'll get you one day Isobu. You'll pay for taking those fish from me." Naruto grumbled, but Rin just walked up to him and squatted down to be his level while he stood in the actual water. "And one day you'll be able to walk on water just like me. And just like this jutsu. You will not be doing anything today, little kit. So come on." Coming off with a smile, she jumped back on shore with Isobu in her arms and let him drip dry a bit before placing him back on the ground. It was all fun until a Naruto clone jumped a bit away from the two and caused a wave to splash over the three-tailed duo, even enough to get Naruto's jacket wet.

Rin let out a gasp as her kimono was soaked and grumbled as she rang out a bit of her kimono to dry it a bit. "Oh, you are getting it later, mister." She warned in a playful tone as Isobu just gave a little shake and was already much drier than Rin could be for a long time. The benefits of scales versus clothes. She even reached over to pick up his jacket from the floor and rang it out the best she could when Naruto finally joined them at the bank. Rin's eyes looked down at the younger jinchuuriki's bare stomach and stared at it for a moment before they all three headed home with Isobu returning into the dimension for temporary travel.

—

"Hey, mom…" Naruto spoke up after the two had made it inside and was changed into relaxing/sleeping clothes as Rin started cooking food for dinner. Sitting on Rin's bed while Isobu sat on the tabletop and they both watched her cook, using their medical knowledge to make precision cuts and debone the fish like a master. "Hey, kit." The mother jinchuuriki repeated to the younger jinchuuriki as she stirred the food and counted in her head how many fish they were able to catch, plus how long they would last.

The bijuu held Naruto's picture in his hand and couldn't make heads or tails of what he was looking at. He knew it was Naruto, but the art style was too weird for the bijuu's liking and this was a creature that could create coral out of thin air. The white and red were a nice contrast and even Rin thought it was a strange thing to do for a very official picture, but the jinchuuriki said nothing but good things when she saw it. "Careful with that. It's hard to get pictures these days with all of us, so let's not damage the first thing he got as a genin. Well, the first thing I can keep anyway."

Rin gave the bijuu a sideways glance and Isobu just squinted back in annoyance but agreed not to do anything to the picture. They both wished it was just a normal picture, but even Isobu barely ever saw a picture of Rin when she was little. They only had that one team picture and it didn't show her full body.. "Fine, but he should take another, yeah. And enough with the paint." Isobu placed it down on the tabletop before turning to look at the thinking male jinchuuriki. The paint comment made Rin laugh through a short breath and gave a sharp nod to that idea. "Agreed."

Naruto looked between the two beings and thought hard about the question that's been on his mind for a little bit. "Do you call me kitsune because of the fox demon inside me?" He questioned out of nowhere, causing Rin to turn her full focus on him with bigger eyes. Even Isobu squinted his eye in a suspicious tone, not even thinking of what caused this. It wasn't like it was a very hidden or hard fact to connect the two reasons, but it was still shocking to hear it out of nowhere. "What.. what happened to bring this up?" She questioned as she stirred a little wider than before, even turning the heat off as the food was almost done and just needed to cool. Fish and rice with plenty of leftovers for lunch for her son's special day.

When all the boy did was shrug and look at her with an innocent tilt of his head with her pillow resting on his lap, Rin thought for a second about how to explain it and gave a few nods to his question. "Well, hm. yeah, I suppose so. It was one of those things that just happened when you were a baby and stuck ever since. I guess I tried to be clever in my way, and whiskers seemed to fit for a time if you remember. I just liked the name I gave you growing up.." She would never outright change the name he was given by his beloved parents and her beloved sensei, but she felt closer to both jinchuuriki and bijuu by giving him the nickname.

Pulling out the serving plates, she set up some servings for the two of them on the table, around the bijuu, and picked up the picture. She ran her fingers over Isobu's spikey head while glancing at the graduation picture a few more times, pocketing it in their dimension, and walked over to stand in front of the sitting jinchuuriki. She looked down at him and held her arms over her chest in a relaxing manner. Naruto thought for a moment of when she used to call him Whiskers before he finally found out who Rin truly was, but it didn't settle his heart like her first nickname for him.

"Why didn't you tell me earlier that the fox demon was inside me? The same one that killed my parents..? That killed your sensei.." Not knowing where this was coming from, Rin could only blame Isobu for bringing up foxes in the first place, but this was a talk they had been meaning to have for a while Rin guessed. She let out a sigh and reached up to scratch her shoulder. Within Naruto's seal, the nine-tailed fox lifted his head to listen to the jinchuuriki's answer. Not like he cared, but she wasn't like other people. "Well, Naruto, I didn't want you to think that I only raised you because of the fox bijuu." That answer caused Kurama to grumble a bit, knowing that was the only reason she chose to raise his pathetic jinchuuriki. That and the connection with his pathetic brother was all the reason.

Rin scooted in to sit next to Naruto on the bed and wrapped her arm around his shoulders so he could rest his head on her chest. "Like I told you before, my little kit, if Mizuki hadn't told you I was planning on it either way. Probably would have come out a lot more pleasant than coming from that bastard."

Squeezing him, Naruto closed his eyes and thought for a few moments. "It was also for your safety, Naruto. Jinchuuriki and bijuu feed off each other's emotions, the Hokage didn't want someone to take advantage of you or try to manipulate you into releasing some of Kyuubi's chakra by making you angry or something.." There was so much to say, but so little time and energy to say it. So much had happened in the past week that Rin wasn't sure if there was a limit on what she could or should say anymore. Especially about Isobu…

Rubbing her nose against the blonde freshly washed hair, Rin blew some air into it causing Naruto to reach his hand up and hold it down so it doesn't get too out of control. "Do you think it would have happened with Mizuki? That I would have lost control like that?" He questioned as he leaned forward to fix his hair flatter than before. Though he was full of wonder and questions, he couldn't hide the stomach growl that came from not eating much all day. The growl caused Rin to chortle slightly and pulled the boy into one arm hug with a smile.

"No, not my stubborn kitsune. He wouldn't let something as small as the nine tails and some bad news give up total control to the fox. We are talking about the same Naruto Uzumaki who perfected a Kage-level jutsu in a few hours like it was nothing? And all by himself?" Planting a kiss on his cheek, the blonde grumbled from the kisses and tried to pull away only for Rin to laugh softly some more. "Now where is my little Naruto who is going to be the next Hokage? The leaf village mighty hero in the future, huh?" Rin questioned and Naruto let out a sigh but also grinned wide afterwards.

"He's right here, Mom! Fox or not I'm never going to give up on my dream!" He pumped his arms and she finally let go so he could run to eat some food when he saw Isobu eyeing his fish on his plate."Hey! Turtle leave my food alone! You have already eaten enough! And I wasn't lying about that diet, you know!" Naruto screamed out only for Rin to say a name suddenly that didn't quite catch in the blonde jinchuuriki's brain but caught on to his inner baggage. "Kurama.." She spoke up and quickly turned her head to look as if she hadn't just said anything. "Hm?... what did you say, Mom?"

Rin pushed off the wall to join up next to the table and Isobu just squinted his eye, rather wary of what he just heard. The fox bijuu caught on to his name being called and just glared through the bars at what she could want. "What? Huh? Did you hear something? I don't know what you're talking about." She lied and pulled out some chopsticks, even snapping a bit at Naruto's food as if threatening to feed the fish to Isobu if he isn't quick enough. The lack of a reply from the adult jinchuuriki caused Kurama to growl in annoyance. Just because his name is said, does not mean that earns her browny points. Especially when he was still angered at having a fat turtle thrown on top of him and that was thirteen years ago.

"Now, what do I say about eating food?" Rin questioned as they both took their seat and Isobu just looked as if he was sleeping for the moment. "A full body is a happy body," Naruto said as their way of praying. "Thank you for the food." She added before taking a bite out of her still-warmed food. "And ramen does not count as food for every meal, Naruto." she snapped the chopsticks toward him and he just grumbled in agreement, but still slowly ate the green onions and broccoli she hid in the rice for him to eat. Some variety wouldn't kill someone as young Naruto, but Rin learned the hard way of not taking care of her body growing up so tries to not make that mistake with her son.

After a few moments of silence, Rin bit the end of her chopsticks and looked toward Isobu. "My little kitsune, just.. bide your time a bit longer, okay. You'll have your dream fulfilled and it won't be easy, but I think we can always have what we want when you finally become Hokage, okay?" Just like the question earlier, Naruto wasn't sure why she brought this up and had to swallow his delicious food to even speak in response. "Um, thanks, mom. I know there is no shortcut to being Hokage, but I promise I'll never give up on you or the village!" She tilted her head and rested her head on her hand, staring longingly toward the jinchuuriki as he kept eating. "And I promise to be here for you every step of the way, helping out any way I can."

"I love you."
"I love you too, mom."

Kurama growled at what she just said. The fox understood what she was talking about and knew what she was trying to do. Manipulate the fox into obeying her stupid son and allow them to become friends. That move wasn't going to work on the fox, not like it worked on Isobu, and the fox wasn't going to stop hating humans just because she made sure to take care of his host. Baring his teeth, he turned his head in annoyance as he still had no power within the seal to do anything, but still bid his time for his release.

Soon. Someday soon.

"I don't think that worked.."
"I know.."

Chapter Text

Today was the day.

The magical day of the nine-tailed jinchuuriki started life as a full-fledged ninja and gained the title of a genin. Just another step closer to fulfilling his dream to become Hokage and everyone will notice him and stop looking down on him. His only true supporter and safety net in the world and Naruto wasn't sure how to make her truly proud besides doing his best. The three-tailed jinchuuriki always voiced her feelings for the nine-tailed jinchuuriki and never let him feel as if he wasn't loved by her. She never wanted him to change and tried to use his destructive energy on more beneficial tasks like helping the elderly, but sadly they never wanted his help.

With a gentle knock on the kitchen/Rin's bedroom, the nine-tailed jinchuuriki cracked the door. "Hey Mom, can I come in?" The reason he needed to go into the kitchen was for the most important meal the two tried to share as often together as they could, breakfast. "Yeah, come on in Naruto. I'm glad you're already awake. Wouldn't want you to sleep in on such an important day." The excitement flowed off the mother jinchuuriki and she fixed her black gloves on both hands.

A delicious smell of cooked eggs and toast swirled around from the door as Naruto opened it further, and was a welcoming aroma so early in the morning that it started the blonde to start drooling. "Come get your breakfast, kitsune, I'm almost ready for work." There was no sense of urgency this morning and it was nice and calm around the home. "You've been busy these past few days, Mom. Cooking dinner and breakfast? I could get used to this." Naruto walked down the hallway to see the turtle laying on top of her freshly made bed and just stared at him for a few moments as if watching the young boy, but it wasn't hard to know who he was watching. It was always watching him for some reason, though Naruto could never figure out why.

Letting out a small chortle, the female made sure the gloves were completely right and comfortable before clicking the armor cuffs on her wrists. "Well, I love to spoil you when I can, you know. It's rare, but I try. I had to use the time I was given to the best of my ability. At least we got to spend more time together." The sounds of Velcro were heard a few times and it was a normal routine for the jinchuuriki to need to readjust her shoulder straps a few times to keep them from running her skin raw. She hated the vest and her mind went to what her beloved teammate, and friends, now wore as Jonin as she was stuck with the same old Anbu vest.

While Rin walked up to her bijuu and leaned over a bit to look at him, using him as a mirror of sorts but also a way to make sure the turtle was doing okay, Naruto walked in to take a seat at the table to start eating a bit of his toast by pulling off a corner of it underneath the egg. He seemed down and a bit fidgety from what the bijuu could see, but at least he was eating.

Isobu lifted his tails and pushed some hair behind Rin's ear, but also took and pushed her headband down to mess the whole thing up, causing Rin to grumble and Isobu to hiss playfully. "Hmmp, nice work turtle.." She wanted to chew him out a bit more, but they have time. As she fixed her headband, she quickly used one hand to lift a pillow and throw it over the bijuu's spiky head to playfully get back at him and turned toward Naruto when he called out to her in a concerning way. She only hoped that it wasn't for any more questions about Kurama or anything of that sort. Not today. It was supposed to be fun and exciting, and talking about that bijuu never seemed to go that way for the three-tailed duo.

"H-hey mom?" Naruto asked a little sheepishly as a clunking sound against the table caught her attention and she turned to see that he had his headband placed upon the table top for some reason. "What's wrong, kit? Getting cold feet already?" She questioned as she finished fixing her headband and walked over to the fridge to grab some ketchup for the top of Naruto's eggs. The gross milk was already on top of the table for her son to drink and Rin was fine with her morning tea to drink.

Walking over to the sitting jinchuuriki and rubbing his finger over the metal surface, the look on his face made Rin know that it wasn't cold feet, but she suspected it was something else. "Heh, did you want to help put on your first official headband, future Lord Hokage?" The jinchuuriki asked as she placed the ketchup down and picked up his headband with a proud smile on her lips. Naruto's eyes grew a bit when she picked up the headband, with both excitement and shock at this happening.

The part of his dream was coming true and with the one person he could enjoy and treasure: his mother.

The female jinchuuriki held up the headband and let out a loud hmm a few times, turning it in her hands and placing it against his forehead with the swirl pointing to the sky. "Ah, there we go. Like that right?" She questioned as the blonde didn't have a real mirror so had to reach up to feel that she had placed the band upside down but hadn't fastened it yet. "Agh, Mom! No, it's upside down! I'll be the laughingstock of the class if I come in like this!" He put his hand upon the headband, but Rin gently poked his hand away and let out a soft chortle.

"I know, I know. I just can't handle seeing my little fox all grown up. Makes me want to cry, but I'll save those tears for when you become Hokage, okay?" The jinchuuriki walked to Naruto's side and smiled down when she pointed up to his forehead. He gasped out and questioned how she was able to tie it on him without him even knowing it had happened. "Go make sure it isn't crooked, okay Naruto?" She spoke softly and loved how blissful Naruto became when he ran to the bathroom to check himself in the mirror. "One day I want to be as fast as you, Mom!" He shouted out and went to check with stars in his eyes.

"You'll easily surpass me Naruto and you won't even know when it happens." Reaching out for the ketchup bottle, she went to return it to the fridge when the younger jinchuuriki came back a minute later when he was done with his excitement of seeing himself in the mirror. He let out a loud gasp when he saw a heart squirted from the ketchup upon his egg and toast. "Woah mMom you do know how to spoil me!" He began to dig in while she just began to nibble on toast and finish packing two lunches for the day. "Of course. Now eat your food. You're getting leftovers for lunch. And.."

Rin held up the other lunch pack and placed the two of them next to him to take to school. "This one is for Sasuke. Make sure you give it to him, okay?" She ran her fingers through his soft hair but the boy's mood quickly turned sour and growled toward his mother in irritation. "Why do I have to share with him? I might just eat both of them so he doesn't get any," This earned him a poke in the cheek and one that wasn't as soft as before, with both jinchuuriki grumbling at the same time. "Give this to him, or no ramen for a month. He deserves some home-cooked meals that he didn't have to cook himself and we both need to make a plan to take him out to celebrate him becoming a genin."

Again another growl, but Rin leaned over and clanked her headband against his own as she did after dealing with Mizuki. "Please, Naruto. My little kitsune~. He's special to me, you know this. Just as you are as well." The pleading in his mother's voice caused the younger jinchuuriki to glare away from her, hmmp loudly but nodding aggressively as well in agreement. "Hmmp, fine. But nowhere we take him will be as good as the ramen we had that one time. But only because you asked so nicely, Mom." It didn't come off as defeated, but it still made Rin content with the argument.

"Hurry up and eat, Naruto. Don't need you to be late, okay?" Walking back over to her bijuu, she picked up the pillow that stayed on his head and Isobu just looked at her as if nothing had happened. She lifted the turtle as his tails grazed the top of the bed and she squinted toward her bijuu. "Cheeky bastard. Lucky you are so cute and I'm stuck with you." The sound of loud and quick clanking, plus chugging caused Rin to turn aggressively. Not from the eating but from what Naruto was chugging from.

"Naruto! Glasses! We have glasses for a reason. We need to share that milk! And slow down a little bit with your food, you're going to give yourself a stomach ache.." The mother jinchuuriki tried not to coddle the boy, especially since he was a teen at this point, but he could get forgetful or just not care at times when Naruto was rushing. "ahh… I know! I know! In a hurry. You barely ever drink it. And Love you, Mom. Thanks for the breakfast and.. ugh." He picked up his lunch and hesitated but still grabbed onto Sasuke's lunch before running out the door.

"Love you too. And I kind of drink milk. Not my fault I have a bijuu that can't handle that much dairy anymore.." The whole experience made Rin sigh, but shrug while placing Isobu on the dining chair that Naruto didn't even push in either. "When are you going to bring up the idea of him joining the family?" Isobu questioned his jinchuuriki as she threw a few raw eggs his way and he easily caught them in his mouth to eat himself. "Mm. I don't know. I'm still needing to talk to Lord Hiruzen for approval, but I don't even think Sasuke would want a family like us. Or a family at all. Who knows…"

Rin shrugged her shoulders and finished getting ready for her Anbu life. "Maybe we ask Naruto before we celebrate with Sasuke? It would be messed up to bring it up during a huge celebration and have Naruto ruin it with some not-so-nice words. And that is a huge surprise to just come out with. Having his rival as a brother would make things interesting around here.." Isobu reached his tail up and tried using it to pull a full piece of Rin's toast to eat as well. He did eat more than her.. and he didn't even need to!

"We would have to move, yeah. This place is too small as it is." Isobu pulled his tails back quickly when Rin ran up to save her toast only to open his mouth when she split it in half and gave him the other piece. "Yeah.. we did just move into Naruto's place. Found a corner and called it our own." Rin looked around the small place and she just took over the kitchen as her own. They made it work, but it was simply too small for three people, especially two teen boys.

"You think we are broke now, and this place is free, yeah." The three tails bijuu watched as Rin began to clean breakfast and turned to look at the doorway. "I'm sure the Hokage could find us a place. The jinchuuriki allowance can just go to that place since Naruto makes his own money now as a ninja that could help. And… I could always pick up other missions if I need to. We will be okay, Isobu. Anything to make us stronger in the long run." Sounding so confident as she carried the plates to the sink and just left them to do after they got back home, she needed to hurry herself or be late on her first day back after a while.

She was sure she would hear about it from Tenzo if she was late. He was always worried about her for some reason, but could never figure out why…

"Maybe we can go on missions together after he gets his team? It's not like we've checked up in Kirigakure lately. I feel like that area has been too quiet lately, hm." Isobu spoke following the quick jinchuuriki until she picked the milk and heard a gurgle within it. Rin had listened to the bijuu and they both pretty much thought of what a visit to Kirigakure would be like for her.. never again.

She stopped and tilted her head, even sniffing it, and it caused a shiver to roll through her body and even Isobu recoiled back a bit from the rotten smell. "Oh no.."She whispered in a shocking realization of what she just brought upon her son as the turtle just shook his head. "This is why I don't do milk… So gross, yeah.." That milk had gone bad at least a week prior and it didn't help that she barely cooked with it.

"Ugh, I am a horrible mother.." The medical kunoichi walked to the cubbies above the sink in the kitchen after throwing the milk carton in the trash. She cursed under her breath as she began to search through all the medicines she carried within the home, all various ages but still kept within expiration date or would.be freshly made by herself. "And we were doing so well. This has been a heck of a month." Getting on her knees to prop herself up on the counter to see all the contents easier, the jinchuuriki finally found what she was looking for in the form of a few pills of charcoal and something to soothe his stomach and gut while processing it.

"If he wasn't growing so much I would switch him to drink something else, but milk is much cheaper than anything else for us to share.." The shake of the bottles was like music to their ears and the jinchuuriki is quick to get her to get to her feet to return to her lounging bijuu who seemed to be deep in thought and memories of the mist village.

"Isobu, pull it together. I'm sure they are taking care of our other quarter. I'm sure that Yagura guy is being kind.. or whatever it takes to run a village. I wouldn't know. Let's just have a great day today, turtle." With a slight smile and tilt of her head, the bijuu disappeared back into his host body and she quickly ran out the door to head to the school and then to work for a very, very fun day…

—

Carrying the lunches with him to the school was pretty easy, but the blonde couldn't help but grumble every chance he got when he looked at the extra one he was carrying. He still couldn't figure out what made the Uchiha sooo special. Just because his mom was close to the Uchiha clan before they were all slaughtered didn't make them close to him…..
though... he did miss that one older lady Rin brought him a lot around for a few years before she passed away…

She was a good granny..

But besides her, the clan didn't ever do him any favors, if Rin wasn't there. And of course, the mama jinchuuriki didn't like him going there if she wasn't there for some reason.. that clan had too many know-it-alls for the Uzamaki's taste so why did Sasuke still piss him off so much.

Naruto could also only remember the fact that Sasuke's older brother was around them too. And a lot more often after he joined the Anbu. Working with mom seemed to strengthen the strange friendship the two had and that just meant more attention from that damn clan. The jinchuuriki thought they would have moved there if Rin had been offered, but was glad that never happened. At least not to his knowledge.

Speaking of annoying Uchihas, Naruto should have been excited for his first day as a ninja but now just felt irritated with giving food to his rival. When he entered the classroom, there were already other freshly made genin within the classroom but only half the seats were filled so he arrived just in time to find the best seat in the room. Of course, any seat was the best seat if the future Hokage was sitting there and why did the gods joke with him when his blue eyes fell upon an open seat next to the one person he didn't want to sit next to: Sasuke Uchiha.

"Hmmp. Better get this over with.." Naruto grumbled internally even louder than before, even causing Kurama to roll his eyes at how annoying his jinchuuriki was sounding. "He never shuts up.." The fox growled, closing his eyes to try to drown out the constant complaining for the past twenty minutes to get there about that annoying Uchiha. At least they both agreed that the clan was trash, just in majorly different ways and on vastly different levels.

The Raven-haired genin, sitting with his head resting on his hand, stared out the window and just watched the wind blowing in the trees. He even counted the leaves that blew to keep his senses keen and sharp for the next move in his life. He was content in his little bubble and didn't particularly care who sat next to him or what they did. That was until a sack of some sort was violently placed within his view and very close to the front of him.

Giving it a side eye, Sasuke lifted his head to look at the parcel and fully turned his head to look at the blonde jinchuuriki. "What do you want, loser? Are you going to eat this in front of me or something?" He questioned, annoying himself right off the bat.

Such a great friendship…

"Grr… it's a gift, you idiot." Naruto growled out and pushed it closer to the Uchiha while grudgingly taking a seat next to him. "From my mom. She thought you deserved it for some reason." Naruto quickly turned away to put his food next to his feet and rubbed his headband a few times to get in an excited mood for what could be next for the future Hokage.

Looking at the parcel, Sasuke quickly pushed Naruto from his attention span and turned to give more attention to the bag than a normal person might have. From what he could see from the outside, there was even a little note, but he didn't want to read it just yet. Not in front of the others and not when there was an unknown amount of time until the teacher and the rest of his classmates came in. "Gift? Nohara.." The Uchiha just looked at it with some mixed emotions on the whole thing but hid them pretty normally behind his hard facade.

Chapter Text

Though he tried his best to push it from his mind, the very slow response from the Uchiha and dealing with the food from his mother caused the blonde to almost want to take it back. Naruto didn't believe someone like Sasuke deserves anything from his mother, and still never understood the fascination between the two. And probably never will.

Rubbing his headband a few times, Naruto giggled with excitement for the future, especially what people might say when they saw that the jinchuuriki had passed the test to become a true ninja! However, his eyes kept drifting over to the lunch that his mom had prepared for Sasuke as he seemed to stare at it too long for the jinchuuriki's taste made Naruto think that the Uchiha wasn't appreciative of the gift from his mother. In truth, Sasuke wasn't sure how to feel about the gift and even more about how he truly felt about the mother jinchuuriki in the first place, but was far from ungrateful.

Naruto gave Sasuke a side glance and watched him for a few more moments to see if the Uchiha might show more appreciation in any way than just staring at it with his normal weird blank stare. With a small growl, he reached over toward the food bag only for Sasuke to smack his hand away, even causing Sasuke to glare Naruto's way with annoyance.

"What are you doing, loser? Don't touch my stuff." The Uchiha got defensive, pulling the food out of Naruto's reach and he lifted his hand as if Sasuke was going to intercept any other attempts to take the food back. "Actually.. now that I think about it.." He gave Naruto another side eye, still defending what was truly his now, but didn't feel that he had messed with his rival. Or whatever Rin calls the two of them whenever all three were around each other.

He took the parcel and moved it closer to himself and the side, still within reach and near the edge of the table, but away from Naruto or any grabby hands that might try to touch his stuff. He wouldn't vocalize it, but that was his now and no one would take it away from him.

Pulling his hand away, Naruto pushed his food between his feet as a way to guard it against the Uchiha, but he kind of knew that Sasuke wasn't the type to mess with something from Rin.. for some reason… He looked warily at the food then up at Sasuke with a small grumble of what he wanted to say, knowing it wasn't going to be anything good or not a smartass remark. "You didn't make this, did you? I don't think I want to eat something you might have messed with or messed up."

The snarky remark made the blonde frown and growl behind closed lips as there weren't any surprises behind the question, but it still irritated the jinchuuriki to no end. "No, you idiot. It was my mom who made the food. Hell, she was the one who thought about bringing you anything. You don't ever cross my mind when I think of food, gifts, or anything of the sort." The way Naruto spoke caused Sasuke's smirk to slowly change into his absent frown as the Uchiha began to picture what the mother jinchuuriki was thinking while making him food.

Sasuke hated thinking too much about Rin as it diverted his attention from the important things like getting stronger, and more about revenge against his brother. It wasn't hard to see that the mother was trying to force something between the two of them, and he would admit that it wasn't exactly a failure.

The newly made genin was just glad that she understood some boundaries between the two and only crossed them whenever Sasuke was downright stubborn or childish. Rin kept in mind that Sasuke had a harder outer shell, way more challenging than Naruto, and that was going to require more determination to get inside. It was cracking, and the mama knew she was getting closer to a breakthrough of some sort. Sasuke just didn't understand what her final goal was for him…

"Hmmp, I'm just going to let Mom know that you didn't like it. Then she'll never think of wasting her time on you again." Crossing his arms, Naruto rested his head on them and just turned his head to watch/wait for anyone to walk through the door. Anything to get the jinchuuriki's attention off the fowl Uchiha. For some reason, this whole situation was stressing him out and making his stomach hurt…

Sasuke rested his head on his hand to look out the window in thought of what he wanted to do with the gift. He was going to eat it, but wasn't sure if he would vocalize what he thought of it to Rin or not… "It's not like she will listen to you. Stubborn seems to run in your family, Naruto.." Thinking to himself his eyes never left the window, but his finger rubbed against the food without even noticing.

—

Unfortunately, relief would not be coming any time soon for the younger jinchuuriki, as the momma jinchuuriki was pulled by fellow Anbu members for an emergency surgery that needed her talents and couldn't wait any longer or they would lose the important squad members. She cursed under her breath as she couldn't even send Isobu to aid the nine-tailed jinchuuriki as his chakra might be needed in this massive surgery and Rin wouldn't take the chance of her running into issues if a clone of hers got in trouble with Naruto, let alone Isobu as the clone. And her Anbu mask wasn't going to be utilized either.

It was just an hour.. hopefully just an hour then she would rush off to help out her little kitsune. Naruto just needed to hold off till then…

"Forgive me, kitsune, I'll make it up to you somehow.."

—

Grumbling a few words to himself, the blonde jinchuuriki hadn't even noticed that a young kunoichi had walked by him and completely stopped in her tracks when she caught onto who it was. With a silent gasp and sharp inhale, the purple-haired female had to do a slight double-take to make sure it was exactly who she thought it was. It wasn't like the female wasn't intelligent enough to know a possible trick, especially when her main talent was in genjutsus, but a trick of the heart was something people could understand at some point in life.

"Naruto-kun…?" Looking over the angered jinchuuriki a few times, Naruto hadn't even noticed she was looking at him until another fellow genin said something while passing by her and made the same discovery.

"Hey, Naruto. This isn't for dropouts. You can't be here." A fellow male genin spoke with conflicting conviction on both seeing the jinchuuriki there and also knowing that Naruto hadn't passed the genin test a few days prior. He didn't want Naruto getting more in trouble being in a place he didn't belong, let alone trying to play around with The idea that he passed either. "Psh, do you not see the headband, Shikamaru? I'm a glorified ninja now, you know!" With excitement, Naruto pointed to his headband as the ponytail-wearing male looked at the headband rather skeptical that maybe this was a very strange prank for his friend to pull.

"Are you sure that's real and not your mom's? I've seen you bring hers to school before, and this wouldn't be the time to pull that stunt again." Shikamaru warned his friend as Hinata stood behind the two, going up a few more steps to find a seat but softly smiled the whole way up. She wasn't the type to show her excitement out loud as Naruto did, but she was extremely excited and happy that the blonde ninja had passed becoming a true ninja. "Naruto-kun passed! I'm glad, now we can grow together.." Smiling weakly to herself, a blush grew upon her cheeks as she innocently thought of the jinchuuriki being in each other's lives more than they were on the same level again.

"No, this isn't Mom's headband! This is mine! Iruka sensei gave me my first official headband… just later than all of you guys. He realized his mistake and gave it to me personally." The jinchuuriki nodded confidently, sparing a lot of details of how he moved on in the ranks, but it wasn't something he felt comfortable sharing fully. Shikamaru leaned in closer to examine it more and took note that it was shinier than Rin's old headband, so he quickly believed the blonde ninja even turning around to look toward Choji sitting on the bottom row.

"Hey, Choji! Look who really passed!" He spoke with a slight teasing tone, but as Choji finished eating a chip from his hand, the young Akimichi male turned to look at whoever called his name. He didn't even finish chewing his first chip before piling in another and another before his eyes examined his best friend and slowly drifted to his other friend and Naruto's headband. Choji didn't even speak but gave a thumbs up toward the two fellow ninjas and smiled at the news until he finished swallowing his small snack. "Great work Naruto! Just don't try to fall behind again." Choji turned back to focusing on getting his daily calorie intake while Shikamaru walked up more stairs to take a seat on the top floor. "Yeah good job Naruto, now the real fun begins." The shadow user spoke down to Naruto and the jinchuuriki just held a smile from the recognition that his true friends gave him. Not like Sasuke!

A few more rubs of his headband with excitement were brought to an end when his attention went to the back entryway of the academy room. In walked two kunoichi of Naruto's class that he had known for years, Ino and the most beautiful girl he had ever seen before, Sakura Haruno. The only issue was that she seemed to have eyes only for his rival, but the jinchuuriki knew if he kept getting better than Sasuke then someday those eyes would look at him with love and admiration. Just like the whole village one day!

Turning around to look at Sakura, a blush grew upon his cheeks when he noticed her smiling back at him as if for once she noticed him. He thought that maybe he was finally on her radar wearing official ninja gear and proving himself for once… sadly that was all in his head when he was fully pushed out of the way of his seat just in favor of her speaking to Sasuke ...

Luckily the movement of his falling over didn't destroy the food parcel that Rin had made for him, but Naruto cursed not thinking about stopping by a locker before class! But he was too excited not to get the best seat and needed to get Sasuke his one.. and just so many variables.

"Good morning Sasuke.." Coming out in the sweetest voice, Sakura tried to grab the Uchiha's attention, but Naruto being thrown was more than enough. Sasuke's eyes traveled from the window, looking at Naruto fixing himself to lean against the side of the table, and then up to Sakura. He didn't say anything but deadpanned her the whole way. "Do you mind if I sit next to you?" She asked again while Naruto just rubbed the back of his head when it hit the desk. Hinata gasped under her breath at the way Sakura had thrown Naruto and even stood up a bit to make sure he was okay. She just wished she had the emotional energy to stand up for him when Sakura treated him that way, but trusted he could protect himself.. she just wished she could have been like him.

Sasuke just stared the whole time but wasn't able to answer until more and more females seemed to want to sit next to him, even though he was slightly content with just Naruto sitting next to him. At least the jinchuuriki knew when to shut up at times but all the Uchiha's female classmates never seemed to.. It was annoying and exhausting… Naruto proved to be a better person to sit next to until he seemed to jump the list in annoyance by standing straight up on the table and getting right into Sasuke's face.

It wasn't hard to see the anger and jealousy on the blonde ninja's face, but Sasuke just glared back in annoyance at Naruto.

"Why is he getting mad at me? I didn't even do anything.."

"What's so special about this guy that he even has my mom wrapped around his finger?"

A growl and glaring match happened during the stare down and the female seemed to be on the Uchiha's side for support for the whole thing. Just another thing adding to the Uzamaki's irritation for his rival. "Naruto! Get away from Sasuke!" Sakura screamed out causing Naruto to grumble with a quick side glance her way about to defend himself, that was until a bump from the person behind him. An Innocent bystander who was just curious about the commotion going on behind him, and by standing up accidentally nudged the jinchuuriki enough to cause him to fall toward the Uchiha.

And then it happened, to all the female's disgust and dismay, both boys just happened to meet face to face in the worst way. Their eyes shot open when they felt their lips meet and not in a way either had planned them losing their first kiss. They couldn't even register anything around them but proved their ninja skills when they both pulled away just as quickly as their lips first met. They gagged and cursed at each other, viciously rubbing their lips on their arms and clothes to show their distaste!

From within the jinchuuriki's body, the fox rolled his eyes at the fact that his jinchuuriki just kissed his most hated clan. Kurama didn't care that it was a male as bijuu didn't have a care in the world of gender norms and such, but only that it was a blasted Uchiha. He would have preferred anyone just not a damn Uchiha. "Disgusting.." The fox growled and shook his head.

The hatred for the Uchiha didn't last for too long as Naruto's whole system seemed wrecked with a feeling of dread and fear washed over him. "Danger!" Rubbing his mouth a few more times he glanced over at the females starting to glare at him for what just happened. "W-woah it was an accident! I swear!" he pleaded but they weren't listening in the slightest. "Naruto. You're going to pay for that. Sakura threatened as she cracked her knuckles toward the blonde-headed fool. "W-wait please..!" He tried to back up a bit but grabbed his stomach in pain from the added stress. "Let your crazy mother fix you this time, Naruto." One of the females spoke out in spite.

Sasuke leaned back and rubbed his mouth a few more times but made sure to grab his and Naruto's food to the side so it didn't get destroyed in the scuffle. " If anyone is crazy, it's Naruto.." Sasuke defended and looked away from the whole tussle.

—

With her hands deep within the multiple patients, the jinchuuriki took a moment to take a look at the time real quick to keep focused on making sure she was going at a decent rate. Also, Rin was making sure she kept track of medicine being used on the other patients and other reasons. Besides trying to hurry up to get her son for some much-needed relief, kunoichi had the idea of it being around the time that the Hokage would be showing her son's future jonin teacher around their place. She didn't know who it was as her boss refused to tell her, but did hint that it was someone she knew… so Kurenai, Asuma.. or her beloved teammate Kakashi Hatake… either way, she needed to hurry up for her son's sake.. …At least the house was clean enough to not embarrass them, but was far from a priority in her mind. The jinchuuriki's house was cozy, lived in, and far from 100% clean, but not a pig stye at least.

—

Meanwhile during the whole Hokage/Jonin tour, a time for Hiruzen to show the Jonins their respected team of future genin and talk about what the type of person they were. Hiruzen was showing around one of the three newest Jonin's selected for the program: Kakashi Hatake.

Though this was his third team, the past two were considered a failure to the Jonin, but Hiruzen just saw that those teams were just not ready for the next step. They weren't failures, just not right for Kakashi. No harm, no foul, and both squads improved greatly after being sent back to the academy. The new squad he chose was perfect for the jonin's skills and talents. This would be the best that would finally prove Kakashi's potential as a great future leader and teacher for the next generation of youths, just like Maito Gai.

Even as the two walked together, the jonin teacher still had his head in the clouds a bit and his opinion on the as for a whole. Kakashi still wasn't sure if he was still cut out to be a teacher after failing the last two and was debating on just going back to the Anbu black ops life. At least Rin and Tenzo were still there if he ever chose to go back…

As a jonin, Kakashi can't be there to protect her like he could as if he was still an Anbu black ops captain. Sure, the Hokage promised to try to keep her safe as he had during the past seven years, but it was still hard to accept the change in their arrangements. They barely had time for each other as they did, and having two different titles would just lead to a further distance between the two teammates. He didn't like it, but it wasn't like the two had any real say in their futures.

It was just one of those fears that Kakashi felt, Hiruzen understood, but Rin would never let it happen. She trusted her teammate and knew he would always come back to her, alive and if not well enough then Rin could always fix him. No matter how damaged or hurt the jonin was. With Obito's sharingan within Kakashi's head, it felt like team Minato never really left, and with Obito watching them from the other side, everything would turn out alright in the end. It just took time to get used to change.

And the change was desperately needed for the two teammates. It was just going to take longer for the jinchuuriki than with Kakashi.

As the two males walked across the village, even for someone like Kakashi they were in a part that he rarely ever went to. Even if someone very important to him lived around there. Normally Rin would go to him if they needed anything, and has stated multiple times that she wanted to keep her Anbu lifestyle out of Naruto's life as much as she could. Another way to keep her past in the dark and keep her jinchuuriki side covered, but he understood. It wasn't like Kakashi had any real-time or interest in their sensei's own kid.
That was all her.
He would be a horrible parent.

"Why do I have a feeling I know where we are going first?" Kakashi questioned as they both looked up at the familiar building he had been to a handful of times. "So the professor chose Naruto to be one of my students? I wonder why…" The Jonin looked over at the older male with a questionable look before resuming to look up at the building. "Our first house visit is one I'm sure you are very familiar with. The home of Naruto Uzumaki." Hiruzen spoke up with some interest and watched him intently as Kakashi stared up at the building with only slight interest. It wasn't like Rin was there, but Kakashi knew to just go with the flow.

"He's finally made genin. Would have been sooner if Rin had maybe forced him to study different jutsus, but she always was the patient one of the team." Kakashi spoke with a calm demeanor and followed Hiruzen up to the front door. The Hokage had his key, of course, but did take note of Kakashi seemingly pulling out his own set for the house. They didn't use it, and nothing was said about it, but no one was surprised in the slightest that the Jonin had a set.

As they walked into the house, the strong scent of the ocean and water hit both males upon entering but it was stronger for Kakashi as his sense of smell was stronger than even the Hokage. Surprising for random visitors, the two high-ranking officials could only blame the three tails for the water smell. Better than fish smell by a long shot.

They were kind enough to remove their footwear and Hiruzen turned left to walk straight into the kitchen/Rin's bedroom. "This place was always so small for two people. It's not hard to see that Rin just made herself at home where she could." Kakashi spoke up as he looked at the closed door to Naruto's room but still followed after the older gentleman.

Hiruzen took a seat at the kitchen table and he looked down at how the wooden table looked like it had many different levels of stab indents to the structure, something he could only figure came from the three tails and its spiky body. "I tried to set her up in an apartment after she got out from Danzo's shadow, but Rin preferred either staying within the headquarters or with you, Kakashi. She seemed content at the time and I knew it was a fragile time for her, but maybe I should have pushed harder to get her place." Hiruzen watched as Kakashi walked over to Rin's cot-like bed, running his fingers over the pillow, and then turned to look at some of the pictures she kept on the wall above it.

They sat in silence for a bit as Kakashi delved into some memories, but turned his head to look at the dishes in the sink besides that it was pretty clean, to say the least. "This place is not as clean as Sensei and Lady Kushina had theirs, but at least it's not disgusting. Especially with an animal like a bijuu living under her roof and a boy like Naruto, I'm surprised it's still standing.." Kakashi spoke up and picked up Rin's team Minato picture off the wall while he was at his apartment. The same picture, and yet it felt like two different things entirely.

Placing his finger over his young face on the picture, Kakashi looked at it with a more absentminded expression before he finally broke the quiet after snapping out of it. "With the two of them living in such a small place, I'm surprised you haven't tried moving them to something bigger, Lord Hiruzen." The Jonin questioned slightly before turning slightly to look at the older male. "Well, I still do offer it from time to time. I try not to push it as Rin doesn't like me worrying about her and Naruto, but I still worry about their well-being from time to time."

Standing up from his chair, he walked over to examine the same pictures for the sake of curiosity but it was nothing too new for him to see. "I trust her abilities to raise a fine shinobi in Naruto, and the fact that he hadn't found out about the fox, until recently from another normal ninja, has put the council's mind on her raising him even longer than predicted to slight rest. However, some people believe that it's still a ticking time bomb having one jinchuuriki raising another. Especially now that the Kyuubi has been found out by Naruto. I've stepped in to reassure them that this changes nothing by much, maybe even more in the positive that Rin can start showing Naruto how to use the fox's chakra for the better of the village, instead of these useless pranks."

Kakashi nodded and looked out the window toward the Hokage Rock. "Well, the pranks should end if Rin and I have anything to say about it, I guess." Coming off half-heartedly, Kakashi just shrugged and turned back to his boss who seemed happy with those words. "See, you're slipping into the role much easier than before. If I knew that all it took was having Rin involved then I would have set something up earlier." Hiruzen teased much to Kakashi's dismay and shook his head.

"Is it because of my relationship with Rin that you chose me to teach Naruto, Lord Hiruzen?" Kakashi questioned as he replaced the picture on the wall, only for it to tilt toward Obito's side. Thinking of a proper response, the older male gave a simple smile and turned to look around the room. "No, I wouldn't say that. I had some special plans for all the genin teams this go around, Kakashi. Just like Gai's team focuses on taijutsu, I have other plans in store for yours. Rin is just as close with Kurenai and my son, but I chose you for a different reason."

The Hokage didn't need a reason for the genin team choices, and he needed to be biased when choosing the names, but he wanted to try something different this time. Just like with Gai's team.

"I'm aware you two are very close, Kakashi. Travesty can bring people together, just in a different way with you two it seems. It is more complicated than even Asuma and Kurenai's relationship, but it's not hard to see what it is. I try not to get in the way of that sort of thing, but you two are not normal shinobi. And Rin makes it difficult to allow her the normal freedoms that even you can have, Kakashi." The jonin walked back over to the table and ran his fingers over the top of the table, knowing that it was because of that damn bijuu that Rin would forever be shackled where she was.

Hiruzen sensed the tension growing within Kakashi and walked over to give him a change of perspective. "Kirigakure is no longer looking for their bijuu, Rin, Itachi, and you saw to that. However, what the three tails… Isobu.. what that bijuu did to our village still almost caused us the Third Shinobi war. But because those golden chains from Kushina Uzumaki, and Minato's sealing stills helped bring down a huge threat. It was something that not even a quarter of the village was fully aware of just how close we were to a full-on bijuu attack. And though I doubt the sanbi is as powerful as the Kyuubi, it would have been devastating and probably would have cost us the stalemate in the war."

Looking down at the table, Kakashi lifted and looked at his hand, something that Hiruzen caught on to and thought to reassure again. "Your efforts in taking down the three tails also helped, Kakashi. If not for Rin's sacrifice and your Chidori, we would have lost the war, Kakashi. There is no way to sugarcoat that.." He reassured the male, but Kakashi just lifted his head to stare at nothing. "And it's because of that sacrifice that she can never really be free to live her life like a normal shinobi." The jonin spoke out, but Hiruzen just gave another head shake.

"You and I both know that Rin is more than happy and content in her life and wouldn't change it for the world. She is healthy enough with the bijuu's help over her chakra control to stay as a ninja, medical or not, and powerful enough to keep a handle on that secret as well. Rin is content with this life, just like she would not stop praising the idea of you teaching the next generation. She believes in you, and I know you believe in her as well, Kakashi." Taking a step back from Kakashi, Hiruzen smiled again.

"She loves you and Naruto, too. She might be tied to a bijuu, but as time goes on things will slowly become more, I guess, normal. As normal as she can make it." He thought for a second and headed toward the front door. "I have plans in the work to give Rin a little breathing room from the Anbu for once, Kakashi. Just like you are a Jonin, I feel that Rin might not be suited to the Anbu black ops any longer, so I'm setting into motion something that will make everyone much happier."

Raising an eyebrow at the plan, Kakashi was fully curious about what sort of plan that might be but didn't delve too deep into it as they were both heading out the front door.

"Next is a kunoichi: Sakura Haruno.."

—

As the jinchuuriki was washing blood from her hands from the successful surgery, Rin had to turn her head away from the sink as she sneezed. "Bless you." Someone who assisted in the surgery spoke up to the jinchuuriki causing Rin to grumble and then smile. "Thank you. At least it waited till after we were done."

Sitting upon the bijuu's head, even Isobu gave a slight shake of his head as he felt his shell crawling for some reason.
"Ugh, I think someone is talking about us. Hiruzen is doing that walk around right now with Kit's future Jonin leader... I wonder who it is?"

Chapter Text

And so the genin teams were chosen. Some are happy with the choices, and some are downright sad or depressed by the Hokage's choices. However, the whole room was all surprised by the choices and none of the genin could have ever guessed who they were going to be spending their waking futures with.

"After lunch, you will meet your future jonin teacher. They will travel with you, along the path of becoming powerful ninjas for the village, and teach you things that you can only dream of." Iruka spoke out to the young, freshly new genin group that he had taught for years previously. Seeing them growing, and him growing along with them, filled his heart with joy, however as a teacher he knew it wouldn't be the last he saw some of them. Some would pass to become real shinobi, and some he knew would be back to be retaught in his class or by another teacher later on.

His eyes traveled over the one child he hoped would move on to bigger and better things now that he, and even his mother, had seen a glimpse of full potential he could pull out: Naruto Uzumaki. And of course, the young jinchuuriki had to be the only one to question his team's setup…

"Naruto and Sakura as my teammates? This is a huge setback and they'll just slow me down.." The Uchiha squinted his eyes in annoyance at the news, even giving a side glance toward his new teammates during the final moments of their teacher speaking. It wasn't hard to see how excited both of them were and for almost the same reason, but for vastly different people. It was almost sickening.

"Yes! Sakura is on my team! Sure, that slug Sasuke is there, but I can't wait to tell Mom who I got! She's going to love it! And this will be a chance to introduce Mom to her future daughter-in-law, you know!" Naruto couldn't help but grin in excitement as an idea came across his mind while holding his food in his hands. "Sasuke is mine! Eheh Ino-pig has no chance to get in between our budding romance!" Sakura's inner voice gave a peace sign in victory toward the blonde behind her, earning a well-deserved growl from Ino. "How did you get on Sasuke's team?!"

Looking down rather depressingly toward the blonde jinchuuriki, the Hyuuga princess could only frown at the team choices as she wasn't put on her crush's team. "I wasn't put with Naruto.." Some more strange teams were put together that made no sense to anyone in the room, but again they had no chance to fight the word of the Third Hokage.

Basing Lord Hiruzen's knowledge of who their jonin were picked as and this time using past knowledge for this jonin in particular: Team seven consisted of Sasuke Uchiha, Naruto Uzumaki, and Sakura Haruno aka Team 7
A future famous tracking/detecting team consisting of Hinata Hyuuga, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame, aka Team 8.
And of course, this current generation needs a famous combo known as Ino-Shika-Cho. Team 10 consisted of Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi, and Shikamaru Nara, just like their parents fought together as a great combo, this pair plans to be just as amazing as their parents. Maybe more so.

"This is going to cause problems, I just know it." Sasuke admitted to himself as he was quick to stand up when they were finally dismissed, grabbed his food, and quickly disappeared to find a place to eat in peace. He didn't want to be disturbed in the slightest and needed to truly process what his future was going to be with such an annoying group as his future 'team'. Sasuke could only guess that he would be stuck with a team as it only made sense to team weak ninjas up, but he was far superior to everyone in his class. He didn't need anyone to hold him back from his goal of revenge.
—

When class was dismissed, everyone was quick to divide up in their groups or completely disappear to have a decent lunch to think about their team choices. It wasn't going to change anything, but it might be the last chance for peace in their lives for a very long time to come.

"Ugh, my stomach. I think Mom was right. Drinking and eating so fast this morning did a number on me. Maybe some real food will calm it down.. and no one better to have it with them than my future teammate!" Pushing the pain from his mind, the blonde jinchuuriki could only grin in excitement as he left the school to hunt the pinkette down. He kept his bagged lunch in hand the whole time to make it easier and take less time to find a place to eat. Less time wasted means more time getting closer to Sakura!

"Where did he run off to? We should be using this time to get to know each other.. and what was in that bag he had?" The pinkette kunoichi questioned softly and disappointed as she had spent the last few minutes trying to find her crush. Sakura and Naruto had the same ideas and were ironically in the same boat as their crushes had no desire to deal with them in the least. They might have been placed on the same team, but that didn't mean it would automatically change how they looked at each other. Not at first anyway.

Looking around at the exit of the academy building, Naruto's eyes lit up when he came across the beautiful kunoichi in her pretty red dress and shiny pink hair. "Hey, there you are, Sakura! I was wondering if…" He chased after her as Sakura just looked around a bit more till Naruto fully grabbed her attention. "What do you want, Naruto? Can't you see I'm busy?" She spat out in annoyance as she quickly turned angry toward the jinchuuriki for no real reason.

However, unlike other children or adults who felt that way about his existence, the jinchuuriki was very much blinded by love to see that she was no different than some of the other villagers. Though it wouldn't ever get him down! He would prove to Sakura that he is just as important and amazing as Sasuke. Naruto just needed his time to shine.

"I was wondering if you wanted to have lunch together. Since the two of us are going to be on the same team, we could get to know each other. There is even enough here for us to share some of my mom's famously good cooking." Naruto spoke with admiration and love with the idea of sharing his mom's cooking with the world. He didn't have a choice with Sasuke getting the food, but the jinchuuriki would be damned if he didn't try to share it with the love of his life.

Looking instantly annoyed at that stupid idea, Sakura glared at him a few times and even at the parcel a few times as well. "What in the world made you think that I would ever want to try your mother's gross food? And with you no less?" She questioned with full venom in her voice. She's always spoken to him like this, but he never gets it through his thick skull to leave her alone! Leave her alone and stop messing with Sasuke! That's all she asks for and now with him on her team, Sakura will never get what she wants.

"I just thought that since we're in the same group and.. uh you didn't look like you had anything to eat.. um.." Naruto wasn't sure what to do at that point. He didn't think he would be turned down like that and needing to explain himself only made it worse. "Mom's cooking isn't gross… Is it?" he questioned himself and looked down at the package lunch, and watched Sakura get a little more irate with him. "Naruto! You're annoying." Sakura growled, quickly turning and walking away as she went back to search for the Uchiha.

It left Naruto a little heartbroken from the whole ordeal as Sakura was walking away, causing him to look at the food with questionable ideas. "What's wrong with the food?" He sniffed it and it smelled the same as when it was cooked the night before, but it did seem to turn his stomach for some reason. "Ugh… " Either way, the jinchuuriki walked off to be alone and try to stomach some real food and help calm his nerves and stomach. "Hmmp. She doesn't know what she's missing. But there has to be something I could do to spend time with her and get her mind off Sasuke! I'm better than him by a long shot! Now I just need to show Mom… I mean Sakura.. that I'm way better than him!"

Naruto escaped to a water tower above the school to sit in peace for a moment until his eyes fell upon his annoying rival. So that's where he had gone off to? What the heck was he doing?

—

Finding peace and quiet in a room he knew no one would look for him in, the Uchiha had grabbed his homemade food but also kept the one Rin had made him close by. He could always eat his own if he didn't like it, but Sasuke was still confused about how he truly felt about the gift and the thought behind it. Rin was such a hard female to read, stubborn to boot and no matter how much he told her to go away, she always showed back up after a while. Always brings some sort of technique to teach him, jutsu to talk about, and an apology. Anything to keep Sasuke interested in speaking with her, but he still couldn't figure out how he perceived the jinchuuriki's actions.

This strange lady was a friend to the Uchiha clan, even long before he could even remember. Someone who would drop in to see some old lady in his clan, suddenly showing up and started spending more time with his brother than anyone else it seemed. Even worse when she turned up at his academy to pick up the annoying loser wannabe ninja.

And now she won't leave him alone.

His clan was gone. The reason he thought she stuck around was gone. His brother was on the run from justice and Sasuke was still growing stronger to avenge his family and the Uchiha name.

A lot of the adults in the village showed him pity, simply ignored him, or spoke about him even if he was right there and none of it was helpful to the young kid. But the jinchuuriki was different. Annoying at the best of times, but at least try to be there.
And don't get him started on the forced interactions between Sasuke and Naruto. Always ended up in a fight between the two, but Rin would laugh it off as if it wasn't a big deal. No matter what the fight was about.

"Let's see what this message says.." Sasuke placed the bag on an open window seal to use the light for a better vision of what she made him and what he was looking forward to. Pulling one of the bands that tied the whole thing together, he knew that her knots would be impossible to undo so Sasuke was very careful to undo the parcel. He didn't want to destroy it before having a chance to eat it at least.

The Uchiha grabbed the folded note with a single piece of a hard substance to keep it closed, while the lid opened up to show a lot of food for a kid. Inside was a portion for his lunch and dinner if he wanted, and more rice than fish for him to eat, but again he wouldn't complain about free food. "Is this what Naruto eats in one serving? Amazingly, he doesn't get fat eating this much." He rolled his eyes to himself and looked at the lid of the box having some small chopsticks he could use to eat with…

The food didn't have a smell until he leaned in closer with it being not as fresh, but it still smelled edible and something that he would actually try instead of turning his nose up right away. Pulling the utensils off the lid, Sasuke placed the lid of the window seal and grabbed a bit of the strangely grilled fish. It was one he had barely ever seen in the markets when he went shopping but didn't look dangerous to his health. It looked like it was salted with some other spices, but couldn't tell them apart unless he saw her use them in person.

"Hmm.." Pulling off a piece of meat from the fish, he gave it another sniff before popping it into his mouth. He savored it for a second and gasped softly before swallowing. That was his only reaction from what those looking out could see, however, Sasuke went back for another piece, and this time with some rice with it. "Too bad, it's cold." Taking another few bites, Sasuke turned his attention to the note while he ate. "I bet I know what is on this."

Putting the chopsticks on the bento box, Sasuke broke the hard piece of what was holding it close, watched it dissipate into the air, and rubbed the dust onto his shirt before opening it fully to read it. (it was a dab of coral. So brittle but sturdy)

Of course, the first thing on top of the paper was a very precise drawing of the Uchiha crest with a black little chibi version of a crow near it. Almost as if it was poking at the fan and then there was a drawing of a little fox to the side with the drawing of a little turtle in The bottom corner. He kept looking at all the drawings before even reading the note as the Uchiha understood the turtle, bird, and fan symbol but was at a loss for the fox. "Don't quit your day job, Rin." He chastised the female in silence, but only slightly.

Sasuke turned the note over to see if there were any other drawings but began to read when there didn't look to be anymore.

"Dear Sasuke Uchiha, Little bird, I hope everything is going well. I know I just saw you the other day in passing but didn't have much time to talk. As a full-fledged ninja now, I feel it's time that we should step up on your training and spend more time together to train. I have an idea to have the ability to be able to fulfill your training quota and make me happy at the same time. Plus, if you like the food this idea will be a very hefty bonus!

Let's plan to get together to celebrate graduating from the academy, along with Naruto, and talk it over to see if we can come up with an idea that works for us both to have our dreams accomplished together!
Please let me know how you feel about everything, I don't need a fast answer that soon, but please rate my food. I want to try to make those rice balls you make so easily. Mine always come out circular no matter how hard I try to make them right. You're going to have to show me how to do it right and in exchange I'll make it worth your wild!

P.S. Yes, we are including Naruto. And yes we can have some time just the two of us if you hadn't had enough of our craziness by the end of it all.
- Love crazy Turtle master, Rin Nohara!

P.s.s. Your parents would still be so proud of you! Keep up the great work, little bird."

Sasuke looked it over a few times before holding the letter open with one hand while taking a drink from his water bottle. "Celebration, huh? And with Naruto… That might be a problem." He wasn't sure if he was more confused about what this letter was trying to tell him. The genin could figure out that Rin missed him, that was a given, but what was her dream in the first place? He didn't talk to her like that and with her in the Anbu, he couldn't ask her much about her life besides raising an annoying loser like Naruto.

"She can make perfect onigiri, she just wants to keep playing as if she can't." Sasuke grumbled inwardly as he didn't understand her ploy to have him teach her anything. She's the adult and he should be learning from her, not the other way around.. but that was just how it was with the two. Rin never asked for much from Sasuke, but he wasn't the type to ask for help in the first place and she wasn't the type to just take without giving anything in return.

Rin gave him lessons in different ninja tools and stuff even above his level of teaching as a normal academy-level student. She saw his intelligence, in a different form compared to Naruto, and used it to teach when she could and at what time she was allowed to visit the Uchiha. Rin made sure he understood everything he could before she needed to leave.. and that was just the base level of it all. Sasuke didn't need to give her anything but his best.

It was different from her relationship with Naruto and that was only because of their different past. Two different pasts growing up, until they intertwined and Rin wasn't going to let them falter from their strange rivalry.

"We're not friends. But she won't stop forcing that ideal on us. And why won't she stop with the nicknames? " Sounding annoyed on the inside, he ate a bit more before putting his bento box back together to put away. There was still so much food that he could have shared with two people and still have enough for leftovers. "Wish it was fresh, I bet it would have been way better. But decent enough." He shrugged as if he felt very neutral about the food he was given. But in truth, he did wish he had it fresh and warm whenever it was cooked. It tasted so good that he almost wanted to eat the whole thing, but Sasuke didn't know what the afternoon entailed so a full stomach might end up getting him in trouble if it required any fighting or anything.

After making sure the box was safely packed up, Sasuke placed it on the floor and began to drink from his water bottle. Even turning from the window to read the note and a few more times. "Crazy turtle lady. Sounds about right." A small smirk crossed his lips while folding up his note and putting it in his pocket. until a random crack sound from outside the window caught his attention. "Hm..?"

"Gotcha!" A surprise jump with no clear winner inside the window.
—

"What is Naruto doing?" Newly formed Team 10 watched as the nine-tailed jinchuuriki jumped into the window to get the jump on the eating Uchiha. Of course, a noisy tussle later, Sasuke jumped back out as a clear winner. "Ha, like my man Sasuke would lose to a weak like Naruto," Ino spoke out, while Shikamaru was amazed that the Uchiha hopped back out the same window that the nine-tailed jinchuuriki had hoped into in the first place. "He beat him without breaking a sweat!" Sounding amazed, the shadow user just couldn't believe that it was that simple to bring the blonde knucklehead down that easily. And of course, Choji decided to keep chowing down on his rice balls as if it was the end of the world.

—

While a tussle occurred with a very surprising victor, the pinkette kunoichi gave up on searching in favor of just sitting down to eat her bento lunch. It had only a small portion of rice and some steamed veggies in it so she could keep up her girlish figure, but she still only picked at it instead of eating it. "Why did he run away like that? I know we will be in the same group for a long time so there isn't much hurry, but still.." Sighing rather depressingly, Sakura placed the bento to the side and leaned forward with her hands supporting her head.

"Who am I kidding? Why would someone like him go for someone like me? I'm scrawny and weak compared to someone as powerful and amazing as him. And don't even get me started on my huge forehead!" Looking down at the floor below her concrete seat, the pinkette grumbled a bit until her senses caught up to her and it felt as if her wishes had come true. Lifting her head from the floor, Sakura found her amazing crush seemingly staring at her. "Sasuke? He's staring at me… I know that look. wow! Okay, Sakura! Don't ruin this moment or make it weird."

Leaning on a tree across from the kunoichi, the black-haired Shinobi smirked toward her and slowly began to approach her. "I got this. I got this.." Each step caused Sakura to blush even harder as her excitement almost got the better of her and made her want to scream his name to match that level. When he stopped right in front of her, she could have sworn that her quickened heartbeat would betray her in some way and allow her beloved future teammate to hear it, especially with an awkward silence that hit them for the moment.

Hitching her breath to keep herself from freaking out, or thinking this was a wishfilling dream, the pinkette looked down at a very packed lunch in his hands. She was so excited, Sakura didn't even notice that she had seen it before a few times, but couldn't and didn't want to think of anything else.

Only someone as perfect as Sasuke was actually in front of her to talk to her.

"H-hello Sasuke, I was looking for you earlier." Sakura cursed under her breath from her stutter but gasped softly when his smirk grew from such a cute action. "I'm sorry about that, Sakura. I had a run-in but took care of it easily. I hope you didn't wait too long for me." Readjusting his stance while she shook her head a little too earnestly, Sasuke lifted the huge lunch bento toward the kunoichi in the offering. "No, not really. It's okay.." She spoke softly as she looked down at his held-up parcel with slight confusion. "Did you perhaps want to have lunch together?" He asked smoothly, causing a blush to form across the kunoichi's cheek, but frowned down toward her just finished lunch.

It was small enough that it didn't feel that it was affecting her diet, and just enough to fill her until dinner. However, if she ate too much with it being only half the day and knowing what their Jonin teacher would be like then it might end up slowing her down if she wasn't careful. On top of it affecting her diet, she hadn't planned on really sharing like that, just eating next to him was all she wanted. So if this was happening then one big meal wouldn't kill her. They would share and shouldn't be too much trouble, right?

"Um, sure, Sasuke. I would love to join you." Though a little hesitant, the kunoichi held out her hands to take the parcel when she heard a gurgle from the Uchiha's stomach, causing Sakura to smile up at the young boy. "At least from the sounds of it, Sasuke will eat most of it so I don't have to force myself." She watched as Sasuke grabbed really hard onto his stomach and suddenly became paler than normal, almost sickly. "Shit.. not now!" The boy thought to himself as he grimaced, clenched tightly to his shirt, and turned that look toward the female.

Sakura placed the food on the chair beside her and watched Sasuke waddle back a bit from her. "Sasuke, are you okay? You don't look so good." Turning and starting to run away like a penguin, while still squeezing his shirt with both hands, leaving the kunoichi confused beyond anything else. She blinked a few times to make sure what had just happened, but slowly turned her attention to the food he had given her. "How strange… I guess I'll start or at least get it ready for him.."

Undoing the tie on top of the food, Sakura came across a note on the top attached underneath the string but didn't open it out of respect for Sasuke. "He writes himself notes? Cute." Smiling to herself, she placed the note to the side before opening the parcel, taking a look at how much food and looked around to see if maybe he was back yet.

With a small swallow, she took a pair of chopsticks from it, strangely noting that it came with two sets and smiling big at the idea that he had planned this, but took a bite of the fish. Biting it slowly and trying to savor the taste of the food her crush cooked, she nibbled a bit on the food for a bit and slowly smiled when she swallowed. "Wow, this is good. Not surprised that he's an amazing cook along with being amazing all around." She sighed in love and took another few bites, slowly eating to wait for Sasuke to come back. "Hopefully he hurries back so Naruto doesn't show up and ruin our fun.."

(Occ: no Rin's cooking is not the best thing in the world, that would be like Kakashi or Sasuke probably cooking better than Rin since they have more time not handling other issues in life, but love blinds people hence why Sakura gushes at it..
—

Back where Sasuke had been having lunch only ten minutes before, lay on the floor the same Uchiha from before. Only this time he was not in a very happy predicament.

Sasuke lay tied on the floor with a gag around his mouth as he struggled against his bindings. "Damn it, I can't believe I let my guard down around Naruto! He's going to pay for this." He wasn't worried about getting out of the restraints and with a simple jutsu, it didn't take him long to get out. However, he was worried about what the jinchuuriki was doing and why Naruto had tied him up like that. The Uchiha couldn't help but shake a very bad feeling that came over him while approaching the wooden window.
—

With a pant or two, the three-tailed jinchuuriki landed on the academy building and jumped down to the floor below. Still clearly wearing her anbu gear, mask included, her appearance might have been shocking to the other students, but her mission was to find her son. "You could have at least cleaned yourself up, Rin. You smell of blood and hospital." The bijuu spoke to his jinchuuriki and didn't even get a response at first as she sped and walked around to find him. "I can't be too long. I have a feeling they will be needing me again really soon. I need to hurry and find Naruto before it's too late."

With another look around, she overlooked all the other teams that were enjoying their lunches together, until she came across someone who should help her. And coming from the bathroom it looked like.

Walking up the walkway, she screamed out to him and seemed to get a shocking look from the Uchiha in response. "Hey, Sasuke! Little bird. I need your help!"
"Oh shit. Why is she here now?!"

Chapter Text

Who knew having tea could be so exhausting? Who knew meeting parents would be so exhausting?

Not just one like Naruto did, if Kakashi could count spending time with his comrade as exhausting, or none and a half like Sasuke did… was Rin considered a parent to Sasuke? Probably not, but even with the assistance from the third Hokage to take some of the slack off his shoulders, the jonin couldn't help but feel pressured the whole time they were in the Haruno residence. The playful jokes and banter were cute enough, but got old quickly and just made the two powerful men want to leave just as quickly.

Kakashi didn't know much about Sakura at all but hoped that she wasn't as puny as her father and mother. They were a perfect couple and seemed perfect for each other, but it wasn't hard for Hiruzen to see the strong desire for them to leave within Kakashi's lone eye. However, he did hide it like a champ and listened to how the Harunos bragged about their daughter and how excited they were to hear about the famous Kakashi of the sharingan being her jonin! They were more excited than Sakura probably would ever be.

And of course, the two professional men listened to the ramblings of proud parents and left as soon as they were, Hiruzen thanking them for the tea and that they needed to quickly move on to get on with their business. ” Well they are an excitable bunch.” “At least if Rin was home, then we could have talked to each other about other things than just their kid.” Kakashi slightly complained, knowing that he probably could have been less annoyed if he had seen his ‘comrade’ after not seeing each other for so long, but couldn't tell what he missed more about her.

“Yes, well. I don't think Rin would have liked us intruding like that in the home just to talk about work, Kakashi. I'm certain you would have been mistaken and our chatter would have been about nothing, but Naruto. Maybe even about the fox a little, but when it comes to business, she doesn't like to sugarcoat it. I'm sure she will be excited to know that you are his teacher.” Hiruzen nodded his head at the idea of the news reaching the female and might hear about it later. Maybe even have her open up about it later on instead of needing to dig in with some questions of his own.

Rin might be an anbu black ops under his command, but she still had that harsher side that separated work from pleasure. Naruto, her feelings for Kakashi, even talks about Isobu were considered ‘pleasure’ conversation pieces in the jinchuuriki's life, unless they were. Bijuu were still weapons and she was still a walking s-class secret to everyone in the village, minus himself, Danzo, Kakashi, and maybe others who might know her secret that even Hiruzen wasn't aware of. “Well, I'll go see her later about it, either way. I need something from her to put the group to the test..”

As the two left to go to the last member of future Team Seven, Kakashi was trying to guess what type of person the last-genin might be on his team. He had the over-excited knucklehead, the love-struck kunoichi, who else could fill this team out to make it complete ?

Entering a district he finally wasn't knowledgeable about, Kakashi and Hiruzen glanced up at an apartment building that his future student currently lived in. Sadly he would also be the most trouble. “The last one on your team is Sasuke Uchiha.”

Flashbacks to the past with Kakashi's life dealing and revolving around that damn clan crossed the Jonin's mind. Images of Team Minato with all of them training together during the bell test. Obito's last heroic moment when saving Kakashi's ass from that falling rock and the depressing last moments with his dear friend making that promise to protect Rin. Always protect Rin.

” Failure..” A shake of his head to clear his head when his female teammate’s smiling face graced his mind. ” No, not anymore..” They were working on building their relationship, friendship, teamanship, and more, and it came with hearing those haunting memories of that night.
Then another image of the next most influential Uchiha in both of their lives was Itachi Uchiha.

The jinchuuriki had a strong devotion to the Uchiha clan, especially to Obito's grandmother, and supported the clan in any way she could. She showed her support and tried her best to show that not everyone in the whole village hated that they weren't there to support them during the nine tails attack. It wasn't like it was their fault, more likely faulty leadership on Danzo's part, and it would have ended up more trouble when the three-tailed jinchuuriki got involved herself.

Something changed in the clan when she took on caring for and raising Naruto. The clan seemed more distant and probably the first clue for Rin to stay out of the clan's business. But her love for the clan was blinded because of her closeness to Obito, a lot of self-guilt for him dying while saving her, and her friendship with Itachi Uchiha.

The clan was special to the jinchuuriki and it only has led and will lead to her ultimate downfall in the future in more than one way. And it was the clouded judgment of the clan that caused the three-tailed duo to keep mixed up in the dirty Uchiha business, clan massacre, and more. And that clan massacre almost led the jinchuuriki down a path of self-destruction, something that not even herself could explain. If not for the nine-tailed jinchuuriki and Rin's concern for Sasuke at the time then it probably would have turned into another case like his father.

The worst part of the Uchiha massacre was Rin couldn't explain why it haunted her so much. It hurt the whole village that one of its most powerful clans was suddenly gone in the middle of the night and only two survived the whole ordeal, one of course being the main killer of the whole ordeal, but it seemed to have left the female shattered after the incident. Even now after so many years, Rin gets a headache when she tries to remember it and even her bijuu isn't saved from the painful effects of those memories.

When they managed to make it into the young Uchiha’s basic apartment, it was in immaculate condition. Nothing was out of place, the bed was properly clean and folded and it looked like the type of place that someone in the military would own and live in. Both older men agreed it was because of his father's teaching that led to Sasuke being so clean and tidy, but when Kakashi took a smell of the air: nothing came to mind. It was as if nothing lingered in the house or that maybe Sasuke hadn't been there too long at any point in time.

If Sasuke was anything like Kakashi when his father first passed and many years after, he more than likely cleaned just to keep his mind busy and off certain topics. It got to the point where thinking just hurt. Remembering just hurts. Moving and putting the mind/body in the auto drive was the only real relief for the heartache at the time.. having true friends and well, whatever he and Rin were, really helped Kakashi grow out of his shell. Hopefully, the same relief will come to the Uchiha as he still heals from the massacre.

Walking over to look at some of the tools that were on display within the room, all seemingly dusted and alphabetized, no they weren't but would be if Sasuke put his mind and determination to it. Kakashi took note of a coral-like kunai that was on display with other strange-looking tools. He looked at the other very high-ranking tools that someone like Sasuke shouldn't or wouldn't ever have a use for, nor have real access to as a young academy student. “I'm not surprised this place is as organized as someone raised by the chief of the Konoha police, Fugaku Uchiha. However..”

Hiruzen walked over to squint a little judgmentally toward the coral kunai piece, taking note of where he could only guess the place or person the young Uchiha gathered all those tools from. “It doesn't look like he turns down house guests from the look of it.” Kakashi carefully picked up the coral kunai and carefully manipulated it in his fingers as if it were a real knife. It was a real weapon that could easily kill if put to use, however depending on how old it was and if the user wasn't careful, the knife could easily break if used incorrectly. Even now it wouldn't be hard for Kakashi to break the weapon, but it wasn't his to do such a thing with.

“It looks like Rin has been sharing her time amongst the lost youths in the village.” Hiruzen watched Kakashi put the coral weapon back, put his hands in his pockets, and walk to look at the other dangerous tools. “I'm not surprised, her connection with Sasuke is almost as strong as her connection with Naruto… probably almost as guilty too..”
“Because of Itachi Uchiha, correct?” Hiruzen questioned and the jonin just nodded while still looking at the tools, but it wasn't hard to see that Kakashi was not simply looking anymore. More like he was lost in thought and memories.

“I almost forgot how close she was to the clan, but I remember Rin always sneaking in to aid the clan whenever she could. The number of complaints I received from other Anbu members was incredible wherever they thought they saw her there. If not for recording what the clan did most of the time, then I wouldn't have had any proof she was there in the first place..” He bowed his head with slight admiration for his Anbu member. “Yeah, she was quick when she wanted to be. And having her dimension didn't help us trying to track her back then either. Even now, it's hard to keep an eye on her if she doesn't want to be found..” Shrugging, Kakashi returned to Hiruzen's side.

“I’m asking for your help to guide Sasuke, Kakashi. Just as you did whenever I assigned Itachi to learn from you within the Anbu black ops. I'm asking in place of Fugaku, to help him stay on the path of a Shinobi within Konoha and not allow him to stray too far from the righteous path. I will not allow him to fall like his brother did.” Turning to look at the coral piece, Hiruzen frowned, but Kakashi just shrugged again. “You might be looking at the wrong person for what you need, I didn't need to teach Itachi a thing, sir. He was intelligent and perceptive enough to figure out things on his own just by observing others. His sharingan was much more affected than mine was.”

“Be that as it may, you are now the only one within the village with an actual sharingan and if Sasuke were to ever activate his own then I want you to be there for him. I understand it's an emotional time whenever it happens, but the young boy might never experience the right moment for it to happen. We are at peace right now, but who knows what the future holds.” Kakashi's eye fell upon the coral piece as he was drawn back into memories of how he acquired his sharingan from his friend. And even dark memories of when the two tomoe evolved into three and the next step…

Holding his hand over the covered sharingan side of his face, he glared a bit at the coral piece as he began to think of that damn turtle bijuu as well. “Emotional indeed. I believe Sasuke would fully have to open up his heart and emotions to the idea of having friends to awaken the sharingan though.. he's still so young and still so wrapped up in revenge that it doesn't seem possible… however..” Again looking at the knife he knew Sasuke acquired from the three-tailed jinchuuriki. “Rin says that he is full of surprises..”

Lightening the grasp of his palm over his covered eye, Kakashi closed his other one and imagined how Rin looked at him in both eyes whenever he allowed it out. How lovingly she enjoys seeing Kakashi without having it covered and how much she speaks that it's almost like Team Minato is still together. Obito was just on the other side and watching over both of them until it was their time to join him on the other side. “I will believe in what Rin says when it comes to even someone like Sasuke, and test him on his beliefs. I will not allow my pupils to experience the same loss as we did and will pass along the guidance of how important your comrades truly are in life. In this case, it may be more important than family. They will learn to treasure their comrades.”

A nod from Hiruzen and a proud smile grew upon the Hokage's face. “I'm glad to hear that your judging criteria will not change just because of whom I chose you to lead. I was worried that your feelings for Rin might sway you a bit in your decision.” The Hokage knew that the two adults knew to keep their feelings for each other out of the way when it came to dealing with Naruto but wanted to hear Kakashi's take on the whole thing. “If anything this only makes me want to push it harder. I do not want Rin to face the same hardship as we did during the war.. and all because they didn't act like a team. I wouldn't put her through that. ... Not again..””

“She'll back me up on whatever I choose to do. Whether Naruto goes back to the academy, I'm sure she will just step up and make sure the next Jonin is the perfect fit for him. We'll get through this.” Another nod and the two started to leave for some lunch before the children were released to fully meet their jonin in less than an hour. “I'm sure you're excited to be able to spend more time with Rin now that you will be teaching her son, right?” Hiruzen questioned as they walked toward the park to get some simple drinks from a vending machine. “I..” Seemingly thrown off by the question, Kakashi didn't have an answer, causing the male to smirk a bit from how shy the jonin could be. “Listen Kakashi, don't throw away what time you have together just because of the past. You never know how little time you might have together.. “

Hiruzen offered, but Kakashi could only stare up at the sky as his brain communicated with his heart. “We know that better than anyone sir. The bijuu saw to that.. but..” Hirzen gave him a concerned side glance, but didn't even get a look back. “We know what we are to each other. If we die tomorrow, then there are no unsaid feelings for the other. Sure, it'll be depressing and won't be the same ever again, but we each have our lives. We are both lucky to have some time for each other, but we take what we can get. Every little moment is special.” Kakashi finally looked at Hiruzen who was surprised by the words that spilled forth.

He chuckled a bit and gave a nod. “Well, I'm not surprised that you two handle it that way, now.. if we can only get Asuma and Kurenai to admit the same then we can get started in creating the next new generation.” Hiruzen kept walking as Kakashi seemed to flinch at the idea and slowly process what the great Third Hokage just said.

“N-next generation?!”

—

Like the female on the mission she was, Rin strolled quickly up the young Uchiha with her eyes planted fully on him. The mask kept her emotions from being guessed, but Rin also hid them very well while in Anbu black ops mode. Once she was close enough to him, still looking around until she stood a comfortable distance for both of them. The first thing she noticed was how frightened the young Uchiha was upon seeing her for some reason. Sasuke knew it was her, but didn't understand this sort of reaction.

“Sasuke? My little bird, it's okay. It's just me.” Switching from Anbu mode to mother mode with simple removal of her Anbu mask, Rin saw that he didn't get any less nervous and caused the jinchuuriki to look at him with concern. Maybe she wasn't fully clean from her previous medical procedure so probably didn't look the cleanest she ever looked, but she was in too much of a hurry to worry about how she looked at the moment.

“Mm..”She cleared her throat, needing to push the concern from her mind to finish her business there and go back to work as soon as she was able to. ” W-why are you here, Mom?!” The nine-tailed jinchuuriki freaked out seeing his actual Anbu mother, fearing that he was caught in the act of what he was doing. He promised he would be good and not get her called anymore, but she said Sasuke, not his name.

“Have you seen Naruto, little bird? It's an emergency.” Catching onto the fact that he was getting away with his transformation even with someone as powerful as his mother seemed to stroke the blonde's ego, but the words emergency seemed to play at his heart a bit. ” Emergency, what is going on!?” Not seeing him being able to get away with this again, he pushed the words of her worry to maybe try to use this opportunity to his advantage. “No, I haven't seen him. What's the emergency? I can pass along your message if you want.” The hope in the mother Jinchuuriki's eyes faltered when even his classmate hadn't seen him. Though it was about halfway through lunch she wasn't sure where her son went off to.

“Um. No, that's okay. It's something personal. Hmm.” Needing to think of a way to word her phrasing to not embarrass Naruto, Rin thought for a moment while running her hands through her sweaty brown hair. “I have some medicine for him. I suppose he'll understand when he hears it, I hope.” The word medicine echoed through the fake Sasuke's head a few times while trying to figure out what she could mean or why he would need it. But nothing came to mind, but he worked to figure it out all too soon. “Alright. If I see him, I'll let him know.” Spoken calmly, as the real Sasuke would, Rin gave a soft smile and nod as she appreciated what little help she could get in what little time she was allowed.

She could maybe squeeze another ten minutes before the kunoichi would need to run back to work, but wouldn't give up until then. ” I need to get back to Sakura and show how horrible Sasuke can truly be. Then she will have no choice but to fall for me, you know? …. Speaking of horrible Sasuke..” Right as Rin was about to leave, she smiled softly to the Uchiha and reached out her hand to touch his head like she had done multiple times before, the same as she had done with Naruto, but Sasuke pulled away from her hand. However, this was also something he did at times when he wasn't in the mood for that sort of affection from her and caused Rin to chortle under her breath.

“By the way, little bird..” Rin returned her hand to her side as she reached up to place the mask on her face. “Did you enjoy the food Naruto gave you? I wanted to do a big feast for the both of you, but I figured I would wait for your answer.” Sounding muffled behind the mask, Rin’s concern toward Sasuke’s answer to the note piqued Naruto’s curiosity, but he focused on something easy to pick at. He would pick away and kill whatever fake love his mother had for his rival so he was all that in her life. She didn't need Sasuke! Mom only needed Naruto in her life, the jinchuuriki was sure of it.

“ Answer for what?... Hm..” Thinking for a minute, nothing came to mind in that aspect but still wanted to try his hand at swaying his mother more his way than toward Sasuke. If anything this would be great practice to use with Sakura later on. The mother jinchuuriki had her attention fully on what Sasuke was going to say, even staring at him with the mask on when she was supposed to be searching for her son. It wouldn't be hard to see how excited or hopeful she was for his answer if she wasn't hiding it so well. “Yeah, I tried it. And I hated it. It was disgusting.” Speaking with a lot of venom in his tone of voice, Naruto tried to drag the food through the dirt. Even though he loved his mother's cooking.

The effect didn't seem to land on Rin as much as Naruto had hoped as she simply just tilted her head and shrugged. “Mm well, that's too bad. It was a locally caught fish so I'll try a different type later. There was a type from the land of waves I wanted to sample in. I'll cook it up and save you some to see if that makes a difference.” Sounding so reassuring in something so small, it was just food. It wasn't the end of the world if he didn't like it, all that mattered to the mama jinchuuriki was that he tried it. She felt proud of him for trying her cooking. It was like a new experience for both of them.

A loud growl from the Uchiha brought Rin's attention to the fact that he suddenly got frustrated for some reason. “No. Mo- I mean Rin.” A strong urge to cringe from the use of his mother's real name ravaged the jinchuuriki's body, but he fought against it to keep talking. “I don't want any more of your disgusting food. I'm not interested in anything you have to offer me.” The unexpected answer seemed to throw the Anbu female off her game for a moment as it seemed to come out of nowhere. She wasn't in the mindset to handle his flat-out rejection. Especially in a semi-public space and on a day like today.... it was an answer, however, he was far from done.

“I don't want any more of your handouts, Rin. I don't need your help and I don't want it. I never have. So leave me alone.” And those were the words that stabbed her to the core. Unexpected and far from left field. Even Isobu needed to look upward toward his forehead to focus on the pain that seemed to travel through her heart, body, and soul.

The only good piece left from her favorite clan, someone Rin had a really good rapport with and someone she felt she could truly love as one of her children after almost six years together, and he decided now that he wanted to end whatever their relationship was. As if the past didn't matter to the Uchiha and she wasn't involved in his life as much as she tried to be. If a sound for a broken heart was loud enough, it would sound like it had broken off a piece and was just stabbed a thousandfold.

Standing up ever so stiffer than before, Rin placed her hands behind her back as if standing on guard. “Alright, Sasuke. If that is what you so desire, then I can fulfill your request and back off. However, now, I will never really leave you alone. I don't care if you try to kill me, I will never let you end up like your brother. This is your home and you don't need to be alone..” As if a warning, threat, or defeat on her part, Rin backed away as the fake Sasuke seemed to become more nervous and watched his mother disappear into a cloud of mist.

” Brother..?..” Not even realizing what he just truly did, Naruto felt that he had succeeded in breaking the bond between Sasuke and his mother. A grin grew upon the fake Uchiha’s face, and he pumped up his arm with excitement. ” Now I won't have to share and I'll be able to have Mom all by myself. This is perfect, you know!” But the excitement didn't last as he had to run back into the bathroom. “Ugh.. was it stomach medicine for me to take?” He groaned as the copy jutsu broke from him feeling sick. ” I should hurry to get to Sakura. I hope she doesn't eat all my food.. not that I could stomach it right now. But I still want some..”
–

” Find Naruto.. find Naruto..” The jinchuuriki needed to repeat to herself as a slow painful headache started to form in her head. She could control her emotions so easily, but it didn't mean it did hurt the whole time. Her erratic heartbeat was going crazy and taking deep breaths to keep calm was helping only so much, even Isobu became worried from her reaction. ” Maybe he didn't mean it. Something felt off with him. It might be because of becoming a new genin perhaps, yeah.” For once the jinchuuriki was silent regarding her bijuu's attempt to soothe her, but she did give him a nod of acknowledgment. ” Mm.. need to find Naruto. No time to talk about it now… or think about it…”

After another five minutes of searching, Rin started to get panicked for a bit, even finding any trace of her son. He wouldn't leave during lunch, would he? Not when they were supposed to meet their Jonin leaders after lunch and expand his future as a ninja. “Where are you Naruto?”
—

Only because of sheer dumb luck was Naruto able to get the upper hand against the Uchiha, but pure skills that Sasuke was able to get himself out of the binds rather easily. ” Where the hell is he?” He spoke in an angered tone in his mind as he ran around with the same goal as the mother jinchuuriki. Track down Naruto, no matter where he was.

Walking calmly to the sitting benches outside the actual academy, his eyes fell upon the familiar pink hair of his future teammate but were just as quickly ignored in favor of finding his other annoying teammate. Sakura had been nibbling on the food she had been given, but there was still so much that she didn't think she could honestly finish it even if she had an empty stomach. There was no doubt in her mind that Sasuke had planned to share with her, especially with how much food was packed. No doubt!

“Hey, Sasuke! There you are, you bad boy. I was worried you were going to have me eat all your delicious food all by myself..” She held up the bento box toward the Uchiha which caught his attention by how bizarre the situation was. He didn't do that and would have remembered if Naruto had taken the bento that Rin had given him while the young boy had been tied up. “I left you enough to help me finish this up before they call us back to meet our sensei.” She gave him a soft, but very blushing smile as she expected him to join her rather quickly.

Examining the food for a quick moment, that's all it took for Sasuke to catch on that it had to be Naruto’s lunch, but again had no idea why he set it up to share with Sakura. And he just kept walking while searching around for the culprit to their first issues as a team. “H-hey, where are you going?! We don't have time to waste if you truly want to have lunch with me.” Sakura put the bento down and quickly got to her feet to step a bit toward the walking Uchiha. ” Like I have time to eat with you..”

Stopping in his footsteps, Sasuke turned around to give her a side eye for a moment and watched as she held up a note that had been attached to the meal, just like his own did. “Don't forget your note, by the way. I didn't read it in case it was a reminder of some sort.” He looked down at the note, tempted to take it to use it against Naruto in some way. However, he wouldn't ever read it as it was a private matter between Naruto and Rin, just like Sasuke hoped that Naruto wouldn't get involved in what the kunoichi and Sasuke had… he could only hope.

“Where's Naruto?” He questioned with a tilt of his head, watching as the excited smile on the pinkett's face turned into one of discomfort and confusion. He accepted the note from her but just held it in his hand as he tried to figure out what to do with it. “Eh… What does he have to do with anything? Come on, let's eat. Let's enjoy the delicious food you made, and try not to imagine the gross old food that Naruto got stuck with by his crazy mother..” Sakura picked up the bento and the other pair of chopsticks to offer them to him, but held them in her hand as she ate a bit more of the lunch ‘he had made her’. It looked the same as his but had much more fish in it than rice. He didn't think of it as favoritism in any way for the portion sizes, more of what Rin felt each boy would eat more.

“I'm sure he is eating some week-old ramen that he had to make himself because I'm sure that his mother is too busy with whatever her job is. She must be too busy to raise a boy like him. If she was so busy then she shouldn't have adopted him in the first place. She should have just given him back up for adoption when she found out the type of annoying kid he could be. There's no way she could be a good mother with the kind of stunts he pulls in class and around the village. If I have to hear her apologize to you for how Naruto treats you, again, I swear! I will fight her myself.” Speaking so proudly, Sakura kept digging the hole, unbeknownst of what she was saying or even talking about. Sasuke was only half listening to the first part as Naruto's eating habits didn't matter to the Uchiha, but he couldn't help getting his attention peeked when bad words were said about the same person who made the very food Sakura was enjoying and digging into.

Fully turning to scowl at the female, he kept quiet to listen to her complain some more. “Maybe if she had someone to help raise Naruto, then he would know better and know the true meaning of right and wrong. Or maybe if she was his real mother then the motherly instinct in Rin's head would show her that the way she is raising Naruto is way wrong. If I was Naruto I would try to find someone else to raise me. Or maybe be better off by myself. At least growing up by yourself there wouldn't be a chance that I would end up a screw-up like Naruto.” Placing her hand on her hip, Sakura shook her head as if she was right about the whole situation. “Selfish and annoying. And don't get me started on the fact that she always talks to that weird turtle of hers. I mean common, I know Kiba’s clan can talk to dogs and they sometimes talk back, but a turtle? There is no way that thing is as helpful as a dog!”

“You know nothing,” Sasuke spoke under his breath, something Sakura couldn't possibly hear unless she focused on it. “It's better to have someone to watch you. Be there for you instead of getting isolated and completely alone. No one deserves that.” With some spite to the whole situation that was his life, he turned his head and noticed that Rin was seemingly in the distance and heading their way. “You know nothing about their situation. You have no idea about the life you are talking about.” He defended for some reason, slowly turning his head to glare toward the pinkette in disgust. “How lonely life can get when things change overnight and there is only one person who seems to genuinely care about your safety… Not just because of the clan you belong to, but because she cares for him ” She grew a little afraid of why he got so defensive for some reason, even stepping back a bit from the harsh look.

“W-why are you saying these things Sasuke? I don't understand…” Sakura worried as she placed the food back on the bench and tried to clean up, feeling as if this wasn't going the way they were hoping. “Because you're clueless. And even worse, you're annoying. Almost as much as Naruto...” The words struck home for the pinkette and her eyes grew wider with confusion. She thought she was saying the right things to someone who seemed to hate Naruto almost as much as she did, but now she doesn't know anymore. ” More annoying than Naruto?!” The words echoed in her mind as the Uchiha started to walk away from a random female Anbu black ops member. Sakura was in too much shock to process what it meant for someone like Sasuke to go up to someone as high ranking as an anbu member.

The jinchuuriki saw Sasuke and Sakura from a distance, though she watched them for a moment, she kept walking toward the two. Not to speak to Sasuke, but to hope and pray that Sakura had seen her son. If not then she would have to go back to work and face the consequences afterwards. Rin would make it up to Naruto in some way, his choice of course, and within her health and ability. So no ramen for a full week or Rin would end up in his predicament.

Her eyes fell upon the approaching Uchiha and saw him holding some sort of note for her, but she just bowed and quickly walked by him as if he wasn't there. ” Now he's giving back the note I wrote him? Just throw it away and forget I even mentioned any of this.” Unlike how Sasuke acted around Sakura, Rin just walking by him caused Sasuke to follow her movements and blink with curiosity and confusion. It wasn't hard to tell she was in a hurry, but she normally called him his annoying nickname if they saw each other. Something small or quick, but never just as simple as a bow.

“San?” Understanding the important role of being anonymous within the Anbu, Sasuke never tried to use Rin's real name when she had the mask on. Something Naruto failed to do, but he barely ever interacted with her in it as it was. Rin heard her name but didn't stop until she was in front of Sakura who finally caught on that an Anbu black ops member was right in front of her, but Sasuke followed behind to try to talk to her. Or try to figure out what's going on.

“Sakura-blossom, have you seen Naruto?” Rin asked softly behind her Anbu mask, concerned about racking her words, but the younger kunoichi just took a step back in fear from the blood that splattered upon Rin's outfit. “A-ah, no! I promise I didn't do it!” She shouted out which caused Rin more confusion than anything. The jinchuuriki scratched behind her head, trying to figure out why that sort of response, only to see the food bowl on the bench behind her. “You.. you're saying you haven't seen him?” Rin questioned again, taking note of the bento box. And yes the two boxes looked alike that she made to the two boys, Sakura had barely touched the fish in it.

Becoming confused by the random reaction from the pinkette, Rin gazed down at her outfit and waved her hands, trying to ignore the fact that she had been eating the food the mother jinchuuriki had made for her son. “Calm down, Sakura. I'm just looking for Naruto.” The Uchiha came right behind the adult but kept his attention fully on her. “I'm aware you didn't do anything, but I can't tell if you are just trying to mess with me or something.” She murmured a bit as she turned her attention to her son's food. Rin packed him more and even said to share with his crush, however this not seeing him seemed fishy.

Rin went to pick up the food parcel, only for Sakura to get between her and the bench with her head shaking in denial. “Hey, don't touch what isn't yours!” Pulling back in confusion and slight frustration, Rin was trying her best to not take her mask off and try to get an explanation for the whole ordeal, but she didn't have time for that. Nor patience. Luckily Sasuke was there to help in some way. Though Rin probably didn't have patience for him either.

“San..?” Not even giving the pinkette any attention, he stepped next up to Rin and easily saw from her peripherals. ” Hmmp. For someone who wants to be left alone, he sure is persistent, yeah.” The bijuu felt the mix of emotions radiating from his jinchuriki and affecting him just as much. They both just wanted to go back to work. Any place was better than around the school.

“What are you talking about? That is mine. Or well, kind of… ” The mother jinchuuriki questioned as the note that was attached to the box was again fluttered in her face by the Uchiha. She turned to look at the note, sighing rather depressingly, and just grabbed the note from the Uchiha rather aggressively. “I get it Sasuke. You don't want to be bothered. Not much I can do right now until I find Naruto..” She murmured with low confidence as she poofed the unopened note away to the three tails dimensions within her hand in a cloud of mist. “Hm?!” A puzzled look grew upon Uchiha’s face as he tried to figure out where that was coming from.

“San, what are you talking about, crazy turtle Lady? I don't know what this is about” Sasuke repeated some of the words from her note and watched as Sakura just exaggeratingly switched from looking between the two. “What do you mean, ‘this is yours’?! This is Sasuke’s and we were sharing it until Naruto somehow ruined it!” Taking a step back, the jinchuuriki accessed the whole situation and looked at Sasuke who gave a neutral nod to the whole ordeal. It wasn't hard to see the wheels turning in the older kunoichi’s head, Anbu mask be damned.

“Yes, it is what you think it is,” Sasuke reassured the female, causing Rin to look up at the sky with her eyes closed and let out an aggressive mistfil sigh. She quickly leaned forward to place her hands on her knees to match the Uchiha’s height and glared at him, happily, through the two eye holes in the mask. Something he just squinted his eyes back to, but smirked with how fast she caught on. “So.. that wasn't you earlier. I take it you don't want me to leave you alone then? And you don't think that my help is a handout..? And.. you won't turn away my help?” She whispered some words that no one heard and hung her head down in hopeful relief while shaking it at the same time.

Crossing his arms for the moment, he gave the overly confused Pinkett a side glance, then turned his back on her so Rin and he could talk for a quick moment. Why did Sakura have to be there for this talk..? “No. No. And we will talk about the food later. Go get Naruto and give him the letter. I don't know what it says, but he's up to something, and from what I see. Not anything good. And no.. you're annoying, but.. just go find Naruto… ” Whispering as he watched her seemingly stare at the floor for a few moments as relief melted from the jinchuuriki, she slowly stood back up and gave a nod.

“Yeah. Should have figured out where I had seen ‘you’ earlier that something was up…” Grumbling a bit, she looked at the confused pinkette who finished putting up all the food and gave it back to Sasuke as she felt the Anbu member was lying about the whole thing. Rin frowned when Sasuke was handed back the food meant for her son, but chalked it up as a lost cause. She figured Naruto couldn't stomach it either at the moment, but hoped that it wouldn't have gone to a total waste if Sasuke just up and threw it away. Today wasn't even half over and Rin was over it already.

“Thanks, little bird. You have no idea how much I appreciate you…like..” She wanted to keep going but saw the look on Sasuke's face that told her that there wasn't the time or place to repeat anything else. Rin still reached up and patted the boy on the head, causing her hand to get swatted away in annoyance. “Okay! Okay, see you later, San.” He growled out in annoyance while fixing his hair while Rin nodded her head, turned to look at Sakura with a slight wave of her hand, and quickly ran off back to the bathrooms.

The speed used caused the wind around two genin to shift their hair and clothes and even made Sakura gasp out in surprise. “Who the heck was that Sasuke? And why the nicknames?” Sakura questioned as Sasuke quickly ignored her once again. “.... I don't know. Just some Anbu black ops person.” With that, he was curious of sorts and made his way to calmly follow behind Rin to where she had been heading. ” Naruto is going to get it now.”
—

Finally finishing up his bout in the bathroom, the jinchuuriki gasped at how long he had been in there and quickly transformed back into Sasuke while running out of the bathroom. Naruto was in such a hurry that he ran straight past a familiar-looking adult who just happened to be leaning on the wall near the doorway to the bathroom. Rin was shaking the stomach relief medicine in her hand while her other hand held the note she wrote for her son in the other one and both her arms crossed her chest.

As time slowed down, the female's brown eyes showed in the light as Naruto looked up at her, their eyes met and hers followed his running movement, but it didn't take but a few feet more of running for it to process who she just ran by. She paused, shaking the medicine, and tilted her head toward the running shinobi as the Sasuke copy slowed his steps and slowly turned his head to look back at the Anbu black ops member. He became very nervous when Rin just kept leaning and staring at him. He didn't need to see under the mask to know that he had been caught.. and it had only been like five minutes?!

“Uh.. hey Rin. Why are you still hanging around, I thought I told you I didn't want you around me anymore..” He was so unconfident in his own words, even repeating them was a clear giveaway that something was up. The arms across her chest tightened and she clinched tighter against the pills and notes. “......” She had to process how she was going to deal with this coming from one of the few people she trusted in the whole world. And even sick he tried to lie to her. “I'm going to let you walk back into that bathroom and come back out when you feel like telling me the truth.” She murmured as she pushed off the wall to take some steps toward the younger jinchuuriki. This was cruel to everyone involved, but Rin could only think of how mean it was to have to pose as a Uchiha. Especially the clan's past connection with the poor fox.

“I…I don't know what you're talking about.” The copy again stuttered and swallowed nervously when Rin stopped in front of him and glared down at him. “Naruto Uzumaki. Undo this jutsu now.” She spoke rather low as the note became crumpled in her hand and the bottle shook for a bit from her anger. “Woah.. hold on.. okay! Okay, mom.” He undid the jutsu and laughed a bit unsettled about getting caught in his little prank.. if he could call it that. “You caught me. Not bad mom..” He thought laughing it off would ease the tension in the hallway, but Rin didn't budge in the least. “......”

Turning to walk back to the bathroom, Rin opened the door and pointed inside. “inside. Now.” Naruto was a little reluctant to follow because of his plans with Sakura, but something told him that those were completely out of the window from how his mom was reacting. He had never seen her that mad in a very long time. Not even painting the Hokage's got her that made. Annoyed, but not mad.. he grumbled a bit and followed into the room where she closed the door behind her.

He turned around to watch her use her foot to put the toilet seat down and point to it. “Sit.” Again the one-word commands caused Naruto to listen automatically and he just watched her place the medicine on his head. “Stay.” She ordered before pulling out her own water bottle thermos thing from the three-tailed dimension, one she used to keep herself and Isobu hydrated if they were out of reach of a water source.

The blonde didn't move in the slightest, looking up toward the top of his head to guess what was about to come. “I'm in trouble, aren't I?” The question caused Rin to give him a side glance while she filled the bottle up at the sink and walked back over to in front of him. She didn't answer his question, but quickly handed him the water bottle, opened the medicine for relief for his stomach, and watched as he took them while downing plenty of water. He took a few big gulps, but Rin refused to take it back until it was empty. “You need to stay hydrated. It'll hurt, but you need to drink water to help keep up with your body flushing it from your system..”

Thinking that her caring tone might prove he wasn't in trouble that much, Naruto nodded and finished the water bottle before Rin poofed it away in favor of the note she wrote to him. She stared at him, then at the note which caused him to tilt his head in curiosity. “Who's the note for?” Again she debated on answering and shook her head. “Naruto…” Saying his name with such disappointment hurt the blonde more than he thought it would.

“Why? Please tell me why you pulled that stunt with you trying to trick me as Sasuke?” Rin fully pulled off her mask and saw the instant regret that filled the younger Jinchuuriki's eyes. He even looked to the side as he thought of what to say.. being so young, it wasn't hard to see that he hadn't thought of the consequences if he got in trouble.

“I…. I don't know..” He lied and she knew. Naruto was rambunctious and random when it came to some of the stunts he pulled, but he was far from stupid. She crouched down to meet just below his eye line, even causing Naruto to look at her with uncertainty. “Kitsune. I know that's a lie. Just tell me what's going on, please? Do you understand how much those words hurt to hear from someone I care about? It would have the same effects if you said that to me yourself, you know?” She tried to reassure the boy by placing her hand on his knee but Naruto just looked to the side.

“W-what makes him so special? Why do I need to share you, Mom? Sasuke is loved by everyone in the village and I barely get support from so few people.. and only because of what I am..” He turned to face her with conviction in his emotions while she just leaned closer to him as a sign that she wasn't going anywhere. “My little kitsune. You're special too, just in your way. Some people are born with a talent that shines the moment they can walk, while some take some time to show what they can do. You and Sasuke are like that. It might look like Sasuke is loved by a lot of people, but it's different with him.” That was as simple an answer she could give without giving out the Uchiha's full complicated history.

Standing back fully, she reached up and placed her hands on his shoulders to give him a shake for a moment. “I know I'm not always around when you need me. And the same can be said when I try to help Sasuke, but you need to keep in mind Naruto that no one deserves to feel alone in this village.” Naruto rested his chin on her stomach as he stared at her with a slightly annoyed glare, but a strong longing for them to stay right there just a little bit longer. He still slowly processing but did not like the answers she was giving.

“Hmmp.. still not fair…I don't have anyone besides you.. and maybe Iruka sensei..” Naruto grumbled a bit causing Rin to smile down to him while resting a hand on top of his head. “Naruto, Sasuke is by himself just like you. And I want you two to be able to maybe find some sort of friendship with each other if I'm not around anymore. I could die tomorrow and I need to know I can trust you know what to do next in this life.” Rin trusted both boys had a plan in life, but she was afraid that Sasuke’s plans for revenge could end up costing him his life. “Augh, come on Mom. You're going to be around for a long time, you know? Nothing can bring you down.” Naruto tried to reassure the female, but she just sighed a bit. No one knew that reality was a bitch more than Rin did.

“Be that as it may, my little Kit. You know life as a ninja is never an easy one. I might seem powerful, but there are always people more powerful than me. Like you, son. You and Sasuke will surpass each other by a long shot and probably never even realize it. And Sasuke might seem cocky to you, just like you might seem annoying to him. But try looking at life from his shoes. You'll probably see things a lot differently than how you do now. Besides.. things might get more involved with him soon if things go according to plan.” Hugging his head to her stomach, she rested the note on his head that she had written to him earlier and stepped back.

He grabbed it, opened it rather curiously, and gasped when it was a really bad drawing of the jinchuuriki holding hands. Another corner hand was a turtle that looked like Isobu fighting.. or wrestling against the fox which he assumed was the fox. There were some words about how she loved him and he read the words he had planned on sharing his food with Sakura. Or how his mother put it. ‘go enjoy some lunch with your girlfriend,’

“I love you, kitsune. The medicine should help you feel better enough to meet with your jonin. We will talk tonight when I get home… it's going to be a long shift I feel.” Naruto saw her blow him a kiss, but he grinned behind the paper. ” Eheh not in trouble.” He repeated a few times in his mind, but Rin tilted her head as if she could read it. “By the way, you're grounded. No ramen for a week, you're going to have to pick up some extra chores, maybe even cook me dinner. And.. you are going to bathe Isobu. Scrub and all.”

He gasped out with regret and grumbled some words. Rin would probably buy him ramen.. maybe .. but only once she was sure he made it up to her. She knew he learned his lesson the moment he got caught, and probably more when he saw how it affected the one person he cared about most in life, but he had to learn something. And he should thank her for not ever showing how big Isobu is. It would take him all night to bathe the bijuu if that was the case.. “ugh.. love you too, mon.” He murmured as Rin left the bathroom and closed the door behind her.

It wasn't hard to catch on to Sasuke matching her pose like earlier, but Rin saw it rather easily. “So how did you get caught?” She questioned the boy who chose to walk with her for a bit while trying to leave the facility to go back to work even putting the Anbu mask back on along the way. “Clones. I don't know how I felt in the first place.” Sasuke admitted with his hands in his pockets, easily feeling his note in his pocket.

“By the way, I'm interested in what you have planned for food or whatever to fill that training quota. You still owe me the past two times, so I'm on board if it works into your busy schedule.” They stopped for a moment and Rin was already just thinking about how late she was for work. “Yeah… Naruto mastered clone jutsu. Just more advanced than even most Jonin can pull off and yeah…” Sounding kind of bummed about what shit show she is returning to, the aura around the jinchuuriki quickly changed when his words processed in her mind.

“Woah! What? Just like that? Awesome!” Sounding so exciting, Rin hesitated for only a moment before she quickly wrapped her arms around the young genin and picked him up in a strong turtle hug. “Just let me plan it and I'll let you know, little bird. This is exciting, you have no idea. The future is going to be so different! Just wait and see! Like our own little family!” Sasuke struggled in her arms to be put down and glared at her when she finally did. “Stop.. with the hugging..” he grumbled as he fixed his clothing causing the jinchuuriki to chortle a bit. “Yeah, yeah. It's a work in progress too.”

Bowing for a bit, she started to walk away before knowing the right distance to disappear at full speed. “Hey, San. By the way, your food was good but cold… And I got stuck on Naruto’s team.” Again his words had the power to make the jinchuuriki stop causing her to jump in excitement and take off at full speed, even causing Sasuke to gasp at the power behind it. He tried to study her like his brother used to whenever they were growing up, but unlike Itachi, Sasuke never had the chance to interact with her on the same level as Itachi. Anbu to anbu verses Anbu to genin. Friendship to friendship, versus a wish for familyship.

Sasuke turned to walk back to class as lunch started to wrap up.

” This is amazing! That means they can become brothers more easily, if Sasuke agrees, than if they were separate! I just wonder who their Jonin leader will be!” Rin shouted excitedly as she jumped around her bijuu's body with excitement, but Isobu could only tilt his head a bit. ” My brother is going to give me a bath…?

Chapter Text

She didn't mean to come home so late in the evening, however, the surgeries the jinchuuriki were stuck with were nonstop. And they weren't just simple ones like some stitches or bone resettlings, they would have been fatal if Rin made a single mistake. Luckily for the Anbu members, they came to the right female for the right job, she put those medical skills and years as a precise killer to good use when dealing with issues she was handed.

Though she was granted time to go home, they did warn her that she might have the same amount of issues the next day as the missions were building up for some reason. Rin would never complain, and she was grateful for the time she was able to spend with her son in the time they were together, but she wanted to see him before he fell asleep.. especially when she wanted to hear all about who his supposed jonin teacher would be. Hell, she couldn't wait to meet her friends' teams as well. If they were anything like the perfect fit that Maito got, then the lineup must be special. A level of speciality that only the third Hokage could think of and pull off. An Uchiha and a jinchuuriki in a team. Clever, risky, but very clever. Also… who was their third member as well.

Even in a mighty bustling village as big as Konoha, the huge difference in foot traffic during the day and night was very easy to see. Well on the surface, the difference was obvious, but if you looked deep enough, there were always plenty of ninjas around to protect their home village. Even if they weren't exactly easy to detect or see, it didn't mean the devoted Anbu/Root members were just allowed to sleep while threats lingered around every corner.

It was mostly calm during the night in the Leaf village as most businesses were closed, minus the drug and liquor stores and most other ninjas were allowed to go home to their families if they weren't on a mission. Someone who didn't understand the concept of night and day was a member of the root organization. It wasn't hard for them to tell the time or see what cycle of the day they currently resided within, but for the most part they had no real concern for time. It was a concept made for people with plans or family/friends and that was another concept that meant nothing to the foundation. They worked from the shadows but right under everyone's noses to blend in with normal society and no one was the wiser.

It wasn't the easiest lifestyle but for those who were chosen for the job and accepted, the ninjas involved in the organization found a different kind of worth in their jobs. They didn't get the acknowledgment they deserved since they didn't technically exist, but knowing they helped set the footwork for the future generations and keep the current generation safe guided a lot of Root members. At least that's what drove the three-tailed jinchuuriki when she was a part of their ranks for six years, but well, that was the three-tails jinchuuriki's old life after losing her sensei and her jinchuuriki teacher, Lady Kushina. Losing so many lives because she failed to protect them all against Kurama's attack. But that was old news. She couldn't be manipulated anymore using those horrible memories and past failures any more to work for the root organization.

Getting back to her old identity as Rin Nohara and no longer San of the root foundation and slowly understanding the concept of time was very difficult. Living with an immortal being that was thousands of years old didn't help either, but they were both trying to make it work. Clocks helped and sleeping when it was dark also helped get their sleeping schedule back on track. Compared to the work she put in with full weeks, sleep a day, then go again at a time the bijuu and jinchuuriki would stay awake. Good thing they were much younger at the time. They had the energy back then, and maybe a matching destructive mindset, but luckily that changed after joining the Anbu black ops under the third Hokage's reign.

Little comforts in life took on more meaning when Rin was transferred from under Danzo's control to that of the Third Hokage. Such as having a slightly normal schedule and being able to return home in a decent hour versus not knowing what the day or even night might look like under Lord Danzo's reign. Home in the root foundation was wherever she felt comfortable enough to sleep in the many rooms below the ground, while Lord Third made sure she had a proper ceiling over her head and square meals to eat when not on missions. Rin's mental health seemed important to the third while Danzo forced her physical health to stay in tip-top shape. A power pet would be put down if it started to show signs of its age. Or a weapon can be replaced if it starts to show nicks and dulling.

Another not-so-guilty pleasure of the three-tails jinchuuriki was she was able to come home to see her smiling son's face every time they were able to see each other. Her little kitsune was always there to greet her at the door whenever she got home or the other way around and it gave Rin something to look forward to after a really hard mission and even allowed the young boy someone to bond with in his lonely apartment. It started as a final foundation mission, but quickly spiraled into something Rin didn't want to ever end. The two jinchuurikis were a messy bunch, but Rin loved her nine-tailed jinchuuriki son and would never let anything happen to him.

Even the great news of her kitsune son recently finally graduating from the academy to become a genin just added to the proud mother's plate. Rin couldn't get enough of Naruto's luck starting to change and soon he would become a full-fledged ninja. Of course that was up to his new Jonin sensei. Speaking of which...

Trying to guess what time it was, it had to be around 11, and could only curse at herself for being so slow with those surgeries. They weren't the type she could just speed up, but tried to lie to herself about it being possible. Of course, she wasn't the type to not challenge her skills, so would think about some of the procedures throughout the next little bit. It helped with her memory and provided some possible feedback if she experiences those situations again.

With a slight yawn, the jinchuuriki was ready to scrub the day's kick off her body and curl into bed to sleep, though she definitely would talk to Naruto a bit if he was in a chatting mood to get an update on the day. It had been a long time since she worked so late but hoped that the nine-tailed jinchuuriki didn't think she was still mad at him for the day's earlier shenanigans.

One last step up the familiar steps to the small apartment Rin has called home for the past almost more than six years, she rubbed her shoulder to loosen it a bit, easily opened the door, and let out another exhausted sigh when the world seemed to completely disappear for a moment and she felt she could relax. Even though they couldn't be who they were, in those four walls at least Isobu could come out and just actually ‘’be’ in the house. More freedom than he could ever ask for in the mist village.

On cue, the three-tailed bijuu quickly summoned himself on the wooden step as Rin took off her sandals and just allowed himself to be picked up by Rin using his three tails as leverage. She placed him upon her shoulder and ran her fingers through her hair to try to make it look like she hadn't just busted her butt all day. “We should be quiet so we don't wake up Naruto, but I don't want him to think that I'm still mad at him.” The jinchuuriki thought as she turned to look at the closed door to her son's bedroom. The inner debate was strong, but the good seemed to outweigh the bad at that moment. ” He's still young, he'll easily go back to sleep until he has to get up. Besides it'll make it even for the nights that Kurama kept us up, yeah.”

With a slight chortle, she shook her head as she turned to go into the kitchen/her bedroom instead of waking up her child. Rin would just wait till she was ready for bed to wake him up and try to make it as brief as possible so Naruto could just get his sleep. “It's not the same and you know it.” She whispered back while slipping her headband from her forehead and Isobu flipped on the light, with the use of one of his three tails, for them to see without needing to rely on their eyes to try to see in the low dark. It could be done, but they paid that bill for a reason.

An audible grumble with some incoherent words came from within the kitchen as Rin just stood there staring down, with her hands on her hips, as her son hunched over the table, all set up in his nightwear. Naruto sat with his head placed upon his crossed arms and it was obvious that he had been sleeping for quite a while as he lifted his head to show that his cheek was completely red from the constant pressure. A breathy laugh from the female caught Naruto's attention as Rin walked over to lean over on the other side of the table toward the sleepy jinchuuriki, even Isobu sliding off so as not to slip completely off and onto the floor. “Meh.. mom?” Naruto murmured as he squinted his eyes and turned his head on his arms to glance over at her smiling face. “What time is it?”

Even the three-tailed duo didn't want to know that answer. “It's late, Naruto.” She reassured the boy while finally placing her headband on the kitchen table and pulling back to stand back up. “Were you waiting for me to get home? I was planning on coming to say goodnight before I turned in myself. It probably would have been more pleasant too.” Not exactly a lie, but even more time asleep would have been better than a light-to-face type of wake-up.

Murmuring again, the blonde slowly sat up and blinked a few times to try to look at what time it was, only to grumble about her coming home so late. “Yes. I wanted to talk to you about my day. It was crazy, you know.” If not half asleep, the kunoichi was sure he would be shouting the last words. “I'm sure it was and the medicine helped you feel better, right?” A simple nod as he rubbed his eye and slowly got to his feet to walk around the table to the changing female. “Yeah.. much better. Thank you.”

He shuffled his feet while Rin unstrapped the irritating Anbu vest and threw it onto the floor, leaving her wearing her sleeves black undershirt, even quickly discarding her armbands and gloves to run her fingers over the red spots where the straps had rubbed against her scars. Just another sign she had overdone when she was too busy to readjust them. The relief that struck her once it was removed was only doubled when she felt the arms of her child being wrapped around her waist. She turned to face Naruto as he rubbed his cheek into her stomach area.

Even at thirteen years old, he could pull this off but give it a few years and a few extra inches taller and they were going to need to rethink the hugging approach. Rin rubbed the back of his head and pulled back to look down to look at his closed eyes. “Come on, kitsune. Let's get you to bed. We can talk tomorrow before you leave in the morning.” ” We need sleep too, yeah. If not then we might get sick, hm.” Isobu spoke out and watched the two jinchuurikis walk down the hall toward Naruto's bedroom. “Mm.. no. Gotta get up at five am. Already have an alarm set, but.. mm.. survival test…”

When Rin opened the door she saw a broken training dummy spread all over the floor making a mess that she couldn't make sense of. She tilted her head, just kicking the contents with her foot as a problem for later and for Naruto to simply clean later. ” You're not supposed to use kunai on a training dummy… especially indoors..” Thinking to herself, it was too late to say anything about it, and guessed that Naruto figured out his mistake as well. Though he fought hard, Naruto was starting to lose that battle against the sleep monster.

“So much to.. say.” He murmured while still accepting to lay down in the bed and allowed Rin to tuck him in. She squatted down and rubbed her hand against his cheek, causing him to glare at how cold her hands always got, but put his blanket as a barrier between the two so she could touch him but not wake him up from the shock. “Fine then, how about you tell me who your third teammate is and who your sensei is? We can talk more about it when we get home later.” Rin offered as a middle ground to allow Naruto's mind to settle enough to sleep once again.

“Sasuke and Sakura are on my team… and... I don't like my sensei. He seems like a know-it-all.” The young blonde grumbled a bit while nuzzling into his comfy pillow. Rin tilted her head with pleasant curiosity about who it was that was tasked with caring for a diverse team. “Well, at least you can spend more time with your girlfriend. Now who is this guy that seems to be a know-it-all?” Pulling her hand back, she stood fully back up to slip out of the room once Naruto was asleep. He didn't even have the energy to speak about Sakura but might bring it up later.

“He couldn't even dodge an eraser. Not sure if he is a jonin or not.” Naruto mumbled, causing Rin to shake her head at her son's antics. “... What he gets.. for being late, you know.” Trying to get a picture of who it could be, she tried her best but was too focused on her son's words to form an idea of who it was. There were so many new faces in Konoha and its military forces were huge, she couldn't possibly know everyone in the village… Though she did try her best to get to know new faces that came into the Anbu, even that was a lost cause when some of them didn't last the week.

“He has no dreams for the future, didn't feel like telling us anything about who he was, and that he has lots of hobbies. Just so stuck up…” Another grumble. “Only know his name. Kakashi Hatake.. such a stuck-up name.” He grumbled as Rin's eyes grew for a bit when hearing that name.

Looking down at her chest for a moment then back at the sleeping jinchuuriki, she reached up and patted his covered cheek. “Good night my kitsune.” She whispered only for Naruto to grumble one last thing. “I promise I won't fail.. won't get sent back to the academy. I promise.” He nuzzled into his pillow and the mother jinchuuriki could only shake her head. “Just do your best Naruto. That's all I ask.”
—

Once back inside the kitchen, the jinchuuriki and bijuu just stared at each other as Rin began to completely change. “The cruel irony. Or does Lord Hiruzen have a plan that I may see? I never would have thought that Kakashi would have been given the role of Jonin leader for Naruto… I can probably guess what he was doing to be late though.” As she stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom, her eyes fell upon the Chidori scars, and had to grip the sink as her body shook while being bombarded by flashing memories of that fateful night.

” We have moved on from this. We have worked so hard to make things better between us. But why…?” Clenching her eyes shut and letting out a breathy mistfil sigh, the jinchuuriki turned her head to keep herself from seeing herself in the mirror again and hopped straight into the shower. Her mind went to different places as something she would debate while she stood in the shower to allow the water to soothe her body and soul, only to press her face against the cool tile. '' We have no power to change this. But it feels like you don't want to change this, hm?” Isobu looked at the female through the closed glass door and knew she was constantly rubbing her shoulder as she began to remember parts of her past.

“I would never want to change this. I trust Kakashi with my life and the third Hokage has a plan and I'll follow whatever that may be, I just…” Even speaking under the loud water of the shower, the two had clear communication no matter how they spoke. ” It's a lot, I know, yeah. The fact that Naruto doesn't connect the two of you guys is strange as he should see the resemblance in the team photo you have, but maybe that can work to our advantage?” Trying to keep from getting stressed for no reason, Rin slipped into her sleeping kimono once she was done and picked up Isobu to look at him, though she frowned the whole time. “I don't know. Our world is getting smaller Isobu. More people are figuring out who you are. I just dread the day Naruto does... let alone our connection to his parents..” The jinchuuriki decided to go to bed without really eating much as the stress of it all was too much for her.
—

A few hours passed and Naruto hugged his mother goodbye for his first mission as a possible genin! Rin only murmured her love and her acceptance of whatever outcome. They would get through it as a family… and stuff mid-sleep as she tossed and turned most of the night but finally managed to calm herself enough to kind of doze off.

Holding her pint-sized bijuu tight in her arms, the three tails jinchuuriki was careful of how tight she held him so the spikes didn't puncture her already toughened skin, but she didn't care regardless. All she cared about as she slept was that they were both safe. Blood and cuts were the least of her worries as Rin had way worse on her body and the little ones would heal and disappear after a while anyway. She never slept too hard during her life in the Foundation, but now that she was just an Anbu black ops medical member, Rin and Isobu were forced to live a peaceful life. She was more tasked with the medical side of the Anbu's and it was safer for everyone involved and showed that Rin was not a weapon that Danzo had turned her into for so many years.

At least the different medical cases kept the jinchuuriki interested enough to keep Isobu from going crazy as well. It was boring, but much safer as well. "There is someone at the door." Speaking in a softened tone to his jinchuuriki as to try to keep her calm, Rin mumbled something and slowly opened her eyes to look at the turtle. " Who the heck could be visiting at a time like this, yeah?" There was a knock at the front door, but she could hear the faint sound of a bell. That part must have been in her dreams because there was no way someone would bring something like a bell if they were trying to sneak up on her. "Is it wishful thinking that they might go away if we ignore them?" The jinchuuriki whispered back, still a little out of it before letting the bijuu go and rubbing her eyes of the sleepiness she was feeling.

"Maybe Naruto got in trouble, yeah?" The spikey bijuu questioned, but the jinchuuriki just muttered softly to herself. "Then why... Why would they knock so softly if that was the case? If it was an emergency then they would be banging like crazy.." Rin parted her chocolate brown eyes to allow them to get used to the barely nonexistent light within the kitchen. "Besides, Naruto just went to the training grounds, I doubt he would do something to mess up becoming a ninja like that. Especially.. so early in the morning...I need that energy if he pulls something off this early with such little sleep." Colorful parts of Isobu's shell were detectable as she released her hold on his shell and slowly sat up as she tried to get the energy back from the busy day the two had before finally falling asleep. She was going to need to rely on energy pills if this was the case.

The person at the door managed to break in without alerting the power duo, but it wasn't a step that the jinchuuriki thought they would have to deal with. Even worse, it seemed like they had snuck into the pitch-black apartment, opened two sets of doors, and all without making a single sound the whole way through. Isobu slid down onto her lap while Rin could easily tell she pushed herself yesterday, it didn't help that she might have had a few nightmares during the night, but the jinchuuriki’s senses felt completely cloudy at the moment.

Taking a deep inhale, Rin caught a strange, familiar, but nice scent that fully awoke the duo and alerted them to someone in the two jinchuuriki's apartment. It woke the female up even more than before but calmed strangely too. However even when calmed, her mind couldn't place it but her heart could and it even skipped a beat from the feeling.

Another movement and the scent got stronger and the bell sound went off again. Isobu lifted his head to see who it was, knowing off the bat who it was from putting two and two together but chose not to say anything as his feelings for the intruder weren't exactly simple to put words to. ” Something smells nice..” Same could be said about the three-tailed jinchuuriki, but human relationships were always strange to the bijuu. But it wasn't hard to tell that this surprise visitor wasn't a threat based on Isobu not reacting negatively or altering his jinchuriki in any way.

” It's your lover, Rin.” Speaking rather irritated, but more for the sake that the bijuu didn't trust that many humans besides Rin, and a little bit of Naruto. She placed her hand on her forehead to clear her head, while giving a few shakes, as that scent made her react in an opposite way than a normal Anbu Black ops member would. It caused her to be calm but also let down her guard as the scent came from someone who meant her no harm and would die to keep her safe. The ultimate way to kill the jinchuuriki if they managed to copy it.

“Mm? Lover? What?” Murmuring under her voice, a small grunt, almost like a short chuckle, caused the jinchuuriki to drop her hand from her forehead to her lap once Isobu scooted further down the bed and fully out of her lap. She tilted her head and squinted up to look at the source of the annoying noises, calming smells, and patient manners. It didn't take a genius to connect two and two, and figure out who it was that came to visit her. “Lover, huh? That's new.” The visitor spoke in a whisper as his teammate just leaned in a bit to look at her face in the low light. “Another new title for me to carry, huh Rin?”

Her chocolate brown eyes focused on the mask-wearing individual with a slight squint before leaning forward toward his leaning body but grew a softened blithed smile upon her lips. So he wasn't going to correct what she just misspoke, Rin could play with that, though it did cause her cheeks to grow warm from that idea. “Oh, so you're my lover. I don't know where Isobu came up with that idea. None whatsoever.” Whispering back cheekily, she gave a slight chortle herself only to sigh and yawn. “Oh, so the demon thinks we're lovers? That is strange indeed.” The Jonin leader followed along with the joke only to turn around and sit down next to her thighs on the bed, while Isobu was forced up against the wall.

A slight hiss came from the bijuu and he shook his head at the human male's sudden appearance, acting as if he could just walk in like that and run to the place… Kakashi could because Rin allowed it and Naruto wasn't home, but Isobu didn't agree with that simple idea at all. He would let it slide since it hadn't happened in a long time, but the turtle would prefer for it not to become a normal ordeal. ” Hmmp, too crowded.” With a click of his beak, the bijuu disappeared into her body and gave the two adults some privacy.. well as much as the bijuu could ignore that is…

Shifting over toward the wall, Rin pulled her legs up to her chest, wrapped her arms around her knees, rested her head on them, and leaned on them to watch as Kakashi shimmed back to sit back against the wall. Each movement caused that ching sound from earlier, but the jinchuuriki couldn't put the image to the sound. “Hello Captain Kakashi, how may I help you today, sir?” Acting so formal and still so playful, even in her tired state, a small blush formed on her cheeks just by having him there.

“You can drop the captain part, Rin. You know I've been out of the Anbu for years now. There is no need to keep calling me that.” He sounded so distant with that idea causing Rin to chuckle a bit, but nod respectfully to his kind request. “That would make sense, I believe there is a rule in the book that says that Captains and their subordinates can not have any sort of intimate relationship of any kind. So…” Kicking the blanket off her feet, the kunoichi moved onto her knees and moved to settle down by sitting against the wall just like her teammate. “If you were still a captain, then we couldn't even look at each other in the outside world. We'd be in so much trouble if we got caught. Such a bad rule to break.” She murmured in a still joking tone, as she closed her eyes, rested her head against the back of the wall, and faced her face toward the ceiling.

They sat with a few inches between the two, so very respectable for two teammates. Just sitting next to each other. So innocent. So pure.

They both just rolled their eyes at the bull the jinchuuriki just spurred out... “Like we always followed that rule.” She murmured and looked up at him with a very content smile while Kakashi crossed his arms over his chest with a shake of his head. “You were never a subordinate of mine Rin. So I don't think we ever broke that kind of rule. But.. It didn't stop us from almost getting caught a few times, I guess.” Kakashi admitted As if coming off a little cheeky on the whole thing, Rin watched as he began to dig for something on the side of his person.

“You were the one who wouldn't listen.”
“And you never told me to stop, Rin.”
“Multiple times, Mr. Copy Ninja. Maybe you couldn't read my thoughts or lips when your face was too preoccupied most of the time...”
“You have the power to stop me any time you want to. I never forced you.”
“No, but you can be pretty damn convincing, you know, Kakashi..”
“And you could always take us to that dimension of yours if anyone ever got too close.”
“Yeah, and those two times were enough. I promise if Tenzo had seen us, I wouldn't have heard the end of it…Probably wouldn't even today.”

They argued and flirted in their strange way until Rin needed to look away for a moment. Needing to cover her mouth from another yawn when her exhaustion caught up with her once again, Kakashi lifted his elbow and arm as an invite to Rin to come close as he unclipped something from the side of his body. An invite she slowly leaned into with some slight curiousness on what the Jonin leader had brought her. “Did you bring me a present? It has been a while. And not even a visit after dealing with Mizuki.” He rested his arm behind her back and pulled her by her hips to pull her body flush against his body. His warmth compared to her cold-blooded skin felt so refreshing that Rin couldn't lean against his side. She instantly slid down on the bed with her head resting on his thigh, lying on her back on her small bed, and looked up at him. Maybe even planned to sneak in a nap with him as her pillow if he hadn't needed to go so soon

The jinchuuriki was like putty in his hand, but it wasn't hard to see that she wasn't having the best night's sleep because of the bags under her eyes and the fact that she kept yawning. She truly was comfy in his presence and didn't need to hide her exhaustion. “Mm, no I didn't bring you a gift. I need something from you, Rin. Something important. And don't act like you couldn't handle Mizuki, even if Naruto did all the hard work.” With some regret, he watched as the jinchuuriki rested her eyes for the moment while managing to free the source of the changing noise.

Letting out a content sigh, the kunoichi couldn't help but feel so much safer with just the little bit of time spent with the jonin leader. As if he chased all the nightmares away and would keep her safe.. if only seeing his younger self wasn't what occurred in her nightmares. ” Gods, I've missed you.”

Her eyes opened partly to look up at the bell that he pulled from his pants side and fully opened her eyes to catch on to what she was looking at. With a tilt of her head, she reached up and poked it rather gently with her finger to allow the soothing sound to ring out again. “Oh yeah. You need my bell to complete the set for the training exercise, huh?” Pushing up at an angle, Rin looked up at the picture on the wall, noticing right off the bat that it was tilted toward Obito instead of completely straight like she had left it. “Hmm.” She looked at Kakashi before flipping over on her stomach and reaching her hand into the sleeve of the kimono she was wearing.

“Let's see..” It wasn't as if she had lost something so important to the two of them, she just hadn't dug for such an item in so long she needed to remember where she had put it. Again she flipped onto her back and produced her bell between her two fingertips, gently tinging it against the bell that Kakashi held in his by the string. “Heh, the set is complete once again. Maybe.. maybe for the last time?” The jinchuuriki questioned in a hopeful time while dropping the bell part to hold the string between her fingers, Kakashi held up his next to him and they both just stared as if they were both lost in thought of the memory.

Both were determined as they looked at the bells and remembered the time so many years ago when they had first received them from their sensei before all the tragedy happened.

—

Managing to get out of the house while the very pregnant nine tails jinchuuriki rested for possibly the last time in the future, the great Fourth Hokage took advantage of the calm before the storm. He had already dismissed his wife's bodyguard from his important successful mission to protect the jinchuuriki during her pregnancy and already saw that the three-tailed jinchuuriki's future home was still in the process of being prepared for her in the future.

Rin had been released from the hospital only a few weeks prior, but it wasn't hard to see that she was having a little hard time adapting back to life as a jinchuuriki, let alone as a normal shinobi. He has made little progress in getting his student to open up to him, and even to Kushina, if her demon is giving her any issues as the sooner they react the better. Though it was surprising to find they barely had any issues after getting the damaged jinchuuriki, a better seal was placed upon her body to control the three tails. It just proved that Kushina's positive words of love, and being in a better mental place as of late really did cause the jinchuuriki to become stronger than their bijuu. No matter how broken they call themselves.

Once baby Naruto was born, Rin would help out where she could and then go to live in her place. And even planned to return to doing missions under Minato's careful choice of missions. She might have been a weapon now, but he didn't see her like that. She would forever be his favorite healing kunoichi and hadn't heard her saying anything about wanting to change her role on the battlefield. Medical kunoichi first, jinchuuriki second.

They could focus on tapping into this newfound power for the three tails bijuu later, for now, Team Minato had their attention on the upcoming baby!

“Sensei, where are we going so early? Shouldn't we be finishing up plans for Naruto?” The younger jinchuuriki questioned as she simply followed behind her leader, with only a slight idea of where they were going, but didn't want to just assume. A small chuckle came from the powerful blonde as he looked up toward the Hokage Rock while making their way past on the way to their mysterious destination. “No, it's okay Rin. We are as prepared as we are going to be. I know you are excited to be an aunt, aren't you?”

Tilting her head down to listen to him speak, Rin looked down at the back of his Hokage robe, listening to the occasional bell ring, plus the direction they were going, Rin couldn't help but put two and two together. This must have been a planned training course for the two of them. ” We must be going to the training grounds, but am I even able to perform a bell training exercise?” Falling silent for a moment, her eyes seemed to darken for a moment, even reaching up to rub her shoulder, over the long black shirt she normally wore growing up and feeling the Chidori scars underneath to keep herself grounded in the painful reality. “Rin?” Minato spoke out her name a few times while they kept walking until she snapped out of her mental funk. Those had happened less and less in the past few months, but still sadly happened.

He looked at her with concern with his head turned back while she walked behind him, quickly catching on long ago that she would stop walking sometimes when in those depressing stages. Luckily he learned to tag the female the second the three tails bijuu had caused him issues and managed to slip away from him, but that wouldn't happen again. “H-huh? Oh.. oh yes, yes sir. I'm so excited to see a baby version of you running around.” Quickly her eyes turned softer and she smiled one of those fake smiles she grew to wear so people would stop worrying about her. The problem was they didn't work much on those close to her, though sometimes it was just easier to drop it and not try to force her to feel better…

“Don't worry. You'll be a great aunt to Naruto. I'm sure you'll be there for him, no matter what happens.” Smiling softly, Minato saw that her emotions turned more positive and she even nodded to his words. “Yeah. You're right.”

Just like she guessed, they made their way to the training grounds, but they walked in the peaceful silence of the morning. Everything was the same as the multiple times they had all been there before, but there was something different to the whole area. Something very obvious as the other visitor was someone the fourth Hokage called upon personally.

Hearing her stop for a moment as the jinchuuriki caught sight of her other teammate, Kakashi Hatake, who was facing Obito's grave, Minato turned to look at her. It was only a few moments, but she quickly walked past her sensei to go and join Kakashi next to the grave. They both knew they could gain comfort from their fallen comrades’ graves, however, Rin wasn't sure why either of them was there in the first place. Aside from just following her sensei rather willy-nilly the whole time.

Kakashi knew she had shown up the moment both she and their sensei got close enough, however, he just deadpanned toward the female as she got closer to his side. Her eyes didn't leave Obito's grave as she got closer, however once she stood next to the male she gave him a softened smile and grew rather curious about his sudden appearance at their same destination. “Let me guess, sensei asked you here, Kakashi?” The female questioned as she gave him a small side glance while placing her hands together to pray to the gods above and Obito to continue to watch over them. “Yeah, I wasn't doing much anyway.” Sounding so nonchalant about it, but speaking in a low tone, he just shrugged his shoulders and watched her pray for the moment.

They both knew he was released from his guard duty for Lady Kushina, meaning they wouldn't be seeing each other much for a while. It wasn't like they saw much during the few months since she had been awake and was training under Kushina and Minato to control the three tails, but she did like to sometimes seek him out during some downtime as a slight game to improve both their skills. Though they wouldn't be seeing each other much in the future, Rin promised she would get better and start doing missions soon…
maybe even think about joining the Anbu too if their sensei would allow it but those words were never spoken out loud…

” I know you were visiting my old grave… I wish I could help you more than the damage I caused you Kakashi.” With a frown and a bow of her head toward the grave, the kunoichi finished her prayer and turned her attention to her teammate. “Yeah. Same.” They seemed fine on the outside, but it wasn't hard to see they were both slightly mentally preoccupied with their painful pasts. Something that would take longer than a few months to get past. Probably both were thinking about what Kakashi had said at the grave, while Rin had been there to visit her mother's grave, hiding behind the Hokage memorial to stay out of site and nearby enough to be close enough to hear what he said and not be noticed.. and then that mysterious masked man was there, but that was a different conversation.

Just as Kakashi was about to open his mouth to speak about something else on his mind, their attention was pulled back to their sensei calling their names. “Okay, do you guys want to know why I called us all here today?” The two shinobi turned back to their sensei and began to walk to join his side. “Are we doing a bell training exercise? I don't think we can properly do that without a third person. And I'm not getting tied to the post either.” And Obito and the three tails didn't count into the equation by a long shot.

Meeting them halfway, Minato shook his head while gathering the bells off his hip to hold in front of the two. “No, we're not doing a bell exercise. You are correct, Rin. It's not the same without a third person and besides I don't think you'd be up to the task to keep up with me and Kakashi, just yet Rin, if that was the case.” Saying it as kindly as possible and full of love, the sensei spoke the obvious and it didn't matter much to the chunin and Anbu member. However, Kakashi watched as Rin looked down at her chest and then to the side toward Obito's grave.

With a quick turn of her head and a genuine smile on her face, she nodded a few times. “Not yet. But just wait. I'll make it back to my chunin level. And then I'll shoot for being an Anbu member just like Kakashi!” Sounding so excited with her first time saying her plan, Rin seemed sure that was the path she wanted to go. And only because she wasn't sure what else there was for her in the world. Amazing what happens when you plan to die one moment, only to wake up a year later and things are completely different…

Minato's eyes gazed at the jinchuuriki rather curiously on her future path and even looked down at her body to think if that might be a good fit. While Kakashi's eye grew wider as he thought of Rin putting herself in harm's way just because he makes it seem so easy, does not mean it is simple child's play. ” N-no Rin you belong in the public eye. Someone like you deserves to be happy in the light, not drawn to work in the shadows because of me..” The two younger shinobi looked at each other, but Rin's smile faulted a bit when regret seemed to cross Kakashi's face. “ … or maybe not..” She muttered and turned to look back at Minato with regret. ”I… I shouldn't have said anything.”

” As long as we don't end up in the hospital again, then go for the anbu, yeah. The three tails bijuu spoke up as he hated the cold environment of the hospital, almost as much as the constant need to interact with the scary nine-tailed jinchuuriki. Even sealed, the three tails tried to push his will on his jinchuuriki, just like he did when needing to stop his jinchuuriki from trying to kill herself… again…

Looking to the side and at the ground, the jinchuuriki rubbed her stomach when her bijuu spoke out but she just ignored its words of strange encouragement. ” Yeah.. no hospitals..”

Another ring from the bells as Minato split the two and held one out for both of them. One that Kakashi took right away rather curiously, and Minato had to dingle a bit to get the kunoichi to look at him. “I like your plan, Rin. The Anbu might not be the place for you when you get better, but let's focus on one thing at a time, alright? There's no real hurry. Not while we'll be busy helping with Naruto and Kushina, of course.” Slowly turning her head to stare at the bell, she weakly held out her hand and took it, but wasn't sure if she just accepted it so easily.

Holding it against the sun to watch the metal shine against the shine, she looked at the way that Kakashi seemed to be leering at him, possibly thinking the same as her as well. “But.. uh... Minato sensei..” Speaking softly, Rin grabbed a hold of the bell fully in her palm and held it back out for him to take. “I can't accept this... Not yet..” Speaking with some determination, it wasn't hard to see the pain that crossed her face when her eyes fell upon Kakashi's and stayed longer than expected. “These bells mean something I can't hold up to any longer.”

Placing his hand upon her balled-up fist, the determination that crossed the jinchuuriki's eyes quickly darkened, but she tried to hold her place when speaking at her side. “What do you mean Rin?” He didn't want to double guess her meaning and speaking her mind made more progress than having the kunoichi hiding her inner thoughts behind the pain of reality. “I'm in no condition to show the value of teamwork you expect from me, sensei. I'm sorry.” She tried to push into his hand as a way to push the bell back, but Minato refused it. ” It's because of my use of our teamwork that we are in this whole situation in the first place... I don't deserve something so special.”

Her eyes dipped a bit, before turning to gaze at Kakashi who seemed to be just as surprised as Minato from her sudden doubtful words. “Rin..” Whispering her name rather despondently, he couldn't help when he tightened his hand around his bell into a fist, walked closer to the two of them, and placed it on top of the one she held out toward their sensei. “Rin, I know we've been through a lot as a team. And I know you are still struggling with a lot of things, but understand that we are still comrades. I trust you with my life. Nothing will change how I feel about you, this team, or how special you are…” Placing his hand over his chest to signify his feelings for his teammate, he gave it a few pats.

With a nervous swallow, the jinchuuriki seemed to tense up a bit when her eyes fell upon her sensei holding her fist along with Kakashi's fist also touching it. “Kakashi…” She whispered his name and gave a soft nod. “I… yeah.. same.” She felt at a loss for words as she tilted her head down to the ground, pulled her hand back, and turned completely to face away from the two. She couldn't hide the sudden embarrassment that came from his special words and even Minato couldn't hide his blissful smile on how things were turning out. ” I'm glad this worked out.. maybe I should just switch which jinchuuriki Kakashi protects until Rin has recovered fully..”

Taking in some deep breaths to calm her embarrassment, she held up the bell but still frowned at it. Only for Minato to speak up and kill any negative thoughts coming from her mind. “I know we're going to be very busy starting tomorrow, but I want you to take these bells and use them if you are ever struggling. Use them to remember what you're fighting for when you return to missions, or if you think you are in a dark place, don't forget the team that will always be with you. Obito is no longer with us, but he is with us just as much as you two are right in front of me.” They looked over at the memorial and the words were enough for Rin to finally turn back to stand back next to Kakashi.

“I'm always watching. That's what I told Obito before he passed away. And now he's always watching over us and protecting us when we need it.” Rin spoke out and let out a small sigh, but smiled softly at the blissful memories that came with his name. “The team for the Third Hokage is a part of legends, but they can't hold a candle for the potential I see in the two of you.” Placing his hands on each of their shoulders, he looked so proud at what they'd accomplished at such a young age.

A slight chortle came from Rin's lips and she held up her fist as if copying Tsunade, but quickly lowered it to her side. “If you say so sensei, but you're the Hokage so if you see it, then I'll believe it.” She was so unsure of his words but held up the bell closer to Kakashi as he matched her movements and dinged them together. “I know you guys don't need the bells. However, I figured it was time to pass them on to you guys if you needed some guidance, and I'm not around, then they should help.” Patting their shoulders a few times, he finally stepped back as the two younger shinobi looked between the bells and each other a few times.

“Rin.” Speaking out her name with determination, Rin's eyes became alert from the sudden change in Kakashi's tone. “While the baby is being born, and sensei and Lady Kushina are busy, let's train together tomorrow. You can show me what progress you've made. And we can just talk. Just the two of us.” He offered as they both pocketed the bells in their respective ninja pouches and Rin just nodded.

It wasn't like she was allowed anywhere near the birthing. They were not taking a chance on the nine tails of bijuu reacting negatively, or the other way around, to the three tails of bijuu being there. The stress was high enough for all four beings involved, they didn't need any more help with that.

“Y-yeah. I would like that.” She agreed and both turned to look at Minato who was more pleased than anyone else with how it turned out. “When you guys get your team in the future or whatever your plans maybe when you get older, just know that I'm here for you and back up any decisions you make. Bells or not. And know… it's the middle post they get tied to and I found out my sensei was the one who was tied up there when he did the bell challenge.” Minato blurted out causing Rin to gasp out and Kakashi to turn to look at the stumps as he tried to imagine Lord Jiraiya tied to it.

The famous toad sage even failed the bell challenge when the Hokage gave it..?

A small blurt of air from the young female pulled the male's attention toward her and it was from something they hadn't heard in such a long time. A genuine laugh coming from the jinchuuriki's lips was like music to the two male's ears as they watched her need to cover her mouth to keep from laughing so loud. “It would have been Obito tied up if you tried to pull the level that Lord Hiruzen did.” And again another laugh while Kakashi just tilted his head and shook it a bit. “No doubt about that.” He agreed with her, even gasping a bit when Rin placed her other hand on his shoulder before following it up to resting her chin on her hand and giving him a soft reassuring smile.

“Just wait, I'll catch up with you in no time. And then we can see who can protect who, alright, Kakashi?”

Sad to think that that training time never came because of a failure in the seal placed upon the nine-tailed jinchuuriki when Kushina was giving birth. Or something went wrong during the process of Naruto's birth that led to the nine tails attacking the village that fateful night thirteen years ago and even with her newfound power, Rin was powerless to stop any of it.

—

Something about the kunoichi's question of this being the last hopeful time the last two surviving members of Team Minato would have to split off their bells caused Kakashi to look slightly guilty about something. Though he didn't need to say anything for Rin to understand she might have asked for too much at the moment. His eye drifted up from her face and to the bells, as she lifted her other hand to gather his that he held over her body and enclosed both her hands around his one. Rin pulled his hand down and held it over her chest and more importantly over the main spot where they both were involved in that painful Chidori attack almost fifteen years ago. A whole two lives ago.

“Actually... Never mind.” She whispered, causing Kakashi to catch on to where her mindset had changed, completely knowing that she didn't mean to try to pressure him in any way. “You keep coming to me for my bell and I will happily supply what you need to achieve your dream, Kakashi. We take care of each other, no matter what the other needs.” She closed her eyes and gave his closed fingers a small kiss for support before letting go to show he now held both bells in his hands. Allowing her to rest her arm over her stomach and the other at her side, the jinchuuriki rested her eyes for the moment.

Holding the two bells in his hands, he stared at them longingly before turning that gaze at the tired jinchuuriki. “I'm sorry, Rin.” Apologizing for no real reason in the female's eyes, she cracked one eye open to look at him rather confused about the whole ordeal. “Why? Because you woke me up? Good. You should be.” She murmured a bit before opening both eyes fully to focus back on her teammate. “But seriously…Why though?” She asked rather concerned from the sudden apology as Kakashi ran his hand through her soft brown hair, causing Rin to blush a bit and look to the side at the embarrassing behavior, though chose not to say anything about it.

She was still slowly getting over the hatred over her hair because of her treatment from Danzo, but for some reason, Kakashi loved her hair. No matter what she did with it, he called it beautiful and Rin couldn't understand why… anything to keep it from growing too long or hearing a compliment from Danzo about it kept the jinchuuriki from messing too much with it.

“I keep coming to you for your bell, and I can tell you are excited for me to have my team. ‘My legacy to pass on,’ in your own words. Only for it to fail in the long run when they turn out not to be the best fit for the job. And coming back to you as a failure is starting to wear me down more now than it ever did in the Anbu black ops. Maybe I'm not cut out to be a jonin leader.” Looking Rather absent-minded during the whole ordeal, Kakashi just seemed to be confessing to Rin what he said to Hiruzen the day before as if his teammate might say something different than the mighty Hokage might. His words of praise and guidance helped, especially when he spoke of how Minato trusted Kakashi's abilities back then as well, but something about the whole ordeal just needed a touch more.

Probably one more good push of praise on how Kakashi's criteria for becoming a great shinobi was not that far out of touch would be enough to gain some confidence in himself. Shaking her head, Rin could only close her eyes with a small content smile upon her lips and a small sigh as well through her nostrils. They've had this talk before and probably wouldn't be the last time either, but that's why they had each other. To help boost the other when one was down.

“You didn't fail, Kakashi. You are not a failure as a Jonin leader. Those students you were handed before were just not ready to become genin. If it wasn't for you, it would have been someone else to fail them if they couldn't see the importance of teamwork. Your past experiences have led you to have different criteria than most join, and there is nothing wrong with that.” The mention of teamwork from the jinchuuriki caused the jonin male's eye to travel down her chest, but Rin just crossed her arms over it to draw his eye back to her face. However, this time she was in a little more pain than before. “Our.. experiences in the past have led us both down a path that most would not understand, Kakashi. And just like you, I hope others will never experience nor share our pain either.”

Rin sat up and leaned forward to run her fingers along her shoulder, under her kimono, and the Chidori scars that painted her skin. Kakashi's eye fell upon her back and though it was covered, he had seen it enough to outline the major scar that came with the giant hole he left in her torso. Front and back. Hearing his breath hitch he clenched his hand into a fist, even closing his eyes to turn away to look anywhere but toward his teammate, the jinchuuriki flipped over and crawled over toward him on her knees. She sat down on her lower legs and leaned back on her feet to allow herself some comfort near her ailing comrade.

“Hey.” Whispering with appeal in her voice, Rin took the fist that held the bells, the same one that caused her so much pain and pleasure in her life, and gently just held it in her fingers upon her lap. “No matter what happens in a few hours. Whether the three of them fail your challenge and truly get sent back to the academy, I will not hold anything you choose against you.” She spoke softly as her finger traced the metal outline of the back of his glove, looking down at his hand with much love while Kakashi watched her truly agonizing the whole time “Naruto might be my son, and Sasuke might be close to me, but you are my partner, Kakashi. Without you, I wouldn't be the kind of person I am now. Hell…”

Thinking back let out a small hiss of mist through her lips with a small glare forward as she thought back to her life in the foundation. “I'd probably still be in the Foundation without your help. Under control of..” She had to shake her head while Kakashi slowly reached his other hand up to rest upon her cheek and Rin happily leaned into it. “Don't wait for me to catch up to you and don't hold back just to fall back to stay with me in the Anbu. The Anbu isn't the right place for you, you deserve better than being cooped up to repeat the same things over and over. And the new generation deserves to learn from the best, like you, Asuma and Kurenai.”

Kakashi moved his hand from her cheek and rested it back on her hands so they could see them together. “At least in the Anbu, I could properly protect you if you needed me, instead of you needing to protect yourself from the threats like Mizuki.” Kakashi pondered a bit trying to still push that idea of him going back to the Anbu, but Rin just snorted a bit. “A chunin.. he wasn't even a legit threat. And he only took down Iruka because he was caught off guard. I doubt he would have been a real threat if that was the case.” Waving their hands up and down as if shaking them, the bells were barely able to be heard within the layers of hands.

“Besides…” Looking to the side and all around the very tiny bedroom/kitchen. “I'm sure you've heard we can't seem to find your replacement as captain. I've been… kind of thinking of taking up that mantle. It means more money and might be a better change of pace than just putting all my energy into healing squad members who come back worse and worse every time I heal them. Or not at all.” Not mean to complain, but the life of the Anbu was starting to wear on the jinchuuriki as well.

It always mentally hurts not being able to save as many lives as she could and lately, it has started to feel like a lost cause with her only barely saving fellow members only for them to fall in battle later on. It was almost equaling out to the same number: saved and killed. Rin hated thinking about it like that, but the jinchuuriki pondered if maybe she focused too much on her medical side and maybe needed to tap back into the killer jinchuuriki side of her… she wasn't sure…

Kakashi tightened his grip on her hands and shook his head at that idea. “No! That would be an even worse idea than when you first wanted to join the Anbu. I don't think Lord Third would even agree to allow that in the first place. Besides, if you were cornered in a mission, would you be able to properly protect yourself and the squad without showing off that you're a jinchuuriki?” He questioned while Rin just tilted her head a bit while grumbling a bit from his confidence in her. “Of course, I've done it before, and it's not like they need a babysitter. It shouldn't be that hard…” It was doable, but Rin's jinchuuriki powers were better in a smaller squad, or just herself, instead of a full squad of six or more like Team Ro had.

“Why wouldn't Lord Hiruzen approve? I need… I need…” Trying to sound so confident, the hurt in Kakashi's eye from earlier changed into something else, maybe something like determination or something the jinchuuriki couldn't explain. “Rin, I need you to be a little patient and just keep going with what you have now. Lord Hiruzen has reassured me that he has plans for you just like he had with me. I'm not sure what it is, but I don't see you having a life in the Anbu for much longer.” The recommendation, of sorts, caused the jinchuuriki to look down at their held hands, tilt her head with a small squint then give a soft nod.

“.... Fine… I trust you two so I will see what the third Hokage has in store for me. Couldn't be any worse than what I have now, or what I had before.” It wasn't like she couldn't just go and ask for more information about it, but doubted Hiruzen would just tell her what he had planned. Where would the fun be in all that?

They both squeezed each other's hands and then let go of each other while Kakashi held both bells up to look at them in the light of the sun coming up. The two had been speaking longer than he had planned, but he didn't want to leave just yet.

With her hands on her thighs, Rin looked at the clock on the wall, then up at Kakashi after he put the bells away. “You're going to be late.” She murmured rather sad he had to leave, but Rin didn't want to be the reason he was late. Well, not too late anyway. “I guess it's not like I won't be seeing more of you if Naruto and the other two pass the test, and you still need to return the bell so I guess it'll be okay.” With a cheeky smile, the jinchuuriki leaned forward and allowed her teammate to press his palm to her cheek again. “Either way, I'm sure we can figure out some way to spend time together if you truly miss me like that, Rin.”

Laying back down on the bed with her head on his thigh like before. “Let's just take the time now.. Just.. a few minutes.” l He ran his fingers through her hair and allowed her to fully relax against his leg. “Okay. A few minutes and then I can leave. It's not like they couldn't learn some patience at the training grounds. Maybe even talk amongst themselves to get closer, who knows?” He whispered as he just watched her eyes slowly shut from true comfort for the first time in the night. Though Rin trusted him for a few moments of peace between teammates, who knew how long he would allow her to just sleep. They both knew she never got enough of it unless permitted time off.

Kakashi protected her from the bad dreams as best he could, but it didn't stop her from experiencing true fright and pain once that moment finally came...

When the three-tails duo past rearing its ugly face and not in the most… Pleasant ways. Nor was it something that could truly have been planned for. The moment Konohagakure figured out that Kirigakure had recently lost their last Mizukage. Their connection through the three-tailed bijuu.

And the results were not going to be kind to the real three-tailed jinchuuriki.

Chapter Text

Even with her best friend by her side and the hope for a decent nap to start the day, Kakashi quickly noticed just how unsettled the jinchuuriki quickly got as she slipped deeper into her sleeping mode. She was able to get at least an hour of sleep before her mind started to stray into dark thoughts, and sadly it was caused by nothing she could have controlled. Kakashi had pulled out his make-out paradise to read while he waited a ‘few’ minutes to allow his teammate to try to catch up on her sleep. Even a really good nap for a ninja was enough to fill their energy up for a week! That was if it was undisturbed though. And for Rin, she was still very much haunted.

While twirling her soft brown hair within his fingertips, he kept reading on in his book, glancing at her from time to time to make sure she was alright. However, it wasn't long before he caught on to something being very wrong.

Moving to lie on her side, Rin quickly slid her hand under his leg to grip his thigh for support and he watched her suddenly clinch her eyes tightly shut. A vice-like grip upon his thigh and a low whimper passed her lips which was enough for Kakashi to know that something was very wrong. He quickly closed his book and learned to overshadow the jinchuuriki. ” Is she having a nightmare!? Augh, so strong!” He was used to her strength but never has taken a full-on hit from the jinchuuriki in many, many years. However, he could feel her grip tightening every moment to where it was close to starting to hurt.

Leaning forward in the bed to try to look at her frightened, pained sleeping expression causing even the slightest movement was enough to shake the jinchuuriki awake. It causes her eyes to shoot open and have a slight mental breakdown.

Her complexion turned completely pale and her eyes shifted upward to look at Kakashi with fear. Fully releasing his leg before she put her full strength into it and somehow ended up breaking it, Rin pushed herself up away from her beloved teammate and rolled off the bed to the floor. She was panting and quickly filling the room with chakra-filled mist with each slightly dramatic breath she produced.

Quickly getting to her feet, the jinchuuriki walked a few steps forward only to push the kitchen table out of the way as if she were looking for something. Or didn't fully recognize where she was at that moment. “Rin!” Kakashi leaned forward and scooted to the side of the bed to try to get attention and quickly noticed that her eyes were that familiar demonic yellow and red to match her bijuu's when she turned to look at him in a panic. A few more pants and then a whimper before grabbing a hold of her own shaking body by wrapping her arms around her chest.

“Kakashi.. something is wrong with me… with Isobu…” With those words, he quickly got to his feet, threw the book to the side, and was by her side in a second. For once when he touched her arm under her sleeping kimono, it felt hot to the touch, almost hot enough to assume that Rin was running a fever. A total opposite temperature to the normal cold-blooded jinchuuriki. “What do you mean? What's wrong with the three tails?! What could be causing this?” He questioned almost whether to lift his hand to pull up his headband and examine her with his sharingan, but Rin grasped onto his hand to keep him from doing such a thing.

She fell against the table and leaned against it for dear life while Kakashi just held on to her hand to guide her where she needed or wanted to go. Rin clinched to the poor piece of furniture that almost groaned and warped below her strong grip, but her teammate felt helpless with any Idea of how to help the jinchuuriki in any way. “Rin, what can I do to help? If I can't see the three tails, then I'm not sure how to.” He kept his eye on her, but she just kept her eyes shut the whole time her body burned from the inside out.

It wasn't until the three tails bijuu summoned himself on the table beside her and gently placed his three tails on her body that things turned even stranger than anything Kakashi had seen in a while. But it was always weird when dealing with the duo. ” She's not talking about me, yeah. She means the other me.” Lifting his clawed hand, he opened his palm and Rin's body seemed to copy his movements as the bijuu easily took control over the jinchuuriki to release Kakashi's hand. ” Grab a bunch of water and douce her in it. We need to get our body temperature back under control, hm. It's too hot, even for me!” The bijuu didn't take his eyes off his suffering jinchuuriki.

” Too much power to release at once! We will get caught if we don't… get this under control! Augh, it burns!” Rin whimpered out as she fought for control over her own body, but Isobu normally had the reins for control in troublesome issues. This was one that not even he could handle. Not safely without completely throwing their long-kept secret out the window. He might not be that medically inclined like his jinchuuriki, but those 15 years in confinement to a medical kunoichi have taught him a few things about their broken vessel and what works to keep it from breaking more.

Trying to glance around the kitchen/bedroom in a hurry, the mist was making it hard to see what would be perfect in that situation. With each passing moment power began to pour from the jinchuuriki and the pressure in the area began to spike drastically. The turtle demon began to hiss before closing his mouth and turning to glare toward Kakashi. ” Hurry up, human. Or I'll do it myself, yeah. And we don't want that, hm!” The bijuu threatened Kakashi, showing how even as powerful the jonin was, he still had a lot to learn. The threat caused him to glare toward the bijuu, but Rin just pressed herself more on the table and placed a hand on Isobu's spiky back. “S-stop.. not.. “ She had to stop herself as she clenched into a fist and began to cough more and more mist, leaving her unable to finish her sentence.

But in a quick form of desperation, Kakashi scooped Rin up in his arms in a bridal style and ran around the corner to the only bathroom with something big enough to help them. Easily leaves and forgets about Isobu by himself on the table. He heard the water of the shower turn on and Kakashi just stepped in, clothing and everything, just to allow the cold water to wash over the ill jinchuuriki. A whimper came from the cold water and as a survival instinct, Rin fought against the jonin's grasp, pushing and thrashing in his arms. “Augh Rin. Hold still and let the water cool you down.” Kakashi grunted out, leaning his head and moving his arms in various ways to make sure he didn't let his beloved comrade go.

A shiver ran through the bijuu's body as he just sighed and jumped down from the table. A loud thump came from the kitchen as the large turtle collided with the ground and even caused some structural damage. He let out a short hiss and began to drag himself to the short distance around the corner to join them in the bathroom with the tub in it. Kakashi grunted as he pressed his back against the tile wall and still fought over control of the jinchuuriki, using kid gloves to make sure he didn't hurt her in any way.

The jinchuuriki's mind felt like it was burning and she was on fire, even the bijuu was having a hard time focusing with their body going haywire out of nowhere. ” Just like Kirigakure screwing us over after so many years of quiet, yeah.” Isobu read his jinchuuriki's movements when he got close enough to the tub, only to hiss in annoyance. “W-what does this have to do with Kirigakure?” Kakashi questioned as he tried to look at the bijuu for information, but had to keep the kunoichi pressed against his chest with his arms bounding most of her body to keep them both safe.

” Something must have happened with Yagura, the Mizukage. But.. It's been a while and only now is all that chakra we gave up years ago returning to the fold. It's trying to return to us, but it's coming back incorrectly, hm.” Kakashi parted his eye while Rin growled at him and slowly began to pull his strong grasp from around her body as if he was just a simple strong holding her down. “What do we do then? She's going to lose control and you aren't stopping it.” He spoke as if warning the bijuu was completely useless in this situation, only it to be the total opposite in this situation.

Kakashi's peripheral caught sight of Rin's purple clan markings slowly turning to a mixture of crimson red to them and even her eyes started to drift into the three-tailed demon yellow that Isobu's eyes held. Opening her lips to show her teeth starting to sharpen, as demonic chakra slowly began to course more through her body as Rin's body dipped into Isobu's chakra instead of her own, she growled out again and lunged toward Kakashi's neck.

His reaction time was faster than Rin's by a long shot, but Isobu beat him to the punch by swinging his three tails and shoving the side of one of his tails aggressively against her mouth to prevent her from chopping down on her closest ally. Another shiver traveled through the bijuu from the heat of the access, sudden chakra overriding their system and the mixture of cold water from the shower. ” You're the one with the sharingan. Use it on me to make this stop, yeah.”

Isobu warned the jonin with a harsh glare, his other two tails swaying around their bodies as if threatening to take Rin at any minute. But it wasn't much of a threat if Kakashi pushed the turtle-like he was. Growing rather wary of that idea, he had to tilt his head away, but couldn't go far as Isobu used the tip of one of his tails to push Kakashi's headband from over his eye, earning him just as hateful glare as before. “What are you doing?! This isn't the time for games.” He spoke low toward the bijuu and wrapped his other tail around the bijuu to keep her immobilized more than Kakashi ever could. ” You have the weapon and the only thing to stop me right now is use it or I'm taking Rin, yeah.”

Without much effort, the bijuu began to pull the jinchuuriki from his arms as Kakashi tried to struggle to keep Rin close to him but she struggled just as hard to seemingly try to get to the source of all her power. She hadn't spoken much since the attack, but her body spoke volumes.

Kakashi looked between the duo as Rin reached her head back in an attempt to head-butt Kakashi to fully knock him out to make him drop her, but the turtle didn't allow her too many movements with his tail within her lips. Another hiss from the bijuu and Isobu started to slip his one last tail in between Kakashi's arms, chest, and Rin's to pull her to the turtle. It was hard to figure out what getting Rin out of the water and to the turtle would do, but Isobu had a plan, and getting Kakashi to cooperate was never easy.

” Use the gift that your dead friend gave you, or your other friend will truly try to kill you!” The turtle acted as if he didn't have control over the situation, and he did to a degree but that was only because Rin's will was holding her back from hurting her Loved ones. But this other piece of him seemed to be burning that will and her mind into nothingness. Even more than Isobu was willing to control. Self-preservation was number one on the three tails bijuu's mind at all times and if it meant for Rin to get far from the village for that to succeed then the turtle would make that happen.

The anger and hatred for the turtle seemed to flow out of Kakashi at that moment. Placing the turtle under a powerful genjutsu seemed so easy. Heartless. Cruel. But not because of what it did to it. Only how it seemed to affect Rin as well. His sharingan swirled to life after so long of not being used, but the desire to teach the bijuu his place was quickly squashed when the jinchuuriki in his arms fell in the same unconscious state as the bijuu before him.

The three-tailed bijuu quickly fell limp as the genjutsu easily took hold of the bijuu, tails and all, and fell in various ways around the two ninjas before quickly exploding back into mist and retreating into his jinchuuriki's body. Kakashi's mind slowly caught up to what he had just done when he turned his gaze down from where the turtle had once been and down the sleeping face of his beloved teammate in his arms. She was sleeping from how her breathing had returned to a normal, calm manner, her features returned slowly back to a ‘’normal’ level for the jinchuuriki, and it appeared that Rin was slowly gaining back control.

Her emotions, sleeping expression, and lifeless body in his arms caused Kakashi to pull her tighter against his chest. He had to keep his emotions in check to make sure he kept a level mind and to keep from thinking those dark thoughts but it was almost impossible to have the words, ‘’dead’ echo in his mind a few times. ” I'm sorry. I'm sorry Rin!” Gathering her body mostly against his chest and one arm, he held her close while using his free hand to form a hand sign. ” I shouldn't have to use my sharingan on you to keep you safe!”

“Release!” Using his chakra control to jump the jinchuuriki's chakra system, Kakashi noticed right off the bat that it seemed to help settle Rin's system almost instantly. His breath hitched as the jinchuuriki suddenly sprang to life by jumping out of his arms. He watched as she fell straight onto the tile floor of the bathroom floor when her feet tripped her up in her failed escape maneuver while Rin forgot where she just so happened to be. Fight or flight and they both failed rather pathetically.

Landing on her stomach, Rin protected her head by placing her hands out in front of her, but her legs and feet stayed at an angle against the top of the cold porcelain side of the tub. A pained grunt and small whimper crossed the reptilian's jinchuuriki's lips as stray water droplets fell upon her body, but she just stayed there for a moment to allow everything to catch up to each other. “Kakashi…?” She spoke out his name rather calmly but was rather confused about the whole ordeal of what just happened and what she woke up to. “Why is it.. so cold?…” Admitting defeat, Rin's body shook from the cold water that drenched her body and soul, that power surge seemed to have purged her from all her precious energy as well.

Glancing down at her with concern for the moment until he heard her weak call for help, Kakashi caught on to how Rin seemed to have slowly returned to her normal self. His sharingan even confirmed that Rin had control over the demonic chakra that had overdriven her system, but what he just did still affected her negatively. He turned off the water and quickly stepped out of the tub to kneel next to her. Another cough crossed her lips as the jinchuuriki tried and failed to push herself up to get to her feet after Kakashi helped her lower body off the side of the tub. She laid on her side and turned her head to look up at the kneeling Jonin while he just stared back at each other, slightly at a loss of what just happened and how they fixed it.

“I need to… to see Lord Hiruzen. This isn't good.” Rin grunted while slowly pushing up to rest her body at an angle and resting her head on his knee. “I'm sorry, Kakashi.” Her eyes lifted to look at him in both of his eyes as guilt seemed to ooze from her body. She didn't feel it herself, but what her beloved friend had to do just to stop her from becoming a danger to the village. Placing his hand upon her cheek to help her stay steady in an upright position, the pain in both of his eyes screamed volumes to the jinchuuriki.

“I know what Isobu said to you. What he forced you to do. And how he forced you.” Murmuring the last part, she nuzzled her face against his wet pant leg and hand as a need to become dry and warm was her body's first desire. “Come on Rin, let's get you changed out of these wet clothes.” As if trying to ignore what just happened and using some much-needed teamwork, Kakashi was able to get Rin to stand up and lean against him for support while they traveled the short distance back to the kitchen. She pressed herself against his body for precious warmth as the cold water almost dropped her into a comatose state, but she forced herself awake to keep from falling asleep again.

When they got properly near the kitchen table, her eyes looked down at how it had become disfigured from her stronghold on the poor wood. At least it didn't break, it wasn't like they could afford another one, but she hated not being in control of her powers.

Once Kakashi could trust that Rin had a foot to stand on by herself and could change without passing out after a few minutes alone, he waited out front of the apartment. He leaned against the front entryway, placed his palm over his now-covered eye and closed his other eye to allow his mind to drift into memory. It had been so long since he'd had to use his sharingan against the jinchuuriki, and Kakashi had no idea that the bijuu would simply push him to do it. Not something that powerful, but the Jonin understood it wasn't that simple.

When Rin stepped out of the house, she was dressed in her casual clothing with a matching long black shirt and matching black skirt, not her normal Anbu gear. However, she still dawned on the anbu mask causing Kakashi to tilt his head in concern as she looked around the hallway a few times for no real reason. She stepped up in front of the jonin as he didn't quite move yet from against the wall, but looked her over to make sure she was alright. The color returned a bit to her skin and would only get healthier out in the warmer outside air. “M-my eyes won't turn back to normal. I think it will go back after a few hours, but I can't take a chance of someone seeing me like this. I might need to push Isobu's chakra until mine can refill enough to balance whatever just happened.”

Rin removed her mask and Kakashi's eyes seemed to squint bleaky at how the jinchuuriki's normally beautiful chocolate brown eyes now showed their demonic yellow and red. It used to be off-putting when he saw them but now it showed that what just happened was not under Rin's control. She removed the mask to hold it since it was just the two of them, even outdoors as they were wary of what they would say. “Thank you for stopping me. You're always protecting me and saving me, even without even realizing it.”

Rin fiddled with the mask and looked at the floor with a shy smile on her lips, even her pale expression had a blush amongst it. Kakashi dropped his arms and waved her over closer to his body, which she happily obliged as she had no reason to ever fear her beloved teammate. He ran the tips of his fingers along her cheek to feel how it felt compared to earlier as the headband she wore kept him from feeling her forehead. “How is the turtle?” He questioned so delicately while Rin looked to the side a little embarrassed to have someone needing to check her vitals of sorts. “Resting for now. I'll release that genjutsu on him once I feel it's safe enough for the village.”

A sigh left her lips but this time it was just a normal one, but just as exhausting. Pulling the jinchuuriki closer as if she was just as light as a doll, Rin needed to place her hands on his still wet jonin vest to balance herself out and not completely smack her head into his chest. Her eyes grew at how close he pulled her to him and frowned at how deadpanning his face became. His other free hand felt the back of her neck to double-check her temperature. “What is your best guess on what just happened?” He questioned rather softly while still getting a feel of her temperature, but the jinchuuriki knew it never took that long to do something like that. This was a sort of coping thing they did for each other to truly make sure each one was okay.

“I'm not sure, it came out of nowhere. However…” She flinched away for a second, but Kakashi held her from going too far as his fingers pressed at the side of her jaw to feel her heartbeat as one last test to see if she was truly okay. A soft murmur from her lips as the jonin looked down at her speaking while counting in his head. “It only proves that something is very wrong in Kirigakure and it has to deal with Yagura and his piece of Isobu.” She pushed off so gently and had to quickly pull her Anbu mask over her face to cover her growing embarrassment. “Is your plan for my future something about me becoming a jonin and you becoming a medical ninja, Kakashi?” She couldn't help but turn away from him to try to calm her nerves and Kakashi finally pushed off the wall to join up next to her.

“You're going to see Lord Hiruzen, right? I should go with you to make sure everything goes alright.” His protective side came out as they walked from the covered hallway and began to jump toward his office, but Rin stopped him from following too long. “No, I can't let you do that.” She protested before stepping back to where they had landed, causing Kakashi to turn to look back at her. “You need to go do the bell test with your future genin team. You can't keep them waiting any longer and I've already kept you long enough.” She took a step and ran the dry end of her black shirt sleeve over his damp cheek. “I know you are too stubborn to change so you should dry in an hour.”

Before Kakashi was able to enjoy her touch, Rin pulled it away just as fast as a way of showing she didn't want him to stay. “They can wait a bit longer, it won't kill them.” He tried to reassure her only for Rin to point to the sun high in the sky. “No, but I will. It's not right to make them wait just because of me. I've caused them enough trouble and they don't even know it.”

“What they won't know won't hurt them.”
“No, but remember what it was like waiting for Obito to show up? We shouldn't put them through the same thing.” A small smile grew upon her lips, but her tone grew lighter as the mask prevented Kakashi from seeing it. As she took a step back toward the direction of the Hokage office, she pointed toward the Hokage rock. “Do not rush them and don't think of me. Stop worrying and I will update you when I come to get Naruto, alright?” Kakashi hid it well, but the jinchuuriki knew she was going to be on his mind more than normal because of that little attack.

He was surprisingly quiet for a moment as Rin figured that was enough talking, turned to go her way and was about to go when Kakashi suddenly apologized for something out of left field.
“I'm sorry for being so selfish when we were younger, Rin.” He placed his hands in his pockets and looked to the side when she suddenly whipped around to call him out on that bull. “What…?!”

She looked at the rock and quickly turned around to jump right up in front of the jonin, crossing her arms to show her distaste for that sort of talk. “Hey, get those ideas out of your head! What brought that up All of a sudden? Was it because of the idea of you losing me earlier? Of you using your sharingan on me earlier? That's not happening!” She leaned over closer to him and finally managed to get him to look at her with defeat in his eye. “I used you to get the same bell that you gave me. I used you and Obito to accomplish what I wanted when we were younger and I'm sorry about that.”

The weight of his confession most definitely came from the random attack from earlier, but it must have been a recent idea that they had never talked about before. She let out a sharp breath as she tried to think of how to respond to that. “Kakashi…” She whispered his name and shook her head. “It's not your fault. What happened with Obito. What… I made you do to me… what happened with Minato sensei and Lady Kushina. None of that was your fault.” She uncrossed her hands and grabbed his face to keep him looking at her. His eye gazed over the mask, but Rin refused to remove it as her emotions were all he needed to hear.

“We were both selfish growing up, Kakashi. What happened to us was just casualties of war and the time we grew up in. We both must work together to ensure that Naruto and his generation never have to experience what we went through, alright?” She ran her thumb over the outline of his lip and nuzzled her masked forehead against his own. “That's why I must make sure that my team understands the importance of teamwork, so that history can never repeat itself,” Kakashi spoke low while placing his hand over hers and closing his eye to enjoy the closeness from his teammate.

“If this all works out with this group, I trust you will break history and change the world Kakashi. And I'll try to be at your side the whole time. But.. “ She pulled her head back and stepped back to leave. “Don't wait for me. I'll catch up like Obito fought for. Even if I have to become a Hokage, myself, Kakashi. I'll catch up to you somehow.” She turned and jumped off toward the Hokage Rock where she was sure Hiruzen would be.

Both ninjas went to where they were needed but couldn't help but know what this new team world truly meant if Kakashi took it on.
”A jinchuuriki and an Uchiha. If Sakura truly becomes a medical ninja then it truly will be like our old team..”

Chapter Text

Getting to the training right on time, all three genin showed various signs of exhaustion. Sasuke didn't show any signs at all, while Naruto was grasping at straws just to stay standing, and Sakura was just yawning ever so slightly. It was clear that some were used to getting up that early while some had it easier and could sleep in no matter the time of the day. They spoke their various greetings or none at all coming from the calm and cool Uchiha.

Within the first hour of waiting, they were already bored out of their minds and growing irritated with each passing moment.
“He's late!”

After the sun had already risen high in the sky, both Naruto and Sakura decided to take a seat and relax until they were supposed to do this so-called survival exercise. Whatever that could mean, none of the three future genin could make heads or tails of the true meaning behind it. An extremely new type of training that none of them had ever experienced in their lives and something that would change their lives… hopefully for the better.

Make it or break it. Pass or fail from what their teacher said. So it was going to extremes!
Now if only their future teacher could be on time, that would be great.

As the nine-tailed jinchuuriki sat on his butt with his arms wrapped around his legs to relax for who knows how long and tilted his head up to look at the brightening sky. “If I knew he wasn't going to be on time, I could have at least spent some of the morning with mom. This is lame.” He grumbled, causing Sasuke and Sakura to look at him since it was a break in the awkward silence. “Will you stop complaining? It's not like you're the only one suffering.” Sakura sighed and looked at anyone other than Naruto to try not to seem so annoyed right off the bat.

Moving his head a bit to turn to look behind him toward Sasuke, it seemed he was looking elsewhere for anything to keep his mind busy. With her head resting on her hand, something was still bothering her from yesterday that she wanted answers to, and now seemed like the best time to ask it. “What did you do to have another Anbu person looking for you yesterday, Naruto? That lady seemed to be in a hurry to find you during lunch and even ruined lunch for me and Sasuke.” She didn't even have the decency to look Naruto in the eye when asking her question, more like keeping them closed to rest for a few moments.

“Hm? Anbu?” Being used to his mother being in the anbu for as long as they lived together, Naruto failed to see her authority half the time or even the need to keep her secret when her mask was on in the village. Sasuke looked back at Naruto and rolled his eyes in annoyance at the lack of attention when it came to something so important, let alone how lucky he was in life at that point for Rin to watch out for him. “She's talking about San, idiot.” He crossed his arms over his chest and looked around the field to see if Kakashi finally showed up, but found no sign.

“Oh. Oh yeah, she found me. And.. uh..” Naruto looked over at Sasuke and they just looked at each other, Naruto was seemingly conflicted while Sasuke just didn't look like he cared in the slightest. ” What the hell is so special about this guy?!” Growling already annoyed with Sasuke's stupid face, he quickly turned to face the other way. “I ended up grounded, no thanks to Sasuke!”

“What the hell did I do to get you grounded, loser?” Sasuke counters with slight irritation, not fully aware of just the effect Naruto faking being the Uchiha almost caused irreparable damage to Sasuke and Rin's relationship. It was caught in time, but it wasn't something that could have been easily fixed if not caught in time. “You didn't have to do anything!” He spat out with another growl, but slowly lowered his scowl and into a frown as some words from his mother echoed in his mind, but that pride seemed to still be very present.

It didn't help when Sakura came to Sasuke's defense with a too strong punch to Naruto's head, causing him to flinch and hold it tightly. “A-ah hey! What was that for?” He questioned with a rub on his head. “Leave Sasuke alone! We might be stuck together, but I will not allow you to bully him.” Naruto scooted back from the two to get some distance and rubbed his aching head. “Hmmp, sensei needs to hurry up!” He looked to the sky with a pout, but still ever so slightly parted his eyes. ” What happened with Sasuke's brother and… not going to turn into him? What does that mean?”
—

Not knowing it would take so long to get a simple bell from his simple teammate, Kakashi hadn't expected to end up becoming completely drenched after their meeting. Let alone left with slight mental anguish with what he had to do with his teammate after not seeing her in so long. He didn't want to leave her side unless he was 100% sure she was better, but Rin found it very easy to sway his worrying heart with her words of reassurance.

The sun had risen hours ago but hadn't before he had gotten to the shared jinchuuriki's apartment, but he could have guessed they had spent a few hours together. It felt like only minutes together, but the last bit of time seemed to rush in all at the same time. He needed to go home to get his backpack for the test as he hadn't grabbed his lunch or the clock he needed to time this little survival exercise. Plus some rope for the loser of this stunt to be tied to a stump, but for now, his mind was still lingering on if Rin truly was alright.

She was always on her mind in one way or another, but mostly for the positive. The kunoichi proved she didn't want him to always worry about her, but he couldn't help it. They were the only members left of Team Minato and it wasn't a flaunt that they threw around, but it only proved how close as comrades they were.

The… extra team stuff they did together was only beneficial for the two of them, and Kakashi and Rin could only blame Kurenai and Asuma. They were following in their steps when it came to team bonding. If only Team Minato could be as simple as Kurenai, Asuma, and Raido though… even Maito couldn't replace their third member… try as he might.

Coming upon his assigned group of genin, his eye gazed over at the memorial stone for a few moments as he walked up to them. ” Obito, it seems Kirigakure is causing Rin some trouble again. I hope this situation is easy to handle unlike the last two times we've had issues with them..” Pushing the prayer from his mind and to the gods above, he trusted his comrade to watch over Rin when he was too busy to do it on this side.

Switching from his serious side to his much calmer and playful side to deal with a bunch of kids, he knew he wasn't going to be able to listen to Rin and not think about her most of the day. He could focus on other things, but he couldn't change his heart and mind when it was set to something.

Seeing the way the three seemed further apart, Kakashi couldn't guess that this wasn't going to turn out how either Team Minato member was going. “Are you guys ready for your first day?” Kakashi questioned causing Naruto and Sakura to glare in annoyance and anger toward the very late Jonin, and even Sasuke wasn't immune to the time tardiness. “Hey! You're late!”

“Sorry for being late. A big turtle crossed my path so I had to go the long way.” That earned him a strange look from all three of his hopeful students, and Naruto just crossed his arms. “What is that supposed to mean? Don't you mean a cat crossed your path?” He blurted out in annoyance while Kakashi simply set up the timer on one of the three stumps. Sakura caught on to the word and tilted her head in utter confusion. ” What is with these people and turtles? They aren't even that special or that common, Cha.”

The outburst from the nine-tailed jinchuuriki caused Kakashi to look over his shoulder toward Naruto and seemed to look him over for a quick moment, but simply went back to set up his stuff. ” I wish it was that simple.” Inner sighing to himself, he stepped back and put the backpack to the side to keep it out of the way. This was going to be a long training exercise for sure.

The movement caused his hair and even his Jonin vest to drip a bit as it was still soaked from the surprising shower a brisk thirty minutes ago. “Sensei, why are you dripping wet? Did you shower before coming to see us?”
” I bet he just woke up from sleeping comfortably all night! That's why he's late. I hope this isn't a permanent thing ” Sakura questioned as his hair was still dripping wet from dealing with the three-tailed jinchuuriki.

Running his hand through his spiky silver hair, the jonin flicked water to the side and brought out the bells from his side person. “Like I said. It was a giant sea turtle. Now then, let us begin.”

—

It took the three-tailed jinchuuriki a lot longer to find the Third Hokage than it normally would have with him being pulled away from his office for some idea. Something about a request for tea and a simple chat with Iruka Umino. Rin didn't get any real details besides those little ones from some other Anbu members nearby, but luckily he was able to track him down.

It wasn't a simple search either as she constantly needed to stop just to expel some much-needed chakra in various forms of jutsus and place areas to keep herself balanced in a way. ” What is happening to me? To us, Isobu? Mm..” She knew and understood what was happening, but was frightened of what she would need to do to keep from losing control like before. It didn't seem that keeping the bijuu under control was helping that much and she couldn't just seek Kakashi to help if this kept going. He needed to focus on his future and the future of his hopeful team, she couldn't keep getting in the way of that even if he maybe wanted her there…

Lifting her hand to in front of her face, an idea came up and something that caused Isobu within their mindscape to hiss a bit in distaste, but not much push back besides that. ” If you reenact our seal, this place I feel will disappear, Rin, hm.” The concern that poured from the bijuu's words caused the jinchuuriki to frown as she lowered her hand ever so slightly. ” We have other options for now, and besides I would rather not have to go back on medicine to keep myself going.”

The idea of using Tenzo to bind her with his wood chakra and zap some of the extra chakras from her came to mind but also just letting Isobu fully lose control and go to his normal size after so many years came through. Both were dangers if something went wrong, but at least it left redoing the seal as a last option.

Arriving at the room the two gentlemen were having tea for some reason, she didn't even need to knock before Hiruzen was there to open it for her. She was taken aback by the surprised, but serious look on his face as he looked her over and stared deep at the mask on her face, even Iruka was quickly on his tail by how quickly his supervisor moved to get to the door. “Lord Third, what's the issue?” Iruka questioned with haste in his voice, not even having enough time to put down the book he had read and carrying it haphazardly in one hand until he saw a still-soaking wet Anbu black ops female at the door.

The only way to know that she was an anbu was the mask as her black T-shirt and black skirt combo, but she could wear almost anything and Hiruzen would recognize her mask almost anywhere. “San, what's going on? Why…” He looked her over a few times, instantly knowing the issues from how he felt her presence and even Iruka started to feel the power coming from her. He took a step back in fear but watched as Hiruzen invited Rin inside to try to keep her privacy up.

The kunoichi looked at Iruka, felt his eyes on her the whole time she walked by, and took an offered chair that the third Hokage offered to her. “Why am I starting to sense you, San?” Hiruzen questioned and lifted his head to look at the very wary Iruka who seemed to be standing to the side but was curious about meeting the famous San of the misty leaf. It was rude how she always seemed to show up in the worst of times and always when the teacher was in the middle of something important.

Resting her chin on the cool wooden table, the jinchuuriki tilted her head slightly to look at the concerned leader of the village. The lack of clear energy with the normally very professional jinchuuriki was very apparent, apart from him starting to feel the power coming from her body. “Something is happening with or has happened Yagura, Lord Hiruzen. I don't know what, but.. it's affecting me if you can't tell.” Iruka walked up to the side of the table and Rin didn't even mind his presence as he was already aware of her status as a jinchuuriki. Something that came to light after the defeat of Mizuki and Iruka connecting the dots when he saw the three-tailed bijuu.

Placing her hand on her mask, she lifted it to rest on her forehead and the Hokage's face deadpanned toward the powerful kunoichi in front of him, not even reacting much to the fact that her eyes were a different color altogether. This wasn't the first time he had seen her like this and could only guess it wasn't going to be the last either. It did throw Iruka off as he had to step back in fear causing Rin to grumble a bit toward his reaction and slowly put the mask back on from the insecurity she started to feel. The jinchuuriki's worst fear was people starting to fear her for what she was and not for who she was.

“N-Nohara! You're the famous San? And what happened to your eyes?! Are you okay?” He started so calmly, but curious about the realization only to freak out fully when he saw her eyes. He even extended his hand a bit, but allowed it to hover just a few inches from her shoulder with concern.

With a professional sigh, Rin and Hiruzen turned to look at Iruka who seemed very new to all of this. “Iruka, calm down. Rin is under control. And yes, that has been her Anbu name for many years now.” He tried to reassure the teacher while Iruka walked back up to the side of the table to look at her closer. A defensive slight hiss passed through her lips while her eyes grew wider while keeping him in her sight. Iruka's closer presence brought her true discomfort with how she was feeling and the new fear of everything happening too fast in some cases.

The hissing caused him to back up again and swallow in fear.

Iruka trusted the mother of his most complicated, but something he couldn't verbally say or wouldn't deny, favorite student. Especially when it clicked in his mind that she was the jinchuuriki to the beast that fought against the nine-tailed fox over twelve years ago, but there was still the fear and unknown what was behind such power she possessed. “If you say so, Lord Third,” Iruka murmured, causing Rin to lift her head ever so slightly to look to make sure he was truly all right.

Fear while she was acting as her Anbu persona was part of the act that came with being something she didn't need to hide: a very powerful ninja not to be messed with. It was never connected to being a jinchuuriki as she never delved too deep into Isobu's chakra to transform into him all the years within the Anbu, but it didn't help that all those she fought against or were sent after within the Anbu/Foundation organization were very much dead.
Dead and disposed of, thanks to Isobu.

Turning her attention to the real reason she was there, Rin had no time to talk and comfort her friend. “I'm here to request an emergency mission to Kirigakure. I need to get an understanding of what's going on or what could have happened to Yagura, Lord Hiruzen.” She spoke with some authority in her voice as her choice was clear and made up on what to do a few minutes ago. Iruka chose to stand next to the Hokage while Hiruzen thought about her basic, but very complicated request. It was never easy when dealing with Rin. Never.

“Alright, take who you need like you did last time you went, and I expect updates as often as you can.” He spoke with concern but agreed to her emergency plan. She gave a nod, lifted her mask again with closed eyes, and ran her fingers along her moist hair. “That's… going to be an issue since most, if not all are dead now. But I'll..” Thinking for a moment, she gave a sharp inhale and another nod. “I'll make it work. Thank you, sir.” With that, she stood up to push her chair back and gave him a bow of respect to turn to leave.

Iruka finally grabbed her shoulder to get her attention, causing Rin to fully stop as she was about to put the mask back on, and turned her head with a tilt to finally acknowledge the teacher. “W-wait Rin.” Fearing that he might have questions about her status as a deadly famous Anbu member or even as a perfect jinchuuriki, her eyes grew for only a moment but returned to their normal size to show no such emotion. “Yes, hello Iruka. Are you alright? You seem like you've seen a ghost.” She slightly teased as she hadn't fully slipped into her Anbu persona just yet to keep the teacher from becoming any more scared.

Letting down some pent-up fear within his body, Iruka didn't even realize he was holding his breath since approaching and touching the jinchuuriki. “Are you aware of a jonin named Kakashi Hatake?” He questioned out of the blue, causing Rin to turn to look at Hiruzen but connected the dots rather quickly on it, having to deal with Naruto as his newly assigned Jonin teacher. She fully turned to acknowledge him now and gave a shake of her head. “I've heard of him. Comes with being in the Anbu, but I've never met him in person that I know of. Why?”She lied and she doesn't know why she lied.

No, that wasn't true.
She knew.

It was another act to keep her anbu life from affecting her and Naruto's lives. But also to try to keep Kakashi from being connected to her if she was ever revealed to be a jinchuuriki. Wouldn't be that hard to collect the dots if people investigated hard enough, but the only proof of their past relationship was two dead and buried and just pictures remained. Something that was easily forgotten about, even if both were on full display in the open in their apartments.

“Naruto's been assigned to him, same with Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno.” Nodding to the information, she gave a soft smile. “Yes, I'm aware of those teammates, Naruto talks to me too, you know.” Even if it was truly only moments the night before, the two jinchuurikis treasured those moments more than anything. “Well, are you aware that none of the past students that he has been assigned to have ever passed his so-called tests? It's ridiculous.” He spat out in disgust but watched as Rin ran her fingers over her shoulder and felt the heated Chidori scars below her shirt.

The added bijuu chakra was starting to turn her chakra system more and even started to affect those in ways she wasn't used to. “Oh. I wasn't aware of that part of the story, I'm afraid.” She lied again and softened her smile into one of devotion to her teammate, though it did confuse Iruka on why she looked like that. “I'm sure he has his reasons though, it's not like we allow just anyone to become Jonin.”

Her desire to bring up Mizuki came to her mind but wasn't the right place or time to play around like she could at times with the Hokage. It wasn't always a professional relationship with him as Rin needed to be treated as a human at times too, and the Hokage has been one of her main go-to these past few years for her to just speak her mind to. It was like with Kakashi, but with the Hokage the secrets that were spoken were something she truly trusted would never get out or it somehow caused some issues in her life in some way. She loved and trusted her teammate, but it hadn't been the same since Kakashi left the Anbu. Secrets and all.

“Are you saying that you would be okay with Naruto and Sasuke being sent back to the academy, all because of a Jonin and his own made-up rules?” Iruka questioned as he held up the book for her to skim through. Rin looked at it, and only with one look at one page, she knew what it was. She gave Iruka the benefit of the doubt and falsely skimmed rather quickly through it before returning it to him just as quickly as anything she'd ever read. “Iruka, I don't know this Kakashi, but I do know of him.” She pointed to the Hokage who was just watching the whole display of the two speaking in front of him and didn't even react much to what had been going on.

“Lord Hiruzen knows what he is doing. I trust him with any choice he makes for the village and more, I trust him with my life. If Naruto and Sasuke were chosen to be taught. Or, well, given a chance to be taught by this Kakashi guy, then I say we go for it. Besides.” Rin reached up and gave the teacher a pat on the shoulder, but she ended up gasping and pulling her hand back when Iruka grunted from the strength behind such a gentle ‘’pat’. “A-ah I'm sorry!” She took a step back, looking down at her hands, and noticed her nails were starting to get longer and sharper. Tucking them behind her back, her eyes fell upon Hiruzen and she took a step back from Iruka. “If this isn't Naruto's time to become a ninja, then it's not his time. Same with Sasuke. Those two need to be ready for the harsh world because we both won't be around forever to protect them.” With another bow of her head, she disappeared into a cloud of mist to make some movements on her emergency mission.

Iruka shook his head and rejoined back with the Hokage. “She's dangerous, just like the fox, isn't she?” He questioned while rubbing his shoulder. “No, Iruka. The fox and the three tails are opposite beings. But that doesn't mean you should test those waters, alright? You are only one of a few people who know what she is. Do not take that for granted.” The older gentleman warned while Iruka turned to look out the window.

“She did try her best to take on that damn fox.” A pathetic, depressed, and guilty laugh crossed his lips along with a sigh. “I wonder what will happen when Naruto figures it out…”

Chapter Text

Taking record timing to hunt down the wood-style user, luckily for her, it was an off day for him, but unlucky for him, that didn't last long. And even better for the three-tailed jinchuuriki was he was who found her first.

Tenzo was just trying to enjoy some food in peace when the three-tailed jinchuuriki just nearing presence alerted most, if not most of the villagers and fellow Leaf ninjas. They all seemed to turn their attention toward the struggling female, and though the Anbu mask helped clear off a lot of the onlookers of some concern, some still stared in fear and confusion. Some felt as if this powerful chakra seemed familiar, but when they saw someone like an anbu member, they only questioned it a little.

This wasn't Naruto they were looking at after all. The fox wasn't the cause of this horrible aura in the village. And yet some couldn't hide the strange familiarity that came from the killer Anbu member. It was frightening, to say the least.

The mask helped Rin hide her insecurities from all the looks she was receiving from all the terrified onlookers, though they quickly looked away just as fast, it didn't help quell her worst fear. Even one simple whiff of what she was could tip the scale and bring a full-on war with Kirigakure if the three-tailed jinchuuriki wasn't careful.

It wasn't like she could have planned her chakra system being pushed into full-on overdrive with whatever happened with Yagura. The same thing happened all those years ago before Rin completed her part to separate her bijuu when Kiri attempted to resummon Isobu back under their control. It did the complete opposite to her body than it was today. It almost completely wiped her chakra system and killed her in their wretched summoning process. And it wasn't an overnight recovery type either, it took about a week for her to get back into shape enough to even go back on missions.

If Danzo wasn't so devoted to his little weapon and the control he had over her during those years, then she could have kissed her life away long ago.

Needing to stop to rest once again by a nearby building, while leaning against it with her hand placed upon the side of it, Rin felt sweat roll down her neck and the side of her neck. That fever was stronger than ever, but the jinchuuriki could only guess it would be over soon. It was frightening, but tried her best to focus on the positives of this happening. Nothing was coming to her clouded mind, but there had to be something good…

As her other hand rested upon her stomach, she slowed her breathing in an attempt to control the amount of mist coming from her mouth, but it could only help so much. The jinchuuriki couldn't even ask her inner demon as he tried to focus on keeping himself under the genjutsu and trying, but failing, to control the influx of chakra still coming to their body.

It wasn't something they couldn't handle, but the chakra wasn't coming in a way that someone ‘’hidden’ from the world could just simply process out in the open.

“San!” A voice called out from behind her as a group of fellow Anbu members jumped into various places around Rin to check on the female. Looking at the various members, she knew each of their names and appearance from her work within the medical ward of the Anbu black ops, but of course, understood not to use them outside the safety of a medical room. “What's going on? Are you in danger?” A male member with a white and blue mask jumped from on top of the building and approached her, while the other anbu members made sure to control any other onlookers.

As Rin watched them handle anybody who seemed concerned about her presence, it was enough of a small reprieve to allow her to think of what she wanted. And something that could truly happen with the help of her fellow Anbu members. “I am in need of assistance from Tenzo, please. I can only speak to him and he is the only one who can assist me. I'll wait here until he is found, but please hurry.” She spoke out calmly, but the group nodded to the semi-order.

They were all on the same level of responsibility when it came to missions, but fellow Anbu helped fellow Anbu. Especially a medical one of her importance and very surprising power.
—

From the training grounds, even though they were about a hundred miles away from the commotion going on with the three tails jinchuuriki, they were still close enough and powerful enough to feel her power irradiating through their part. Though it was very weak at that distance, it pulled all four shinobis’ attention toward the direction and only Kakashi knew who it was that caused it.

Trusting their sensei to call for them if this power was something to worry about, Sasuke and Sakura stayed hidden in their spots to hide from Kakashi during this training practice. However, Naruto was not so keen to stay hidden, hell he wasn't even hidden and had just started to run at full speed at the jonin. Well he and a group of clones in an attempt to overpower the jonin with his brute strength, but when the power hit the nine-tailed jinchuuriki, all his clones stopped. They looked at each other with confusion and placed a hand upon their stomachs as they all seemed afflicted with the same issue at the same time.

It felt like the tightness from the food poisoning was coming back, but it started to burn as something new than before. He had felt this feeling before, multiple times actually, but he was worried every time it happened. The jonin watched as the Naruto group stopped running at him, even pulling his head from his book to look up at the sky with a grimace. ” Rin, what are you doing?” He worried for his partner but turned his attention to the slightly murmuring hopeful future student.

“Sensei.. I think there is something wrong with my mom..” One of the clones yelled out as the power seemed to put everyone in a standstill as if the village was attacked and nothing else mattered. “Your mother? What does she have anything to do about today? Are you missing Mommy, hoping she saves you from me, Naruto?” Kakashi questioned whether to play the clueless part and slight antagonist in their display, but still tilted his head as the clones gripped tighter to their stomachs. “I'm serious, you know. I… “

Closing his book to eye Naruto up and down for a moment, he could tell this wasn't something to play with if it came down to the fox and the seal. Especially if Kyuubi was responding to the clear power struggle coming from the three-tailed jinchuuriki. “What makes you think your mom is in danger? This could be someone else showing off their power level.” He tried to point out the truth, sounding as if he didn't care to play his role, but knew that no one in the village would show that off without a true purpose, and the air was too calm for a village attack.

“I don't know. I just… I get this weird feeling whenever my mom is sick and it makes my stomach burn, you know. I can't tell you what it is… I just want to make sure she is alright…” The clones disappeared all at the same time as Naruto rubbed his stomach as Kurama placed some influence on the seal. A strange power play between the bijuu it seemed from Jonin's perspective, but Kakashi knew the fox was doing it for the show while Isobu was fully out of his control.

Though he was fully in his role for his idealist personality as a jonin, he was debating on what he could say to calm the younger jinchuuriki's nerves. ” The fox must be feeding off those negative emotions and worry for Rin. This could get dangerous… However …” His eye squinted as Naruto seemed to be looking in the same direction that he felt the strange coming from, also the same direction Kakashi knew that Rin was in as well. “What would you do if I said no to you leaving, Naruto?” The jonin questioned a rather matter-of-fact as the life of a ninja was going to be a lesson for him to learn.

Rubbing his stomach again, he just clinched to it but very strongly tried to ignore the bad feeling deep in his gut to focus back on his future sensei. He gave a slight shrug and thought for a few moments. ” I'm sure Mom is alright, she is a strong Shinobi. But something is telling me that something is up with her.” Thinking to himself, Naruto watched as Kakashi shook his head. “Naruto. This is a serious question.” He spoke louder to get the jinchuuriki's full attention and even Sasuke and Sakura honed in to listen to them talk.

With a distasteful frown upon his lips, Naruto had to think of what he really would do but took it as not a big deal if he just stayed and ignored the painful feeling he was getting. “You are hopefully going to be my sensei, so I would follow your lead and maybe listen to what you have to say, I suppose,” Naruto murmured as he again looked in the direction that Rin had been, only to sense it started to move as well. But that wasn't an answer to the question. It was too in the moment type of answer and seemed purely hypothetical. Not something Kakashi could use as a true in-the-moment type answer. Especially when in the moment Rin's life was starting to turn and how fast it could change for everyone in it.

Kakashi could tell Naruto was very unsure of himself though even with how clear of an answer the blonde gave. “No, you wouldn't. I can tell from the rumors that I've heard that you don't listen much to authority figures. Or are those simple lies about you?” He prodded the blonde to see if he could get Naruto irritated in some way. The jinchuuriki squinted his eyes in annoyance and seemed to pull his hand back from his stomach, placing them together and summoning another ten shadow clones as if they were nothing.

“You can't believe everything you hear around the village, you know, sensei. And don't try to guess what I would do when it comes to dealing with my mom, I'm going to become a ninja so I can protect her like she protects me! And I'll become Hokage so she won't have to worry about me any longer! Then everyone can see how strong I can be!” He grinned, pushing his worry for his mom to the back of his mind to try to stay in the game.

Naruto knew that Rin would kick herself if he was sent back to the academy, and all because he was worried about her. They would make it work, but Rin hated having him worry about her so much and it's something she's vocalized a lot in the past. Unbeknownst to Naruto, she said it even further to Kakashi but sometimes it just didn't work for the stubborn Jonin.

While Naruto seemed to push the worry to the back of his mind, Sasuke lifted his head to look up past the tree branches in the same direction that Naruto had been facing. He couldn't tell the location that it had been coming from, but could only guess Naruto had the right feeling. It was a strange, but familiar chakra feeling he had felt in the past before. And though he could only guess its source, it frightened but also worried the young Uchiha at the same time. ” This is from Rin? What kind of power does she have to cause this? Itachi spoke of her having a kekki genkai like us, but this… this is just too much.”

And just a few minutes later as Naruto played tag with Kakashi, they seemed to stop again one last time as the chakra source seemingly disappeared as if it hadn't existed in the first place. While tied up to a tree, growling and cursing under his breath, Naruto quickly calmed down and even Kakashi and Sasuke were confused about it completely disappearing. Sakura turned to look at the confusion on both Kakashi and Naruto's faces, while the young boy turned to look at his sensei. “I… I take it that means she got better. I… I hope, sensei.” He seemed to sigh before struggling against the rope again. “Don't put your guard down sensei, just because now I can fully focus on taking you down for that damn bell!”

When the chakra source fully disappeared, Kakashi couldn't help but reach down and hold on to the bell that he acquired from his beloved teammate. ” Rin, did you fix everything?” His concern only seemed to rise when even he couldn't think of a proper solution to her chakra troubles. He could only hope she figured it out with how things went quiet.

—

Being dragged with no word or warning to an overpowered jinchuuriki as he was simply trying to enjoy a day off from missions for a while, Tenzo thought it was supposed to be a basic day. But basic and Anbu don't belong in the same sentence.

The anbu team found him after ten minutes of deep searching around the village, in various places, he was known to frequent within Konohagakure, but it also helped that Rin's chakra source was one he was very familiar with. It drew him from the peace and quiet of his meal almost as quickly as if the Hokage had called the wood-style user himself. ” This feeling… either the nine-tailed fox is pushing its luck against that seal or..?!” Looking down at the bowl of soup he had been enjoying, it rippled from the strange feeling in the air causing Tenzo to run outside where he knew he was needed.

“Captain Tenzo!” Hearing the words of San requesting his presence and that it was an emergency, Tenzo was quick to drop everything and go with them at once. Rin was a good ally, teammate, and friend, and Tenzo was one of the only few people who knew and understood the severity that came with who and what Rin was. This was not something he could ignore or put off dealing with for a second too late.

When he arrived on scene, Tenzo gasped when he noticed Rin sitting below the side of a building, she was sitting in a right fetal position and though there was a huge distance between people and herself, the Anbu presence was very tight in this situation. He was the only one allowed close enough to the jinchuuriki as she gave orders and her fellow ones listened as she requested.

So as not to invest fear into his fellow Anbu, Tenzo calmly walked up to the jinchuuriki and squatted down to give the three-tailed jinchuuriki his attention. “Rin. What's going on?” He whispered, but the jinchuuriki didn't need to lift her head to know that Tenzo was the one to approach her. Lifting her masked face as it was buried between her legs to attempt to keep her calm, Rin didn't need to say much, only needing to show the fact that her nails were slowly turning into claws. Mist poured from her lap and Rin grumbled a bit. “Let's test that famous speed of yours, Tenzo. We're going to need to be quick.. neh it's… it's getting bad.”

Feeling the actual heat coming from her body and the pain in her voice, even though Rin tried to make light of the situation, both adults knew this was very important. “ I don't trust teleporting us without completely losing control, so we need to run. We can't do the sealing here. I'll lash out if you try it in the middle of the village.” Rin warned as she moved her mask to glare at the wood-style user and caused him to gasp again as her eyes sent a rare chill down his spine. He wasn't scared of Rin, but the idea of them Fighting in the middle of Konoha was not a pleasant idea for either of them.

“If you use the wood style on me, people will know what I am. So I warn you. We need to leave no witnesses if you use it too early.” That wasn't the medical kunoichi, Rin Nohara, speaking. That was the famous and dangerous San of the Misty Leaf threatening to protect this secret till the very end. Not just for herself, but for Konohagakure and Isobu's sake as well. They were more important than her own life, and this wasn't going to be the time that her secret became public.

After a nervous swallow, Tenzo stepped back once he stood up and pulled Rin up to get to her feet.“Alright. I'll race you, San. You're on! First one out of the village has to buy dinner.” He tried to make light of the situation while Rin stretched her arms and gave a shrug. “I'll take you up on real food, Tenzo. I'm broke till forever anyway so hopefully you can afford to feed four mouths.” Taking in a deep breath, the jinchuuriki cracked the floor beneath her feet when she took off in a full-on sprint in a desperate attempt to get out of the village.

Using unknown roads and routes only known to the high-level clearance of the root and high-ranking black op members, it took less than ten minutes for the two members to be clear enough distance away from the village and any possible random passerby. They were still surrounded by forest from miles around, but there was no real clearing that they could find to make this work. Not that Rin could afford to be picky and the trees and nature energy helped Tenzo more than it would help the jinchuuriki.

Tenzo had a slight pant to his run from pushing his taijutsu skills for that long and that hard, but Rin ended up finishing on the run in a strange four-legged run. She didn't even realize when her body chose to run as if she had already lost her humanity and allowed the demon side of her to take full control over her movements. He watched as she prowled around on all fours, unable to settle down, and started to notice her trying to keep her distance from him. Only guessed it was for his safety.

“What happened?” Tenzo questioned as Rin walked up to him to allow him the opportunity to remove her Anbu mask for safe, temporary keep. Rin backed up and sat down on her feet with her legs bent as if she were a dog. A slight hiss started to come from her misty lips and she panted from the power bubbling within her. ” Yagura. Something happened to him. I don't know the details. Let's stop this before…” She closed her lips and her demonic eyes grew wider when she suddenly lost control of everything.

Demonic chakra completely warped her human form, and it was so fast that even Tenzo was thrown off by the action. He slapped his hands together right as the demonic jinchuuriki lunged at the wood user with her claws aiming toward his face. The demonic growl and hiss coming from the female was one he had never heard from her, but this was something new to even the wood user. “Shit, Rin. You weren't kidding.” With her wrapped up in various ways with wood wrapped all around her limbs, the captain wasn't that scared of the female as she was nothing but a mindless chakra monster.

If this thing had the intelligence that Rin possessed, then maybe he would be frightened, but this chakra demon wasn't anything he couldn't handle at this point in his life. Slapping a piece of wood around her mouth to keep from Rin being able to spill some of the genjutsu mist into the air, he watched as she struggled in vain against her biddings. “Is this the three tails work?” He questioned no one in particular while biding his time and waiting for what he was hoping was just a simple power struggle within the three-tailed duo.

The wood groaned under the power of the perfect jinchuuriki as she fought against the hold of her body, Even going as far as to produce a full-on spikey shrimp-like tail in full form to attempt to swing it toward the wood user. He jumped back out of the way and slowly walked a few steps out of its range, while still binding his time. “Come on Rin. I know you're still in there. Don't prove Danzo right about you after all this time.” He murmured as the thrashing started to slow down, even Rin's humanity started to slowly show back up.

Patting the wood to get her comrade's attention a few times with her palm, he only released the hold on one of her arms and both hands but still kept it tight enough that she couldn't form hand signs for his safety. Rin began to sign at a weird angle and with what little space allowed between her hands to alert Tenzo of Isobu being under a genjutsu. “Wouldn't that make things worse if I just release the sanbi?” With a slight shake of her head, Tenzo was very wary to walk any closer but trusted Rin almost as much as he trusted Kakashi. He had worked with her at the root, which meant a lot for their relationship.

With the help of the wood-style user, Isobu was released from the genjutsu that Kakashi had placed on him a few hours before. Once free it didn't seem to have helped at all and Tenzo needed to double down on the wood that had trapped Rin, even going as far as to place her in a wooden-like jail cell to counteract the chakra that started to evaporate into more genjutsu mist above her body. She panted and looked completely exhausted, but sick to her stomach at the same time while leaning on the bars of the jail-like cell.

“Any better yet Rin? Can I let you out yet? You know I hate having to pull this on you.” Tenzo stood with his arms crossed over his chest, feeling pure conflict on having to do this to a friend and true comrade of the Leaf. It was never a pride thing between the two who was stronger and their emotional friendship was almost as strong as she had with Kakashi, almost as like a brother and sister bond between the two.

Clawing at the edge of the wooden bars, he watched as she bit them a few times, even managing to break one but it was quickly replaced just as fast to keep from having her break out. The way Rin was acting so animalistic that it hurt the wood user's heart to see how well she hid her demonic side for so long and if not for a simple slip-up once Tenzo had left the root, he probably still wouldn't have known. “Pull yourself together Rin, this is embarrassing for a lady to act.” Rin let go of the wood from her mouth and spit it out toward his direction with a slight hiss from her lips.

” Stop with the jokes, Kinoe, yeah. You need to…” It wasn't the first time, nor he doubted it to be the last time, to hear the three tails real voice coming from the jinchuuriki's lips, but it always was irritating when the bijuu used his dead name. It wasn't like Isobu didn't know any better, he just really didn't like anyone with such a terrifying power like the first Hokage.

With a brief control, Rin took both her hands and motioned for Tenzo to squeeze. He didn't understand what she meant by her slapping and holding her palms together in such a way, but Tenzo was starting to catch on when the kunoichi was slowly starting to lose and gain back control every few moments. He could tell and he could see how completely exhausting it was for Rin to have to fight for something that Isobu normally allowed her to have so willingly 99% of the time.

“Okay, I don't understand Rin, but hold on.” Tenzo broke down the wooden jail in an instant, only to fully wrap the jinchuuriki, from head to toe, in a wooden coffin-like structure and began to squeeze the jinchuuriki as requested. He caught on to the slight cries coming from the very uncomfortable jinchuuriki from within, only to find that she was fighting back against the wooden jutsu again. The wood groaned causing Tenzo to fully put the squeeze on her with more resolve than before.

It got so tight that the captain worried that he might have suffocated the Anbu kunoichi, but he waited for her to stop resisting and even waited for a few more pregnant pauses later before slowly unwrapping the seemingly unconscious jinchuuriki.

As Rin lay on the dirt ground on her stomach, Tenzo cautiously walked a few steps, calling her name a few times to see if she was really out of it. He could tell she wasn't dead, but the amount of chakra he had drained from her was something that would kill a normal shinobi, to say the least. “Rin?... Are you dead?” He prodded her side with the tip of his shoe, only to trust she was truly out of it. He flipped her back over and leaned her at an angle to rest her back against his arm. “You were pent up. What could have caused this sort of reaction?” He whispered, moving some stray hairs from her face to help her truly relax for once all morning.

Seeing her breathing as if she was simply sleeping, Tenzo seemed to relax and would just wait for a few minutes to see if he needed to carry her back to the village or if she would simply wake. Well, he didn't need to wait long before the three-tailed bijuu simply summoned itself right in front of the two humans.

It was out of nowhere and he hadn't seen the beast in quite a while, but wasn't too surprised as much as hearing it talk. “Are you going to just sit there or are you going to help Rin walk back to the village?” Tenzo questioned while not even giving the beast his full attention as he was more concerned for his actual friend than some dangerous chakra creature.

A glare came from the beast and it began to hiss, even slowly starting to sway his tails as if threatening the wood user. The power that started to ooze from the demon turtle fully caught the captain's attention and he raised his eyebrow. “What the hell is wrong with you? I'm just here to help. You don't need to get so…!”

The three-tailed bijuu lunged at the two humans as it had no concern for the fact that it just attacked his jinchuuriki at the same time. Tenzo grabbed Rin from around her chest and pulled her to allow them both to jump out of the way and away from danger. “Woah! Three tails! What the hell are you doing?!” Tenzo yelled out and glanced down at the passed-out jinchuuriki in his hands. “Rin! Rin, control your demon!” Another lunge came their way and again he pulled the jinchuuriki from danger, this time taking to the tops of trees to keep out of the bijuu's line of attack.
The idea was there but wasn't viable when it could become taller than the trees if it so desired.

Another few more shakes from Tenzo started to wake the jinchuuriki up as Rin let out a grunt and opened her eyes ever so slightly. “Rin! Control your demon. It keeps attacking us.” He murmured with annoyance as he looked at the way the bijuu glared up toward the two of them, even circling the base of the tree until the beast simply backed up and fully head-butted the poor pine tree. The powerful smack shook the whole thing and caused the jinchuuriki to grumble in annoyance, and they needed to separate to jump from the tree starting to fall.

Rin went one way, and Tenzo went the other but when he attempted to look for her, he was only slightly surprised to see her down in front of the demon.

Kneeling close to the turtle's face, the jinchuuriki was staring at it and the beast was hissing very loudly toward its jinchuuriki. Tenzo joined her but noticed something very off about this whole ordeal. “Rin… what's going on?” He questioned as the two powerful beings seemed to be communicating in a way that the wood user couldn't hear. Stopping midstep when Rin put her hand out toward his direction, he watched from a safe distance.

” No? What do you mean no?” Some words were finally spoken and something Tenzo could comprehend, but the bijuu just hissed and chirped its beak a lot louder. It backed up and the jinchuuriki just frowned, crossing her arms over her legs and leaning forward to get a little closer to the turtle. She reached her hand out as if wanting to touch the bijuu, but had to fully pull away when it snapped at her hand.

This type of threatening action caused her to tilt her head, but Tenzo dared to blink once and opened his eyes to see one more turtle bijuu right in between the jinchuuriki and the angry turtle. He was utterly confused about why there were two of them, only to watch as the slightly bigger one of the two seemed to hiss back at the smaller one. “Isobu. Please. It's okay, I'm here now. Please, let me help.” Again more words that the wood user could understand, but didn't answer any questions he had at the moment.

More animalistic sounds came from the beast as the smaller bijuu began to tighten up its body and charge to a bijuu blast toward the jinchuuriki. And just like a friend, Tenzo was ready to step in to help only for the bigger one to completely pounce on the smaller version of himself. Isobu hit down on the smaller version of himself to cause the bijuu ball to completely evaporate into the air, but the two started to tussle. Though small compared to major battles of the past, and looking pathetic, the power coming off the two bijuu was enough to make even Tenzo step back.

Rin kept her distance until even she fully threw herself between the two roughhousing bijuu ending with one being grabbed and held by his tails and the other one biting down on her forearm. Blood trickled down her arm and onto the forest floor and Rin let out a groan from the pain but attempted to keep herself under control and not try to influence her bijuu in any way. “I-Isobu. It's okay. It's going to be okay. You're home now, that's all that matters.” She whispered in a calming manner to the smaller version and the same one that had her in a bite lock.

Tenzo stayed on the sidelines and watched in amazement at Rin getting hurt by her beast, but also the control behind it all. Like a unique song and dance. “Rin, you're hurt. Let me help you.” Speaking calmly on his end, he took a step, but the bigger turtle growled to make the wood user stop. ” If you don't want Konohagakure attacked then I suggest you stay where you are, wood user, yeah.” The idea of the leaf village getting attacked for simply trying to help caused him to step back, but scowl through the whole situation.

“Listen to him, Tenzo. Please do not get involved unless I tell you to. This.. this Isobu isn't tied to a jinchuuriki at the moment. Isn't that right Iso?” Rin questioned the smaller version as the frightened beast fully let go of Rin's bleeding arm, clearly holding back to keep from fully snapping it in half, and slid back some more.

Another few chirps until it exploded into a cloud of mist into its transformation. One that Tenzo had never seen before, but one Rin was afraid might come back to haunt her.

The smaller bijuu transformed into someone who had more power than any bijuu had had prior in the world. One of the five most powerful titles in the world, and it only led to the jinchuuriki's downfall. And what was funny was this adult still stood about a few inches shorter than Rin.

“Tenzo, meet the Fourth Mizukage's bijuu. Sanbi no Isobu.”

Chapter Text

Ultimately dropping her version of the three tails on the floor, the bigger copy left a crater below its body, only for it to grumble at this being the second time it had been dropped that day. When the lesser form slowly let go of his jinchuuriki’s form, Rin's Isobu quickly reacted from fear for his own friend's safety. Both Isobu's were parts of the same chakra creature, but at this point, they were two separate beings as well. Rin had no control over this form, no real connection, and hadn't for a long time. Nor could her Isobu control this one.

It was terrifying and dangerous for everyone involved, but Rin couldn't falter on her recovery mission. It wasn't safe for this side of Isobu either and she hoped to get answers for what happened to the Fourth Mizukage. And she simply couldn't let it escape or the mist village might try to recapture it or even another village. And God forbid if it went after Konohagakure.

Sliding his body to try to look at the gaping bite wound, Isobu saw it had ripped her long-sleeved black T-shirt sleeve, but luckily the lesser bijuu simply released his bite cleanly instead of ripping it back. It was deep and it hurt them both, even dripping crimson blood below her arm, but their chakra could heal it easily. ” That’s deep, yeah. Are you going to be alright?” A simple question that the bijuu was sure he already knew the answer to, but it was better to hear his jinchuuriki speak instead of just keeping it silent. Especially for the sake of easing the annoying wood-style user's worry about his jinchuuriki. Humans and their words always annoyed the demon to no end, but he probably wouldn't have such a tight bond with Rin if she stayed quiet all the time.

Lifting his tails with tight precision, Rin kept her composer through all the pain and watched as he pushed the discarded fabric to get a clearer view of the bite. The way Isobu's tails could kill his jinchuuriki or even rip more of her flesh or shirt was something that ran through Tenzo’s mind, but the way he used kid gloves with Rin blew his mind every time. It almost made people forget, those who truly knew what he was, that Isobu could easily take down their village if he was that type of bijuu and Rin didn't have her backup plans for that either.

She hissed through clenched teeth and patted his tails with the end of her finger. “Yes, it was just a simple bite. I'll be fine. It's not like it can get infected from your mouth.” While pulling his tails back to his side, Rin simply tightly clenched her lips together, ripped the rest of the fabric off her injured arm, and simply threw it over her shoulder with no regard to anything but what was going on right then and there.

The way the Mizukage's clone eyed the way the two demon duo were close made him glare ever so slightly from jealousy, but also understanding. This side was friends with the Mizukage as well and they had a tight bond.

In the short time, about six years, that this smaller version had been reclaimed by Kirigakure, to save the main three-tailed duo from their wrath, Yagura had managed to become a perfect jinchuuriki and also Mizukage all at the same duration. It had no real connection to Rin or Konoha that Yagura had been able to delve into so after a while, this version of Isobu became an afterthought.

Yagura and Isobu weren't just something Rin could just ignore completely from their lives, but since having their bijuu back, Kirigakure backed off completely. She didn't have to worry about them trying to randomly resummon the three-tailed bijuu from the land of the dead, and almost lead Rin and isobu there in the first place. She didn't need to worry too much about her possibly being investigated as being a jinchuuriki. And the best part: Danzo lost one of his main threats to their lives.

It was exhausting and almost killed Rin when they set up that sealing scroll for the three-tailed bijuu, but it was well worth hearing Danzo come crawling to her when he heard the horrible news of Kirigakure getting back their weapon. He questioned her to the core on how Rin managed to pull it off, but he never got an answer from his favorite weapon.

She hated him. And he loved the idea of controlling a bijuu without fear of repercussions, but Rin took that away from him.
If not for Hiruzen, Rin was sure he would have dragged her back down to the root foundation to never be seen again. And even with her being good, Danzo was still a menace in the three-tailed jinchuuriki's life. The threats were never ending and for almost a year after her freedom was earned, the taste of something foul would hit her tongue as if he was willing her curse mark to activate.

And now the same solution to her problem years ago was facing her in person as the idea of Yagura dying didn't cross her mind in the slightest. He was the Mizukage and should have been powerful enough, or had helped to keep him that way, to protect his life for a very, very long time. But that wasn't how it went for the young, annoying Kage and Rin has to deal with the mist village’s mess a-fucking-gain.

Unable to remember the last time Rin had even seen Yagura in person, let alone this close, she slowly stood up to look at the jinchuuriki form while quickly using her healing chakra to fix her arm. And the first major thing she noticed was how young Yagura was at his apparent death. When she got a few steps closer it wasn't hard to tell that he wasn't more than a few years older than her son, and it made her depressed in more ways than one. But she knew the truth that this man was older than even herself, he just had better genes than anyone Rin had ever met.

Ideas of this being the age that her son would die because of something going wrong with Kurama, or even dying in the field of battle, crossed her mind in gruesome ways causing her version of Isobu to eye her rather sadly. ” Naruto won't die this young, I promise you, Rin, yeah. Kurama is too hot-headed to let that happen… but focus, he isn't who we are focusing on, hm.” He reassured his jinchuuriki as a glossy expression passed over Rin's demonic eyes, but she blinked them away while the Yagura clone glared at them both.

A sense of jealousy lingered between the three-tailed duo causing them to judge it wasn't coming from them. So maybe there was a small, but lingering connection between this broken-off piece. “Isobu, it's still okay. I know you're stressed and confused, but you're among friends. We won't hurt you, I promise.” Rin raised her hands to show herself as harmless while the main Isobu glared at the Yagura clone, unsure what this thing might do.

Even apart from him, the two beasts had gone through two different lives in the past six years. Two very different lives and are treated in two very different ways.

A grumble crossed the Yagura clone and he hissed in annoyance when Rin attempted to get closer again. ” I wasn't aware you were still close with Kinoe. Though I didn't think I would have been brought back to you, wench after my master's death, hm.” The clone spoke in a familiar voice of his main body, but a little bit deeper in tone. The way the jinchuuriki tensed up from the horrible name from someone that essentially came from herself and Isobu, maybe even shared some of their memories up to when they split from her completely. It hurt as if her son called her that, but one thing that brought her back was the title that came after.

” Even with this being a separate part of the three tails, it still calls me that old name. What is wrong with these two doing that?” Tenzo rolled his eyes in annoyance at the old nickname but decided to let it go as it wasn't a main issue at the time. “Wait. Master? Are you talking about Yagura? He wasn't your master. At least he shouldn't have been.” Rin spoke out and turned to look down at her bijuu as even he had his concern about the title he gave the Mizukage jinchuuriki. “He…” Shaking her head, Rin couldn't guess what had happened in the past for the smaller beast or how Yagura was as a person as their interactions were kept very minimal for a reason.

” You don't know how it went. You never knew what he was like, hm. It didn't start badly because you taught me to trust that not all humans were evil, yeah, but then it changed with that masked guy. You have no idea what it was like in Kirigakure for all that time you left me alone.” Isobu started to get overly angered at the memories that flooded his systems, but Rin had to grimace at the lingering feelings that were starting to affect her and her bijuu. She hitched her breath and waved her hands again. “Masked guy? W-what changed? Tell me what happened, Isobu. I'm here now so I can help you feel better. You can finally come home and Return to where you belong.” The jinchuuriki tried to make this quick so they could attempt to go to Kirigakure after getting situated again, but it was going to be that simple.

He hissed and clicked his teeth, even taking a few steps toward Rin as if that would somehow make her understand the stress he was feeling. ” No, hm. You are not home for me anymore. You aren't even my friend anymore, Rin. I don't trust you or anyone for that matter, hm. I don't belong to you or any other human. I will not allow myself to be sealed, ever again, hm.

No more pathetic humans. No more never-ending torture and ninjutsu, yeah. No more lies.” He kept approaching the female and Rin swallowed at the idea of what kind of jinchuuriki Yagura had been during the short time he had with Isobu. What kind of life that this piece of her best friend had lived was something that she couldn't have guessed and deep down over there years: Rin simply didn't care either. She had too much to worry about and what was happening in another village was never truly her concern… until of course it was forced to be her business like now.

From what Danzo said, Yagura was a perfect jinchuuriki, as herself, but how could someone be a perfect jinchuuriki and not work one on one with their bijuu? The thought never crossed her mind, but if anything she guessed it would be a mix of pain for the bijuu, like Kurama bound within Kushina, and power for the jinchuuriki, like herself when dealing with Isobu.

The connection between Yagura and Isobu was strong, but not in the way Isobu and Rin were. It was by force at a certain point caused by an outside source, and from how strong Yagura’s willpower suddenly became one day, but then it didn't help with how kind and docile Isobu was amongst the other eight bijuu. If Isobu hadn't been beaten down so much in such a short amount of time then maybe he would have helped Yagura from that horrible genjutsu at certain times…

The threatening way the mizukage clone approached Rin and how she just allowed it caused her bijuu to copy and transform into a clone of Rin as well. He stood between Rin and the Yagura clone with a strong flare on its face. ” You might think this way, but you can not blame Rin for what happened to you in the mist village all these years, yeah. We've both had it rough too, but that's over and you can finally join back with me.” He wasn't that sympathetic with himself, it sounded strange to the three-tailed bijuu, and knew once they became one, things would mellow out. And they would understand what they both went through, but that was up to the lesser version.

Attempting to slap the bigger version out of the way, the female clone grabbed the male clone by the wrist and they both just hissed at each other while the bigger side easily started to prove he was truly stronger than the other form. A smirk grew upon the Rin clone as the pained Yagura clone was forced down to its knees in an attempt to defuse the situation, but Rin quickly ran up to get involved too. “Stop! Stop, Isobu, that's enough.” She ordered her bijuu before simply stabbing the clone in the back with a kunai knife to break the transformation. Instead of falling to the ground like before, Rin snatched him from the air by his strong tails and held him against her hip.

When the transformation was broken, the Yagura clone gasped out and rubbed its wrist before looking between the jinchuuriki and his bigger side. ” Home, hm?” He clicked his beak and smirked, but something told the duo that this wasn't a good thing. “W-wait, Iso! Don’t-!” Rin took a few steps until the clone completely exploded into mist and disappeared from the area. She ran right into the mist and searched around frantically, even Tenzo ran up to join her. “What happened? Where did he go?”

They looked around, but Rin slowly pulled the three-tailed bijuu to her chest and held him close while still scanning the horizon. ” He's gone, yeah. And who knows where he will pop out at, hm.” His eye squinted at the worried expression that his jinchuuriki now had while searching around for someone they felt and knew was gone. “Damn it!” She growled out in frustration, slamming her heel into the ground causing a small crater to form before quickly pivoting on it and bounding off back to the village.

“Woah, woah! Are you sure he's gone?” Tenzo questioned as the three-tailed bijuu disappeared as well but back into his home of Rin's body. He was having no problem keeping up, but it wasn't hard to see that Rin was pushing herself to get back to plan for what they needed to do next. “Yes, I would have felt him if he was still in the area. Or it would have just been obvious. He's tired after what you put him through, by the way. Great work.” Rin smiled toward the confused Anbu member causing him to look to the side with embarrassment. “I didn't do much. Almost killed you if anything and the captain would kill me if I did.” He murmured but saw that Rin just ran her fingers through her now sweaty hair.

“That version of Isobu disappeared into his dimension, just like mine and Isobu have. Yagura and him had one and we can't access each other. Which is a blessing in the past and a nightmare now. I keep a lot of stuff there and it would be dangerous to take a chance on Yagura ever figuring out what we did.” Rin looked down at how her body was slowly turning back to normal as the demonic chakra started to return to manageable levels for her version of Isobu.

“How would you have combined them anyway, Nohara? You couldn't even handle his return out of the blue, like earlier. Are you sure you could handle 100% of the three tails returning?” Tenzo questioned again, causing Rin to grumble with the annoying questions as she thought of one thing at a time. Giving him a side glance before looking at the passing forest below them, she mistfully sighed and shrugged. “I have no idea. I would need help and it is something I'm going to need to research more on. Too bad I can't just ask Minato-sensei or Kushina-sensei.” She shrugged and looked down at the scarred over-bite mark that had healed from her healing chakra. It would disappear by the next day as if it never happened, but if only their problem would.

“I… might have an idea, thanks to Kirigakure’s involvement, but it's going to take more research. But we need to track him down first to make sure he doesn't hurt anyone.“ Tenzo nodded while the three-tailed bijuu looked up at his forehead to where Rin sat in their shared mindscape. ” He's scared, yeah. I don't blame him though. It sounds like he had the short end of the stick, hm.” Again Rin sighed and looked up at the darkness above them for no reason. ” I know about the Bloody Mist stories going around, but I didn't think Yagura would have been the cause of that. Dang, we really.. no I messed up on this Isobu. It's not like we could have stopped something like this from happening, but we don't have the power to influence a Kage like that. It's crazy..” She admitted defeat while leaning forward and running her fingers over her Chidori scars.

“Where are we going to look first, Nohara?” Tenzo broke the jinchuuriki out of her funk since he hated seeing her so lost in thought so often. “We're going to need to go to Kirigakure to get some information on their ends. I'm sure we can get Hiruzen to see if there is a mission there as a ploy to get us to the border. Hell…” She chortled a bit, even slightly darker as her eyes squinted in an evil twist. “Wouldn't the first time we would need to sneak in if we have to…” She whispered that last part as they reached the border within the village and quickly walked through the entrance.

“Get some supplies together, Tenzo, and if you can see if you can go by Lord Hiruzen to request some documentation on any possible mission to the mist village. I need to go gather my supplies and check on Naruto.” With her son being brought up, Rin just rubbed her stomach to show that meant to check on Kurama, but also wanted to let him know she needed to leave. A huge plus was also seeing Kakashi and showing him that she truly was alright, and maybe getting the hopeful news that this team was a winner in his eyes. If not, then maybe Kakashi can join in on this emergency mission. She was going to need this but would make it work with Tenzo if not. “Let's meet back at the entrance tonight, that should be ample time to get everything ready. And you in your gear.”

“And more freedom to blend in. This will be fun.” Rin spoke as her root side came out. Something he recognized from when they were together in the Root organization and the jinchuuriki was more… dangerous.. back then. He could only hope that it wasn't the stress getting to her again and just being sleep-deprived.

—

The one thing that finally caught up to the jinchuuriki was how late in the afternoon it was and yet she still hasn't eaten since the night before. She let out a small sigh and murmured while rubbing her stomach from the growls it made while making her way to the training grounds. The surprising exertion caused by Yagura's Isobu piece and the havoc it placed on her chakra system wiped out most of the energy Rin had left from her pathetic nap that morning. Tenzo's wood coffin also drained more than half her regular chakra supply when he drained the excess demonic chakra from her system.

So she was going to need the next few hours to eat and rest to regain some much-needed energy for the emergency mission heading their way.

Unknown to what time it was even in the afternoon, the jinchuuriki murmured a bit to herself as she finally made it to the training grounds ready to see if the four of them were still there. If not, she could always update Obito and just go home for the same deal. Kakashi would find her later or she would just pass a message on to him in some way. Naruto would be home later too so it wouldn't be a loss for anyone. It wasn't like this was the first time she had to go on an emergency mission while taking care of Naruto. Or needing to completely disappear for a few days to deal with things for the Anbu. It always made Naruto worry, but he trusted her to always come back.

Getting to the training grounds, she wasn't sure what she was expecting to see but eyeing a certain blonde tied to the middle post caused her to stop in the middle of the big entryway. It wasn't hard to see her and even drew the attention of the three others walking her way, more likely just trying to leave and leave the jinchuuriki tied to the post. It was funny and caused Rin to laugh a bit, but she couldn't leave him tied up in a time crunch… well maybe not that tight of a time crunch.

Kakashi stopped in place first when he eyed the female jinchuuriki, as Sasuke and Sakura had been distracted by Naruto's screams to untie him, and she tilted her head a bit. He looked her over and noticed how dirty, scratched and a little bloodied they were while they were away for almost two hours. His eye fell upon the torn sleeve and noticed that Rin had started to walk straight up to the three of them.

“Great. A concerned parent.” A murmur came from the Jonin leader but was loud enough for Rin to hear and she knew how to play that game. Her curiousness turned into a frown and she just deadpanned toward her blonde son.

Both newly made genin finally turned to look at Rin as they needed to step out of the way to get from being run over as one jinchuuriki walked through their way, close to Kakashi, and then bounded over the difference to behind Naruto. “Wow, that was rude. She could have said, “Excuse me.” Sakura grumbled as she was walking more but noticed Sasuke and Kakashi both stopped to look over at Rin. And, of course, she had to stop too so she could see why someone like Sasuke would be interested in the two weirdos in the village.

“Mom! I'm glad you're okay! And You're rescuing me? Thank goodness! I thought I would be here all day, you know.” Naruto tried to look behind him at her the best he could but all he felt was the ropes untightening from around his waist. He rubbed his stomach and ran around the stump to hug her around the waist. His impactful type of hugs was something she was used to and even increased her weight to keep from being picked up by the nine-tailed jinchuuriki as she didn't fully trust Naruto not to drop her just yet. Maybe in a few years when he's stronger then he could pick her up with no problem. Just not now.

“Ugh, how can someone so skinny be so heavy?” Naruto questioned while Rin just smiled down at her son and ran her fingers through his semi-wet hair. “How can someone so full of energy not be able to break out of a hold like that?” Rin rebuttal before they walked back behind the stumps while seemingly twirling something random in her fingers. And it wasn't something that could smoothly go around so it wrapped around her finger then went the other way and did the same thing again.

When the familiar sound of what the three new genins have been fighting for so desperately for more than two hours hit them, they all grew wide-eyed toward the female. She walked in between the three genins and they seemed to be eyeing the two adults Rin had a smirk on her face and they watched as Kakashi reached back to feel he was a bell down. His hand tightened on the one and slowly let go before he arched his body as if he would lunge to get it back from her. “It's not nice to steal what isn't yours, Nohara.”

“Well, then please do not tease my son. That's not exactly nice either, Mr. Hatake.” The smile on her face grew ever so subtle when she saw the way Kakashi reacted with a subtle glint in his eyes.
“I don't have concerns for your son's feelings, Miss Nohara. Being a ninja means you are not meant to have feelings.” She rolled the bell in her fingers, almost teasing it while holding it out for him to take it, but pulled back when he tried to grab it from her.
“You are almost right. Ninjas can still have feelings, but they shouldn't show emotions as it can be seen as weakness at certain times.”

The genine watched the two adults bickering to a degree and Rin looked down toward Sasuke in particular with a smirk. “Were you not able to get a bell, Sasuke? Out of everyone, I thought you would have gotten one.” Rin needed to jump on top of the same stump that Naruto had been tied to when Kakashi lunged out at her to try to get it from her. She chortled a bit while Sasuke just looked to the side in slight annoyance. “tsk, I'll get it next time we try this dumb exercise. It just took a bit to learn it, Rin.” The way Sasuke answered Rin with some respect caused Sakura to look at him with surprise. He normally was so quiet and mysterious, and she didn't expect an answer of any kind.

Kakashi backed up and eyed the beautiful jinchuuriki as the sunlight showed off her soft skin, but he turned his attention to her arm. The torn sleeve was hard to miss but also the big red fresh scar under it caught his attention as well. He turned his head and looked at her arm causing Rin to look down at it before shifting over to the other stump. “You guys have a lot to learn if you are going back to the academy… or did you guys pass?” Her question was directed toward the genin team but she couldn't keep her eyes off the teacher in front of her. Her words spoke volumes, but the meaning behind them was meant for her teammates and not them in particular.

“No! We all passed his stupid exercise, Mom! You're looking at the members of team seven!” Naruto yelled out as Rin's eyes grew wider and looked at all three of the members. “H-his exercise wasn't stupid or dumb, Naruto. Sasuke.” She spoke out calmly, much to the surprise of the genin team as she looked at the bell with admiration. With a shake of her head, her smile grew wider and she clapped her hands together. “We should celebrate. This is exciting.” She grinned down to the team but glanced over to the side to follow the Jonin leader.

“Hell yeah! Ramen is best for celebrating, you know!?” Naruto yelled out and even Sakura just grumbled. “Ew, no. We should get some dumplings or something to celebrate. There is more to life than ramen, naruto.” Sasuke just watched the two adults as Rin seemed distracted by what their new sensei was doing.

Walking around the stump that the jinchuuriki was standing on, Kakashi kept his eye on Rin and jumped up at her to attempt to get the bell while she seemed distracted by the students he even matched up on another log to get to her level. Only she jumped and slid on her heels on the ground to face him. “Ah, ah. This is mine. It's the least you can do for teasing my son, Mr Hatake.” Rin shouted out as Kakashi calmly jumped down near her and approached her so slowly. He stepped and she stepped back in this strange game causing her to smile while he just deadpanned, but she knew he was enjoying this deep down.

“I don't think so. You aren't leaving here until I get that bell. Your kid couldn't get it so I'm not letting you give it to him as a sort of celebration for making it as genin.” Kakashi threatened and all three of his new students ran up to keep an eye on the adults' movements. “Naruto, make your mom give him back his bell. She doesn't deserve it.” Sakura ordered the blonde jinchuuriki while he seemed conflicted about who to watch first. “Hell no, sensei deserves to put up with some actual work for once today. Besides, think of it as payback for being late this morning.” Naruto nodded while Sasuke stayed quiet so as to not miss a beat between the two.

“Oh, such big words for someone down a bell. If you want it so badly, come get them, Mr. Hatake.” She twirled the bell and eyed the water a few times to show her partner what she had in mind. He easily caught on to what she was motioning and would follow her plan. Kakashi and Rin needed to talk and he wanted to check her arm to make sure she was truly alright. “Don't make me hurt you, Nohara. It's not attractive to be a hovering parent. If you wanted to baby your son then you should have kept him out of the academy.” She clicked her tongue and crossed her arms.

“Watch out, they are outmatched. My mom is going to kick his butt, just don't look away!” Naruto tried to hype up the other two only to annoy Sakura and Sasuke already knew the type of power coming from Rin. “Yeah right. Sensei could probably beat your mom down and not even break a sweat. Anbu or not, they are vastly out of class.” Sakura crossed her arms to watch the show but wanted to go home after such a short day. She was over this whole day and dealing with another annoying jinchuuriki was not something she wanted. “No, Naruto is right. This will be good.” Sasuke backed up the blonde jinchuuriki much to the pinkett's displeasure but they all quieted down to watch the show.

“Oh please, as if I would want to attract someone like you. Mister tall, dark, and mysterious behind your mask.” Rin mocked the jonin and they finally stopped in their tracks when she was aimed at the side of the river. Kakashi glared toward the jinchuuriki only for her to turn her attention to a surprise attack from the water.

The Kakashi in front of Rin disappeared in a cloud of smoke and leaves to show it had been a clone the whole time while the real one jumped out from the water behind her. Her eyes grew for a second from the trickery, but in truth, she knew it wasn't the real one in front of her. “You're mine now!” Rin somersaulted out of reach of his grabby hands as he attempted to grab her from around the waist and pull her into the water. She landed on top of the water and stood on guard as Naruto cheered for her quick movements. “Great timing Mom!”

Kakashi ended up kneeling on the rocky shore turning around to look behind him as Rin was standing on the top of the water, and her just twirling the bell. “I might just end up taking the other bell two if that's all you have, Mr. Hatake.” She joked as she kneeled over the water's surface to stay level with her partner. She looked over toward the genin, before running the water over her bit scarred arm. The cold water caused her to hiss a bit, but she just turned to look back at Kakashi who was kind enough to wait for her to finish cleaning.

“Teach him a lesson Mom! Only you can, you know.” Naruto yelled out but watched as Rin held on to her arm for a few extra moments. She seemed to keep extra attention on it and let out a slow sigh with a shake of her head, showing her partner that she was done.“...Mr. Hatake. I'm sorry. We're going to need to reschedule this little.. whatever the hell this was.” She lifted her scarred arm and tossed him the bell, much to the displeasure of the genin as they were just as confused as anyone watching would be.

“Augh, what the hell Mom?! You had him on the run. That was so lame!” Naruto yelled out as they all began to walk back toward the two adults while Rin walked back up to Kakashi and got back to his feet. He turned to fully face her and she frowned when they both gazed down at her arm.

Using the decoy of holding the bell in her injured arm, he reached down to grab it from her held-out hand and pushed the damaged fabric to look at the deep wound more easily. “Fine by me. In all truth, the little exercise wiped me out so I don't think I could have put my whole self into it, miss Nohara.” He spoke nonchalantly about the whole ordeal while running his fingertips over the edges of the wound. She hitched her breath and caused Kakashi to look at her with concern. “You're such a bad liar, sensei. You didn't even break a sweat I swear.” Sakura grumbled out and they all watched as Kakashi seemed to be examining a deep wound on her arm.

“Rin, what happened to your arm?” Sasuke questioned with slight concern causing Rin to pull back from Kakashi's hold and rubbed the fabric over it. Even Sakura gasped at how deep it looked and gazed at the mother with concern about how Rin got it. “I got bit by something bad. It'll heal, I promise. It's not a big deal, it just looks really bad.” She nodded toward the squad and swallowed a bit toward her partner.

“Listen, you guys. I know I said we should celebrate, but it'll have to wait till I get back.” The way she spoke rather depressingly caught the attention of the whole group, but mostly the males were the most concerned. “Where are you going, mom?” Naruto questioned and looked at Sasuke for some reason. “I was given a highly classified mission that I have to leave for tonight. I have no idea when I'll be back, but at least your sensei will be able to train you till I get back, right Mr. Hatake?” Rin questioned as the group just turned to look at the older male, but he didn't divert his gaze from the female in the slightest.

“Well, alright Mom. Stay safe and if it's not till tonight, then we still have time to celebrate, right?” Naruto questioned only to see Rin shake her head. “I need to eat something then rest up for the mission. I'm not sure if I'll see you before I leave but know that,” She opened up her arms and captured all three genins in her strong grasp, lifted them from their feet, and hugged them for dear life. “You guys made it to Genin! Congratulations team seven!” She chortled as some of them complained about being picked up.

“Rin! Put me down…” Sasuke grumbled, Sakura kicked her feet and struggled against the hug especially being in the middle. “Let go of me, Naruto’s mom. This is weird!” And Naruto was just loving the embrace, even if it included Sasuke in it. “The next step is Hokage, you know Mom!”

The huge grin that crossed the female jinchuuriki's lips caused Kakashi to smile under his mask as well and he couldn't help it when he grabbed Rin in a hug as well to pick her up. She gasped out from the surprise attack and looked back with a blush when she noticed Kakashi’s face resting on her shoulder. “Don't forget me in this equation.”
“M-mr. Hatake. Put me down! This is very unprofessional.” She murmured with a frown to which Kakashi slowly put her down and she released the squad.

Fixing her shirt, she turned her back to the genin squad as they scrambled to get them some space. “You guys go on ahead. If you are starting missions, then I'm sure you should get whatever you can do today before you get too busy to do anything else in the near future.” Rin offered as her eyes didn't leave her teammates, even placing her hands on her hips to stay with the show.

The three agreed and quickly dispersed. “I'll see you at home, Mom. I love you.” Naruto spoke out as he looked between the two adults. “Try not to let her kick your butt too much, sensei. It'd be bad to lose to a girl.” That earned him a wack from Sakura and an eye roll from the mother jinchuuriki. “I love you two, Kit. And you kind of deserved that.” Rin shook her head as Naruto got a harsh scolding from his teammate for the harmless but sexist remark. “I'll show you how you can lose against a girl, Naruto!” Sakura yelled out as they all left.

When they had gone far enough and the two adults knew they were truly alone, it didn't take long for Kakashi to be the one to approach the other. He couldn't take two steps though before Rin had lunged her whole body into his arms. She threw herself into him with the biggest sequel and nuzzled her nose into his chest. “You did it, Kakashi. You got your team!” She giggled before jumping up and wrapping her arms around his neck.

It didn't mean to turn out this way, for the mother jinchuuriki to show more support for her partner than her own two special children in her lives, but they didn't need that from her right then and there. Rin trusted and knew that Naruto and Sasuke were strong in their beliefs and dreams for the future. They didn't need her much support during this great achievement because they trusted her words for a true celebration later on. However, Rin felt that Kakashi truly needed to hear her voice of support. Especially since she was the cause of a lot of the trauma in his life…

Easily grabbing her from around the hips, he held her close to his chest and still kept looking her over to make sure she was alright. “Yeah. They passed the test. You were right. I just had to wait for the right group of genin to come along to pass on the proper teachings of teamwork.” He spoke as if it was exhausting, but Rin couldn't hide the excitement on her face. She kicked her legs a few times before pulling her head back to look him in the eye.

Her happy expression lightened a bit to show a slight allure to her face and she smiled softly. “I knew you could do it, Kakashi. Now Sasuke and Naruto can be trained better by someone who has time for them. And we can work on keeping Sasuke from thinking about revenge, I hope. I'm trying my best.

This little surprise isn't going to help my case though.” She sighed while Kakashi placed her back down on the floor and lifted her arm to look at the wound much easier than before. He lifted her bell in between his index and middle finger for her to grab while looking at the wound. “What truly happened to your arm? And what is this surprise mission you are going on?” He questioned as his fingertips smoothed up her arms but away from the bite to make sure that was all the injury on her.

He caught sight of some light bruises beneath some parts of a black T-shirt that she allowed him to see from the middle of the field, but Rin spoke to him about what happened with the part of Isobu that came back to haunt her after so many years apart.

“I'm going to need to check out the status of Kirigakure and figure out why Yagura died. Or figure out what Isobu meant by him being under a genjutsu. So I suggest we maybe take some time to do like we did this morning, but how about you feed me this time, Mr. Hatake?” A flirty tone came at the end of her sentence and Kakashi just let out a short laugh through his nose. “Sounds like a plan, Miss Nohara.”

Chapter Text

It felt like a completely new day and a new problem to deal with from her past. But sadly, that wasn't the case.

The past seven hours of being able to eat and rest to get ready for her surprise mission were met with mixed results as the stress of the mission seemed to heed some true relaxation for the three-tailed duo. The demonic duo didn't speak much once Rin made herself at home after Kakashi treated her out for some food, but they didn't need to speak to truly know what the other needed and wanted.

The nightmares that came during the short times Rin was able to get her mind to quiet down enough to fully fall into the sleep cycle were quite different from the ones that used to haunt her. They weren't fully intact dreams either, and trying to investigate them only resulted in her being forced to wake up with barely any memory of what had happened.

On the last attempt to sleep under her roof, Rin found herself being jostled awake by the nine-tailed jinchuuriki when a dark nightmare started to cause her to speak in her sleep and worry the poor boy about the cause.

Becoming very good at sneaking into the kitchen for some food during the rare time his mother needed to sleep during the day or her just suddenly showing up out of thin air after being gone for who knows how long during her top-secret missions, Naruto never wanted to bother his mother during her down time. However, sometimes he felt the need to get involved and wake her up when she was not having the best dreams.

Walking into the kitchen for some last-minute food before bed, he wasn't surprised to see the three-tailed turtle sleeping beside his mother's side on her bed. What surprised the young boy was the fact that even the turtle seemed to be ‘asleep’ as well. He couldn't remember ever seeing his mom's pet asleep while she was resting at the same time. Either Isobu stayed awake and beside the female the whole time, while Rin got some real rest in the seclusion and secrecy of their home, or he just relaxed while his jinchuuriki did meaningless human duties around the tight apartment.

Though the fox jinchuuriki found it weird that Isobu never showed himself around other people in public unless they were sure no one was around for miles, Naruto just chalked it up to the turtle being shy around other humans. No one really believed him when they had an ugly turtle as a pet, but no one ever really gave the blonde enough attention to go into true detail about what his home life was like.

Rin speaking in her sleep was something he never enjoyed watching or experiencing. It was as rare as her heat-seeking behavior could be during the winter, and he could only count it on one hand whenever it happened, but they always followed rough patches for the hidden jinchuuriki's life. Some of which Naruto didn't fully know about, was allowed to know about, nor the full extent of negativity they truly affected Rin afterward. But it was one of those things that came with being a hidden weapon of course. If only her mind could keep her quiet as it did when she was awake.

The sleep talking only happened two times before that the male jinchuuriki could remember and it had been followed by something to do with the mist village and something to do with Itachi Uchiha. Or, more importantly, they were very life-impacting moments and very traumatic for the three-tailed jinchuuriki.

Not truly understanding what the mist village had to do with his mother in any way, shape, or form, but it wasn't hard for him to figure out why she was haunted by Itachi Uchiha. Even Naruto remembered Sasuke’s older brother and though they didn't interact as much as his mom did with Itachi, he could remember how much nicer Itachi was to him than annoying Sasuke ever was!

Naruto had loved spending time with Itachi, from what little memory he could remember growing up under Rin's care, and though it was a very short amount of time, there were still fun memories between Naruto and the Uchiha clan. Well, more specifically, between Naruto and Obito's grandmother.

But suddenly, they didn't go to the Uchiha complex as often, if at all, after Granny passed away.

Naruto couldn't figure out why they didn't go there anymore, and Rin would never answer any of his questions about it either. But the male jinchuuriki could probably guess now that he knew what he was, that the fox had something to do with the sudden exile. He could remember the pain he saw in his mom's eyes whenever they were asked by the police why they were there, and though young, he knew it was directed at him.
Once Granny was gone, they didn't have any reason to go there in his mind and life was better off without having to deal with the annoying Sasuke’s clan.

Naruto's sudden hatred for someone he barely remembered at this point in his life, was strong for the sake of his rival, as Rin calls Sasuke to Naruto, and for the same woman who raised him the past seven years in.

Reaching over the bed to shake the female awake, Rin jumped slightly, lifted her head with her hair quickly covering her face to examine the cause of her being awoken, and let out a small sigh when her mind caught up on it being her son waking her up. Her senses must have been failing her not to feel her son's presence so close, but she blamed it on the fact that he never meant her any harm, even if he woke her at terrible times in the past.

“Who's Yagura, mom?” The blonde jinchuuriki questioned as Rin lay in a daze and pressed her back up against the wall to try to collect her thoughts. It wasn't hard for Rin to snap back to reality. However, she tried desperately to pick out as many details from memory as she could from the nightmares.

The nightmares meant answers in some way, shape, or form. And the only answer she kept getting was a very bright swirling orange. Sometimes a familiar crimson red crossed her dreams as well, but the dots were crossing in the slightest. That color was dappled all over the memories she tried to access from what little time she had reconnected from Yagura's Isobu, but the connection was so weak and temporary that it wasn't taking clear form. The same could be said for her memories during the night of the Uchiha massacre, but she tried her best not to mix the two negative memories.

With another shake of her shoulders to make sure she was fully awake, Rin's mind broke from the dark memories and focused on one of the most important people in her life. “Hm? Yagura?” She repeated before lifting her head to look at the concerned look on his face and even looked down at the way he had sat on his knees beside her lying form on her bed. She rubbed her eyes a few times before reaching over and clasping onto his hand to try to comfort him in some way. “I'm not sure, son. Just someone's name I've heard about in the past. No one really that important.” Reassuringly, she reached up and rubbed his whiskered cheek, but noticed the worry in his eyes. “What? What's that look for?” She questioned before removing her hand to sit up to move to the side of the bed. She needed to get ready soon to hurry to her meet-up point with Tenzo.

Knowing to stay out of the way as his mother gathered her supplies to get ready for the unknown-length mission, Naruto took a step back and frowned still. “With me being a ninja now, you can stop working so hard, especially on these really dangerous missions, Mom. I know you do everything you can to make sure we can eat. And I know I eat a lot for some reason, but now I can help start paying for some bills and food, you know.” His concerning statement caused the mother to stop in her tracks and quickly walk back over to in front of him. “No! No.” She spoke that word a few times before bending down to kiss the nine-tailed jinchuuriki on the cheeks and even his bare forehead a few times.

Naruto closed his eyes while she did it and opened them to see a determined expression looking back at him. “No. I don't need you to try to help me with money, kit. I'm not an anbu black ops member just because of the money, son. I do it for the sake of the village, helping protect Lord Third and keep people like you safe and sound.” She softly poked his nose with a soft smile and finished her getup by putting on her headband around her forehead. “We might not be rich, but I make enough money to help you and Sasuke feel that you are loved in this place, alright? We might not have the best stuff either, but we make it work and we'll never starve. I can promise you that.” Naruto grumbled at the Uchiha's name being brought up and crossed his arms.

“Hmmp well, I get the right to buy you a present if I want, you know. And Sasuke doesn't deserve your money. He should make his own.” A soft laugh came from the mother jinchuuriki and she shook her head. “Well, lucky for me, the both of you will start making money for yourselves and the village starting tomorrow. So I won't have to worry about you doing any more pranks. I'm sure your sensei will keep just as busy as possible, right?” Rin patted his head and started to head to the front door only for Naruto to hug her from behind and nuzzle his cheek into it. She patted his arm and looked back toward his face. “I'm going to be good from now on, you know. I promise! Just be safe, alright Mom? I love you.”

Rin smiled sweetly and held his hands on her stomach. “ I love you too and don't worry.. This should be an easy mission…” Even holding him like this, a small concerned look crossed her lips and she looked down toward the ground. ”I hope.”

Wearing her full Anbu get-up, Rin carried nothing on her person besides her trusty Anbu sword and the obvious ninja pack around her thigh. For an anbu, she looked very unprepared, but from how famous her Anbu persona is, everyone knows not to underestimate the three-tailed jinchuuriki.

With the moon high in the sky, Rin appeared at the entrance gate in a gust of mist, looking up at the entrance like she had done it multiple times and would do it a thousand times more. Like trained, Tenzo summoned himself next to her in a gust of wind and leaves. No sounds were made by either and no one in the village was the wiser of where they were at that time. Well except for one.

“Leaving so soon? And without a proper goodbye?” A voice called out behind them, a very familiar silver-haired jonin that just so happened to lean on the other side of the village sign, He didn't look like he had changed from earlier, but his sudden showing up made Tenzo look around rather warily and Rin simply sighed rather happily to see him. “Captain? What are you doing out here so late?” Tenzo questioned and yet still looked around as if they had been followed but there was no way. The two Anbu would have known long ago if they had been.

“Can I not simply come and see my favorite Anbu members off with some luck and prayers?” Speaking with his hands in his pockets and still leaning on the pole, this caused Rin and Tenzo to look at each other and even with masks they knew they looked at each other with a look of misbelief. “You're not religious, Captain. So what prayers could you give us?” Tenzo shook his head and Rin still kept her distance with her eyes facing toward the exit of the village.

”We need to leave, yeah. Hurry this along.” The jinchuuriki agreed with her bijuu, looking rather seriously toward Kakashi, but her mask held the emotions in secret. ” Kakashi, we need to leave.” At this point both Anbu males were used to the way the jinchuuriki used her bijuu voice when wearing her mask to help hide her identity, but they also knew it was serious when there was no real voice beforehand either.

Pushing off the pole, Kakashi kept his hands in his pockets, but still slowly walked to and grabbed Rin's hand to hold it between his own. “I know you need to investigate the Mizukage’s death, but do not overdo it, please Rin. I know this is a stressful time and you won't have a lot of backup, but take care not to push yourself. The professor would be disappointed if you went and did something reckless this late in your life.” Rin allowed him to hold her hand but seemingly stared towards Tenzo who just looked away with a soft chuckle as he knew when not to get in the middle of something. “Don't worry captain, she's under good guard with me by her side.” The Anbu male tried to reassure the jonin, but a wisp of mist flowed past Rin's mouth of her mask.

” Don't think I'm weak just because of my life change in recent years, Tenzo. The armor I produce will protect me from what most can throw at me. However, the last time we had a trip like this, the team included Kakashi, Team Ro, you, me, and... Itachi... Tenzo. With it just being us, I'm not worried but it's going to be very different… and hopefully not too difficult.” Not really reacting to her hand being held, Kakashi still patted it a little reassuringly and knew that Rin was worried even if she didn't show it outwardly. She pulled her hand from his and waved for Tenzo to follow on. ” Be happy that this wasn't a solo mission for me, Tenzo. If not for my health and the peaceful status of the village, you might not have gone with me.” She shrugged, leaned down, and was about to go, even her teammate raced off but quickly slid to a stop when he noticed she wasn't following him.

Turning around to face the masked jinchuuriki, Tenzo found Rin had lifted her mask, had gotten closer to Kakashi, and leaned up against him while he leaned over to listen to what she had to say. ” Please make sure Naruto and Sasuke don't kill each other while I'm away. This is such a change and with me not being here … the demon chakra reacting negatively to the nine tails seal and me not being able to communicate with them if they have questions…” She murmured some stuff off and thought Kakashi deadpanned the whole time, he turned his head and gave her cheek a masked kiss to try to calm her nerves.

Smiling wide under his mask, Kakashi placed his hands upon her scarred shoulders and rubbed them with his thumbs. “Don't worry. You can count on me to keep everything running smoothly until you come back.” Though reassuring, Rin still squinted a bit and shrugged a bit as if she had any power to change the future like that. She gave a soft smile and replaced her mask upon her face, fixed her hair, and took a few steps back. ” This isn't going to be the same as before. You know this.” Kakashi only gave a nod and waved slightly. “Things will never go back to those fun times, Rin. But we can only try to make better memories going forward.”

And with that she turned and darted out the front gates, not even stopping to interact with Tenzo in the slightest but he easily caught up with her after a few paces. “Are you really worried that this might go poorly, San?” Tenzo questioned softly, while Rin pondered to herself in silence for a few moments. ” We're going to deal with a rogue bijuu that isn't tied to me by much, and though we're both stronger than him. Who knows where that missing three-tail piece is, Kinoe? So… no I think we'll be just fine … Just. Fine..”

It took them all night, and well until the sun peaked over the horizon, for the two to reach the edge of the Land of Fire and the banks of the Land of Waves. ” We'll rest once we get to the land of Waves for a day. By then Isobu should make it to the banks of Kirigakure to allow us to slip in undetected. Shouldn't be too difficult.” Rin murmured to her partner who just nodded at the idea, though he had his doubts on some things. “Are you sure it's safe to let your bijuu do all that traveling by itself? What if it gets captured?” He questioned and started to see some fog starting to roll in from the direction of the island.

” It's the fastest, and most discreet way of traveling I can see us taking, Kinoe. If it was just me, I would simply swim around the land of waves and head straight there. However, I'm not in any shape for that sort of workout right now and I have to play nice with my comrades from what Lord Hiruzen tells Isobu.” They both looked along the bank to see if a boat could take them and just their luck there was a small one but big enough for the two of them plus a driver of some sort. ” Besides, Isobu is almost impossible to sense or see whenever he's in his element, unless you use wood style, which of course, you are on my side so they couldn't capture him even if they wanted to.” A soft smile formed under her mask and she noticed Tenzo staring her way multiple times. ” Why are you staring at me like that? Do I have something on my mask?” Her eyes fell back on the boat and knelt to begin untying it from the dock, only for the sounds of running to be coming from a nearby house.

” Fantastic, a driver right when we need one.” Rin held the boat rope and watched as the frightened man seemed to be holding a knife as if to try to threaten them or something. “H-hey! What are you doing with my boat? Tie that back and leave, we don't help thieves here.” Tenzo put his hands up and swayed them up and down to try to diffuse the situation while Rin simply tied it back without a second thought. “Sir, we are not thieves. We were going to come find a driver or the owner, once we were sure it was seaworthy and up to getting us to where we needed to go.” He explained, while Rin just kept her eyes facing toward the Land of Waves.

”Another distraction, hm. We should have just walked the way there.” Isobu finally spoke to the jinchuuriki after being quiet for most of the night and morning, but there hadn't been much to say during their trip. ” I would be fine with that idea, Isobu. If we were up to full strength yet. Besides, you'll need all your energy to get us to Kirigakure. I'm sure you're excited about that.” The two tried to be optimistic about their whole ordeal and prayed that it would be easy to just collect the missing piece of the bijuu, but nothing was ever easy in their experiences.

” Are you able to drive us to the Land of Waves? We must get there before midday.” Rin turned her head to look in the direction of the skeptical boat driver, but he had at least dropped the knife more to his side. “That's impossible even if we were to go full at the fast speed on my boat.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a turtle-shaped money pouch. “If you need money, we can pay, but we need to hurry this along.” She spoke monotony and threw the pouch up and down within her hand, and the guy watched the whole time.

“Why would you want to go to the Land of the Waves? There's nothing there but murderers, thieves, and monsters ready to take advantage of any visiting person, ninja included.” He tried to sway them, waving his knife in the direction of the misty island. “Sir, can you drive us or not?” Tenzo spoke calmly while Rin just simply started to walk onto the water's surface as the time wasted talking to this man was starting to irritate the three-tailed duo. “W-wait San. Please, sir. Just take us until the dock and we won't ever see you again.” Not exactly begging, Tenzo was clearly worried about the three-tailed jinchuuriki and fully being able to make it to the island without her chakra failing.

The man let out a sigh and agreed to a few 100 yen from Tenzo and they were quick to embark after the three-tailed jinchuuriki. She didn't get too far, but it was clear she had quickened her pace from how long it took for them to simply catch up with the motored boat.

Stopping and turning to look at the passing boat, they were nice enough to stop next to her, and without a word, she stepped in and sat down to allow them to go back to full speed. “Still better than walking, right San?” Tenzo spoke lightly, but Rin simply dipped her hand into the water and flicked it into the air. ” Thank you for giving us a ride.” Speaking rather monotone, the aura the jinchuuriki was giving was frightening the boat driver, but it was more of annoyance and impatient coming off of Isobu more than anything. “Y-yeah don't mention it. You're going to have to figure out a way on your own though.” He said nervously, but Rin didn't reply, only simply stared at the direction the boat was going.

“We understand, we shouldn't have any issues on our part, so don't worry.” Tenzo spoke kindly, and the man shook his head. “Well for your sake, I hope you understand the area you're going to. The Land of Waves is not kind to outsiders or even those who call it home.” They listened but chose not to respond. Rin only looked at the passing water and dipped her hands in every so often to try to enjoy it while Tenzo kept an eye out but watched the jinchuuriki rather intensely in case she had another negative reaction like before.

After an hour or two of pure silence, Tenzo decided to break the silence and clear some negative thoughts the kunoichi might be thinking. “So, you're still having a hard time working with others?” Tenzo couldn't help but question the statement from earlier but slowly lifted her masked face after choosing to rest for the upcoming trip. She let out a small content sigh and rolled her shoulders from the very uncomfortable position. ”Mm… No. I work well with others, it's the fact that they don't seem to like working with me. The stigma I've earned over the years doesn't really work in a group setting, plus raising… the one I do…” She hated going into details like this, especially around strangers, so she was going to keep it as vague as possible.

” It doesn't help with that friendly feeling either. I just do my job and go home. I'm not meant to be friendly, and neither is Rin if you can't accept the whole package.” Scratching the back of his head, Tenzo slowly nodded with understanding. ” I don't really need friends in the Anbu anyway. That idea went out the window a long time ago.” A wisp of mist crossed her lips at the idea of how close she had gotten with Itachi only for it to bite her back in the face later on. That whole Uchiha thing was a mess.

“Hey now, being in the Anbu isn't that bad. You make it sound horrible.” Tenzo tried to lighten the mood, taking the first turn while rowing toward the Land of Waves. ” Better than where we were before, Kinoe. I'm just… I'm not sure if it's really my calling anymore. I don't know..” She murmured before placing her hand in the water and enjoying the feeling on her skin. ” At least you make it worth it most of the time, but it's not the same. Not really.” She let out a small sigh and just watched the ripples of the water as they went. “Yeah, I can't blame you for thinking that way, San. Playing in the shadows isn't for everyone, even one dragged into it like you were.” Tenzo murmured with a soft smile under his mask. “I'm glad you see me as a friend though. You had me a bit worried with what you said you didn't need friends in the Anbu.”

Rubbing the top of her scars below her Anbu vest, Rin simply shrugged. ” Of course you're my friend, Kinoe. If we weren't at this point, from all we've been through, then there is something wrong with us.” A small and single rare laugh crossed her lips as the serious tone of the Anbu was hard to break for the jinchuuriki. ” Maybe you should become a captain instead of me. You're more built to work with others and you don't need to hide what you can do.”

“You really think I would do a good job at leading the team like that?” He questioned with some respect for her thoughts and ideas. ” Of course. You're very good at what you do, and you've learned a lot being in the sun.” Rin leaned back and rested her arm on the side of the boat to relax for a little bit of time during the trip. “You have to, San. We both have…”

Getting up surprisingly early from the hellish sleep from the night before, Naruto found himself up and out their door earlier than before. He was excited for his first real mission, but the concern for his mother's safety was stronger than any time he could have remembered in the past.

The sun was starting to rise, and all Naruto could do was poke his stomach a few times. The nerves from the day prior, during the training exercise, and even the way his mother tossed and turned the night before truly unsettled the nine-tailed jinchuuriki. Though Kurama had settled after the bouts with feeling Isobu's chakra, Naruto's overactive mind was playing tricks on the jinchuuriki's nerves for either to settle.

Even with how early he was to the ninja academy, the place they seemed to give out missions left and right, the blonde shouldn't have been surprised to see his rival was just as early as he was. Sasuke turned to look at the blonde with a surprised expression, but quickly turned his head to look in the opposite direction since it truly didn't matter too much to the boy. This only ticked off the jinchuuriki some more and even grumbled some words under his breath before joining up to stand against the wall and out of the way of another ninja.

They sat for five minutes in silence, before some thoughts passed through Naruto's thoughts that he just had to have the answers to. “Hey.” He questioned softly, causing Sasuke to give him a side glance without moving his head, but still kept his arms crossed over his chest. “Mm?” He grunted in response but still looked around to keep an eye on Sakura and Kakashi. “I… have a question. But don't get mad at me for it.” He murmured so softly, Sasuke almost didn't hear him, but it did earn the Uchiha's full attention.

“M-mom said…” Naruto started, but then seemed to stop only to turn his head away when he couldn't look Sasuke in the eye without getting jealous or downright pissed. “When I was messing around the other day, I was just joking but she got so offended, but I don't get it.” His murmur turned into a grumble, but Sasuke was losing his patience. “Is there a point to your story, loser?” That caused Naruto to growl and even glare toward the Uchiha, but he forced his head to look away.

“Mom said that she's not going to allow you to turn into your brother. But I don't understand what she means.” His tone turned softer, but when he turned to look back at Sasuke, a slight glare seemed to be looking back at him. “What did you do to make her say something like that? She said something about handouts and leaving me alone when she found me after I assumed she had been dealing with you playing around as me, but if…” He rubbed his arm in anger, quickly turning toward Naruto as if going to threaten him. “Listen to me and get it through your thick head, do not concern yourself with what happens between me and Rin. Got it? Don't ever bring up my brother again, or I'll make you eat those words.” He threatened, but Naruto just seemed to look to the side and instantly get offended by the pushback.

“Augh, calm down! I told you not to get angry with my question, you know.” Naruto growled and seemed to cross his arms as this wasn't going where he wanted. “I just wanted to know. I only remember a little bit about him…” Naruto murmured the last part and turned his head to look to the side and away from the annoying Uchiha. After a few moments though, Naruto scratched the back of his rather aggressively as it was one thing he couldn't drop. “Okay. I can't. One last more thing and then I'll drop it.” This seemed to make Sasuke glare even more intense as he couldn't even guess what could come out of the dumbass mouth.

The murmuring from his mother in her sleep caused Naruto to remember it happening after her recovery from the hospital a few years back. He didn't know the details fully, but he knew it had to deal with the stupid Uchiha clan. He opened his mouth and turned to look at Sasuke, only for it to be interrupted by the third member of their team showing up on time. “Wow, Naruto. I didn't expect to be here before you were.” Sakura said with some surprise and moved to stand between the two, which Naruto happily moved over to give the boys some space.

Sasuke leaned forward to slightly look at the blonde, but Naruto just looked between the two teammates and shook his head. “Uh. Never mind, I'll ask it later, you know.” The boy murmured, looking back at Sakura who couldn't help but look between the two rather curiously. “Hm? What were you two talking about before I got here?” She questioned, but Sasuke just turned his head to ignore her question while Naruto just looked to the ground. “U-uh we were talking about why we think sensei is always late.” The jinchuuriki lied, but Sakura seemed to tilt her head up with some ideas. “That's actually a good question…”

” What did my brother have to do with anything?”
“ Mom, this might be harder than you think.”

Surprisingly the group didn't need to wait long as their sensei showed up less than ten minutes later. Still late, but was less than they had experienced the past few times. “Hey guys, ready for your first mission?” He spoke with some slight energy and excitement, but Naruto looked at him with more excitement than the Jonin could ever dream of reaching. “Hell yeah! I can't wait to protect a princess or something cool like that for our first mission! It's going to be awesome, you know.” Grinning and giggling from what he could imagine their first mission would be, Naruto couldn't stand still.

“Don't get your hopes up too much, Naruto. You guys are just starting out so there is no way they will just give us the hardest missions first.” Kakashi tried to bring the blonde back down to earth, but it wasn't like he was listening. “Oh yeah! Today is going to rock, you know!” Naruto started to chant, but Sasuke and Sakura just watched him rather silently and quite annoyed. “Will you calm down, Naruto? It's too early to have that much energy this early in the morning.” The pinkette murmured while Kakashi opened the door to the room where the missions were given.

He let his team in first as the Third Hokage, a few others and even the academy teacher were sitting there and ready to pass out their first mission. ” I just hope Naruto doesn't try to challenge Sasuke to finish all the missions in one day. That was such an exhausting day.” Kakashi thought to himself and though it wasn't really exhausting, that challenge was an eye-opening one for Team Minato.

Getting to the Land of Waves by mid-afternoon, Rin stepped off the boat and into the misty environment. She could always smile at how nice the environment felt on her body, but she kept walking while Tenzo waved politely to the boat driver. ” Well, that's new.” The jinchuuriki spoke as they both looked up at the outline of a new construction bridge. ” That's going to take a bit to build.” They followed it up to where it was going to start and seemed to point back in the direction of the Land of Fire. “A bridge would be good for this region if they can finish it. Get more trade service from the Land of Fire too.” Tenzo smiled, while Rin looked down at the distance to the water below.

Without a word, Rin walked onto the bridge and went to the unfinished end where a bunch of caution tape blocked people from simply jumping off. ” This will work. It might point in the wrong direction, but this is faster than us walking to the edge of the country just to do the same thing.” Pushing her way under the tape, Tenzo seemed to freak out when she got near the edge of the bridge. “C-careful there, San.” He spoke out with some concern only for Rin to chortle a bit and hold her palms out in front of her. “Calm down. Even this high up couldn't kill me.” She spoke lightly.

A cloud of mist popped out and the three-tailed bijuu summoned himself in her hands causing the jinchuuriki to smile under her mask. “Have fun swimming. Get there quickly and safely, but enjoy it too. Alright?” She spoke with her true voice, while Isobu seemed to deadpan toward the jinchuuriki. ” I want this over with so we can go home and never go back there, yeah.” The bijuu turned and pushed himself out of her hands and into the water below. Even with how high it was, there was no splash or sound made when he entered his element.

Turning back to look at the surprised Anbu member, mask or not, it wasn't hard to see Tenzo tense up during the whole show. ” Close your mouth, you'll attract flies.” She spoke lightly and easily walked past him, but beckoned him to follow. “How long do you think it'll take to get there?” He questioned while Rin shrugged. ” Let's use this time to recoup, eat, and rest. It's going to take a while, but I'm sure the Land of Waves has something for us to do in the meantime.”

It took less than an hour to reach a town with an inn for them to stay in for a bit, and of course they didn't need to eat with food pills being available, but the jinchuuriki wanted and needed real food for energy. “You must feel right at home in all this mist, San,” Tenzo spoke kindly but waved some of the mist in slight annoyance. A slight hiss of mist blew under her mask as a joke, while the jinchuuriki twirled a stick that had once had a fish on it between her dinners. ” Sorry, can't hear you when I can't see you.” She lifted her mask to the side and took a bite of fish with a small smirk. “At least you can see somewhat easier in the sun. Kirigakure is going to be way worse than here, but it'll work to our advantage after we go and see the new Mizukage.”

Rin warned while fixing her mask and looking outside the small food shop, she swallowed and seemingly turned her head while staring out. “Is there any mist you can't see through?” Tenzo questioned while finishing up one of his bowls of rice, looking at her rather curiously only to follow her gaze outside to see nothing in particular. “San? San, what's wrong?” He questioned, only for Rin to reach over and tap his mask which Tenzo quickly put on without question. ” Unwanted company. And I think I might have tipped them off by mistake.” The jinchuuriki murmured while getting up from the table and Tenzo followed suit. “Who? Or what did you do?” The female shook her head and they turned to leave. ” I'm not sure, but it's someone we don't want to mess with until we have time to deal with him, Kinoe.” Rin spoke low, while they managed to get outside, the jinchuuriki kept on moving toward their inn.

“Can you at least tell us who might be targeting us?” Tenzo looked around in full guard, while Rin focused on their end goal. They pushed through the crowd of people as politely as possible, but when there was a break a man with a giant sword stood on the other side and seemed to be facing towards them. ” The man who donned himself the name of the Demon of the Hidden Mist.”

Standing with a deadpanning look on his half-covered face, he seemingly looked over the two Anbu members, but Rin simply looked him over as well.

”Zabuza Momochi. Long time no see.” Tenzo looked between the two in shock at seeing an S-rank ninja seemingly knowing Rin and somehow their connection to Kirigakure still didn't connect the dots. “San of the Misty Leaf. It has been forever. I almost forgot what you looked like in the years since I've seen you.” He spoke low, both beings setting off a very strong aura about them, but neither of them faulted. ” Well, that tends to happen when you become an s-rank missing-ninja, Zabuza. I try to keep my business to my own village.” She turned to look at Tenzo who seemed to understand who they were facing now, but she shook her head.

This wasn't their priority and they were supposed to be reserving their energy for the track for the three tails, not a loner.

“I'm surprised someone as high of a rank as two Anbu members are, they aren't trying to capture me.” Zabuza spoke a little cocky, but San just shrugged. ” Did you want to waste your energy and time just for us to try to arrest you or kill you? We don't exactly have time for this as we have our eyes on bigger targets.” The way Zabuza seemed to take offense even though he didn't flinch or change his expression was impressive, but he was a cold-blooded killer for a reason.

Taking a step in front of Tenzo, the jinchuuriki crept closer to her teammate and they both seemed to circle the swordsman. “And who could be more important than one of the seven ninja swordsmen of the mist?” Zabuza questioned coldly, watching them without moving his head and only his eyes. ” Why would Rin care so much about the swordsman of the mist? I thought she didn't want anything to do with them?” Tenzo thought to himself as his eyes shifted from the swordsman to his teammate and back again.

”Ex-swordsman. You lost your title when you went after the Fourth Mizukage.” The subtle sound of a hiss passed her lips at the mention of Yagura and the idea of this man trying to murder a part of her bijuu, essentially. However, he wasn't to blame for the Yagura’s most recent death. “Awe, are you keeping tabs on me, San? I might be grateful for such a powerful Anbu from the Mist knowing all about me.” Zabuza smirked, while Rin waved for Tenzo to get closer to her from behind her back.

” It's been swell catching up, Demon of the Mist. But we must be going. We can catch up again in the next few years, perhaps. Maybe then we can test our skills.” Rin reached and grabbed a hold of Tenzo's upper arm with both hands, Tenzo looking at her with anticipation of what she might have planned next, only for the wood user’s eyes to grow when he felt someone pass by the two and get closer to their backside.

Using his speed, the silent killer attempted to get behind the two Anbu members, but Rin simply pivoted Tenzo to stand behind him and glared up toward the mistful swordsman. Without a moment or hesitation, the two Anbu members exploded into a cloud of mist just as Zabuza attempted to use a kunai to slide it past the two masked opponents. Rin needed to pull back her head and neck before she teleported the two away to keep from getting her own neck sliced.

When the mist settled, Zabuza stepped back and crossed his arms with disappointment. “That's a shame. I would have enjoyed that.” He turned his attention to a younger mask-wearing boy who came out of the same eatery the anbu members were eating at earlier. “Are you sure that would have been an easy fight, Zabuza? I wouldn't like to have to interfere when we were just about to eat.” The young boy smiled under his mask and offered his master some fish on a stick. “Are you doubting my skills against pathetic Leaf Shinobi?”

The young boy shook his head. “No, sir. I never would. However, something feels off with the main one you were talking to. I'm not sure why, I just feel it wouldn't be in your best health to fight them,” Zabuza looked around to see if he could ever sense them, but just turned his attention to the food. “Whatever. Let's just eat and get out of here.”

Removing her mask and resting it on her head, once they reformed ways down closer to their inn, Rin let out a sharp exhale of mist. She let go of Tenzo who seemed to wobble for a second by the weird transporting style the three tails used on him, but watched as she rubbed her neck. ” Hurry up, Kinoe. Before I go back and teach that bastard who the real demon of the mist is.” Disappearing again by herself toward the inn, the jinchuuriki turned back to make sure the wood user was actually following her, but she appeared with her mask back on her face. “It would have been an interesting fight to watch if anything, San.” Tenzo started running to keep up with her jutsu only to have them both running near the end.

” If you say so. I'll let you dream of what it would have been like. Who knows, after Kirigakure? We might come back through and try to track him down just to fill that curious side of you, hm..” Rin sighed while still rubbing her neck and scratching it from the close call. ” Isobu almost got involved. Leaving when we did was good timing or he would have called himself back to us.”

“Let's just hope he reaches the country soon. I'm already ready to move on from this country.” The two Anbu agreed as they returned to the inn to attempt to relax, but Rin felt that this wasn't done by a long shot.

Chapter Text

The two settled easily into the very expensive inn and soon night drew on as they waited patiently for the bijuu to make contact with the Islands Hidden in the Mists.

" This place used to be so affordable and worth coming through. Not something that would have cost us an A-rank mission payment just to stay in for one night. This poor land must be going through some hardship. If only we could help, but we have enough on our plate." Though they seemed quiet for the most part and settled into a peaceful relaxation, Tenzo was starting to feel something off with the three-tailed jinchuuriki. Of course, the two would take turns on watch, but he started to see subtle shifts in Rin's posture even when he would take the first shift. " San? Are you alright?" He questioned with concern as the jinchuuriki rested in a sitting position against the back of one of the two twin-size futon beds that came with their room.

Sleeping with her mask on for the sake of her cover and trying to cover her ill facial expressions, her arms were wrapped around her chest, and rested on her bent knees, while her legs were pressed against them to keep her in a sitting position. A shiver seemed to travel through the jinchuuriki's body every once in a while, and was easily noticeable by her Anbu team member.

Tenzo’s questions awoke the barely relaxing and sleeping jinchuuriki, causing her to turn her head to address him, and she only shook her head to tell the truth. She leaned her legs forward a bit and rested her hand on her stomach, under the anbu vest, to rub it to try to soothe it a few times.

However, it wasn't that simple.

It wasn't her stomach that was becoming upset; it was her whole chakra system, and her stomach area was meant to represent where Isobu would have been if he were forced to stay in her body.

" T-there is a limit on… jinchuuriki and bijuu being apart, it seems. We’ve never pushed it this hard before, but I feel that we're about to reach that limit, K-Kinoe.." Rin grunted when speaking and removed her mask to show that she was breaking out in a cold sweat from the stress caused on her body. A small pant crossed her lips and she looked to the side when Tenzo gasped at the state she was in.

" Is there anything I can do to help?!" He offered so eagerly to help his friend, but Rin simply tilted her head to look at the bed and again shook her head. " Not really. If it gets any worse, I'll be forced to call Isobu back, or he'll call me to him, or it will just happen automatically. We don't need or want him coming back here, so just be ready if I need to grab hold of you to do an emergency transfer, alright? It'd be really bad if we get separated because of this situation."

Giving him an exhausted smile, she rubbed her arm against her forehead and rested her head back on her knees for support. " It could be worse. Kirigakure attempted to summon Isobu back from the dead before I split his form. Imagine this, but I was almost comatose for a few days from those damn rituals." Rin tried to bring light news to their predicament, but Tenzo just gave a slight nod. " Yeah, I remember those times. Rare as they were, they didn't help on those missions where you were teamed up with Roe. Almost lost your life a few times if I recall as well."

A sharp laugh passed her lips, and they tightened into a grimace from those memories. " Kakashi was so worried and so overprotective for so long after they occurred, but it's not like I had any planning on when that damn village attempted such feats. And imagine what …." She opened her mouth and pointed to the matching root curse mark on her tongue, causing Tenzo to swallow from his own muscle memory. " I could only imagine what Lord Danzo did when his favorite weapon was down for the count. Was it that bad?" He questioned, but Rin just shrugged. " I think that was the only time I was allowed true food and comfort. It was the only time he couldn't fix it with simple medicine and couldn't use his ‘powers’ to fix things either. It sucked, but a good break… I guess." Being fully unsure, she wasn't sure if Kirigakure was done with the other quarter of Isobu or not, but she felt responsible to at least track it down.

If the village attempted to take him back, then she would give him back. Anything to keep up the peace. However, the three-tailed duo needed answers, and Yagura’s death would be a good start.

She felt a growing tension that felt like it was a tightening in her chest with each passing hour. Besides her heart beating out of control from the lack of bijuu presence and the dwindling feeling as well, the jinchuuriki was feeling weaker. " I've never met another jinchuuriki besides the last two for the fox, so it's not like I can just ask anyone if there is a limit on our bond. Even then, who knows how many of the other eight have a bond like me and Isobu? Or if they would be willing to answer such questions from someone from another village. Jinchuuriki or not."

Tenzo walked closer toward the ill jinchuuriki and noticed her being paler as well, but it seemed much more tame than when she took all that chakra in at once a few days prior. Quite the opposite, it seemed. " I'll be prepared, but is there anything I can get you to help keep you, I guess, calm? I trust you have everything under control, but I can't just let you suffer if I can help. " The wood user questioned, only to see a wisp of mist coming from her lips as a sign of stress. However, took note of the way Rin looked at it rather questionably.

Lowering her mask to cover her face, Rin's eyes scanned the room, and even looked outside at the covered window to seemingly squint at it. " I don't think I really need anything. Maybe…" Lifting her hand to cover her lips under the mask with one finger, Tenzo caught on to something she was trying to signal and, without moving his body or head, attempted to look around as well. He didn't feel anything off, yet, but trusted Rin’s sense, especially when she was feeling well, to fight to her fullest. " Can you go get me some food? I think it would help cool me down, Kinoe." She smiled softly, but the shiver she experienced and slight pants were real.

" Yeah, that's easy enough. By the time I return, I hope we will be able to leave by then. What do you think?" Tenzo questioned caringly, but still looked around the room before taking a step closer toward the three-tailed jinchuuriki when she waved him over. " Hm?" Rin put her hands in the finger signs of a clone jutsu, but didn't say anything in regards to it, but caught on when she pointed his way. He nodded and easily turned a wooden clone from his hand, matching mask and all, while Rin looked between the two. " Yeah, I'll feel better with something that refreshing. I'm not sure where you can get in a poor town like this without spending a whole week's payment, but it shouldn't be too hard to find a water bottle or something."

Feeling her grab the lower part of his Anbu vest, Rin sent the real wood user to the three-tailed dimension, while the other one simply nodded and walked out toward the front door of their inn room. " I'll be back soon, San. Try to relax and get better." She angled her mask down a bit and squinted her eyes through the mask hole with another mistful sigh, but this one came from a slight warning to those nearby. " I'm not going anywhere, Kinoe."

Forming within a place he couldn't remember ever really stepping into, let alone long enough to be able to look around and even worse by himself, the wood style user quickly took note of how massive the space was within the three-tailed dimension.

There was a bright light coming from the ever-ending sky that bathed the hard floor below his feet, and a low wisp of mist flowed along the ground as well. It was clear to see the floor, but the mist seemed to cling to it and only really flowed when Tenzo took a step to disturb it. There didn't seem to be any walls within the dimension, but he couldn't just look in one direction and see an end even if he wanted to, but he was content to just bide his time where his jinchuuriki had dropped him.

Another obvious thing he took note of was all the ninja gear that seemed pulled up all around the dimension. It helped answer where Rin kept all her gear during her missions and seemed fully supplied even during the toughest of missions, but how she kept everything tidy and knew where things were tucked just by her memory alone, easy to grab without even looking, and by a simple hand grab, was something that intrigued Tenzo the most.

Though he was meant to be by himself, Tenzo took note of the sounds of shuffling within most of the dimension. He tightened up his body and got defensive at the idea of maybe someone had snuck in with him, but that made no sense with how tight and secretive the three-tailed kunoichi was. Another shuffling sound came from behind the pile, and when Tenzo snuck around the pile, he found a surprise guest in the form of the three-tailed bijuu, just much smaller than he'd ever seen him before.

" Three-tails? What are you doing here? I thought you were taking us to Kirigakure." Tenzo seemed to lighten up from the feeling of familiarity between the two, not exactly friends, but leveled coworkers with a common goal and a trust to not attack each other out of respect and love for Rin.

However, much to his surprise, when the three small creatures turned to look at the wood user, a subtle hiss and clicking of its beak seemed to cause Tenzo to look at him strangely. Before he could even question what was going on with the beast, another one, and then two and five started to shuffle in from around all the ninja gear within the dimension.

Their attention seemed to stay on the wood user and slowly started to crawl over toward his way, and he easily started to notice they were trying to surround him. " W-what the hell? Hey, back off! I'm warning you. I'm friends with Rin, but that won't stop me from putting you in your place, three-tailed!" The harsh words didn't even register to the tiny Isobu copies and they continued to advance on his spot.

Tenzo backed up to try to use the piles as a type of deterrent, but sadly found that useless when the turtles started crawling over the piles as well. " Shit. Rin! Rin, let me out!" His voice echoed throughout the dimension and seemed to have fallen on deaf ears.

Though watching his teammate being pummeled by a cat was increasingly entertaining, especially with the morning they had, Sasuke was, of course, the hero of the group and easily scooped the cat by the scruff of its neck. " Hey loser, don't scream into the mike like that. You'll make us go deaf even faster than before." He rubbed his ear and removed the headphone from his ear, the mission complete, but still felt it ringing from Naruto's screaming earlier.

Being immobilized, Sasuke tucked the poor cat, with a bow on his ear, in the bend of his arm and ran his fingers through its back fur, but still kept a tight hold so it didn't try running away again. Of course, it earned him praise from Sakura for being so easy with animals and gentle with his hands, but Sasuke easily ignored her, just as he did for Naruto's annoyed response from being saved from being clawed at.

" Awe, how are you so good with cats, Sasuke?" Sakura gawked and couldn't help but swoon, but Sasuke just shrugged and kept an eye on the cat. " It's not a big deal. We finished the mission, so let's return him before he tries to run away again. Or worse, Naruto messes this up for us." A growl from Naruto was heard and though it was ignored by the Uchiha, he couldn't help but smirk on the inside.

Naruto didn't even attempt to fight to try to control the cat and allowed Sasuke to do all the heavy lifting while seemingly grimacing toward their sensei, who, of course, started to read his book as they headed back. " Ugh, of course you would be a cat person. You just have to be the total opposite of me, you know." He complained and heard a hiss from Tora, but kept his distance to try not to disturb it any longer.

" Hmmp. Mom should let me get a dog just to prove something. Hmm? Do you think she'd let me?" Naruto looked back toward Sasuke for some reason, but deep down knew Sasuke would know the answers while the other two didn't care in the slightest. With his attention on the cat, Sasuke just shook his head. " Doesn't she have enough on her plate taking care of you and Isobu? Besides, she already has those eight dogs that she can summon, too. I think the poor thing would starve before you figured out how to take care of something."

Dropping his attention from his book to look at the young Uchiha, Kakashi didn't show it, but he was surprised that his ninken team was brought up in a conversation and not by himself. " I've never met anyone with eight dogs, a turtle, and a kid as well, Naruto. I thought the crazy cat, or dog, people were meant to be loners, on top of crazy, as well."

Turning his irritation from one boy to their sensei, Naruto grumbled when he assumed Kakashi called his mother crazy. " Well, just because she can summon them doesn't mean she owns them. I didn't even know she could summon them until a little bit ago, so they shouldn't count!" Crossing his arms, Naruto kept his nose in the air. " I could take care of a dog. Probably way better than Sasuke could take care of a cat, you know!" He got louder and earned another hiss from Tora, seemingly defending Sasuke.

" Besides, if she gets to keep a pet turtle, I want a pet of my own." Kakashi looked down at Naruto's stomach and flipped the page in his book. " I think you have enough on your plate, Naruto. I don't think you have time to take care of a pet, plus all the missions we need to take on." Kakashi tried to help out, but simply went back to his book. " That tiny apartment couldn't handle another thing living in it. Let alone two bijuu and two jinchuuriki. It would be madness."

" If you got a dog, Naruto, her pet turtle would probably get it sick anyway. Turtles carry lots of diseases, and I'm sure that's probably why you got sick the other day." Sakura had to put her two senses in, but Sasuke and Naruto just looked at her rather curiously. " Uh, actually, Isobu has never made me or Mom sick before. At least, not that I can recall. And I've seen her kiss him before, so I'm not sure what you're saying is true." Naruto murmured a bit, but Sakura just grumbled in annoyance.

" She kisses that thing!? That's creepy and disgusting! How has she never gotten sick from that thing?!" Flipping her lid, Kakashi just secretly rolled his eye during this whole conversation. " Kissing the damn thing is the least of her worries when it comes to living with it. Rin gets sick in other ways, and she could argue that it isn't even the sanbi’s fault." But Naruto bumped into someone trying to change the conversation.

" Mom's been sick from Isobu. Or… well, maybe not Isobu in particular, but it's really weird when it happens. When she gets sick, he gets sick. Like the last time I remember, she was in the hospital and the turtle was there, but… mmm." Naruto grew sad from the memory and just looked down at the ground as they walked, but shrugged. " If getting a dog means that it'll end up getting sick if I get sick, then I don't want one now." He murmured, but Sasuke just sighed a bit. " That's not how that works, loser. But it's still weird that it works like that for her." He wasn't completely harsh in his statement, not like normal, but the two boys seemed very curious about that strange connection now.

" You two are crazy. That's not how owning pets works. I think you've both been spending too much time around a lady who is too obsessed with the strangest animal." Sakura complained, but Kakashi could agree if he didn't know more of the three-tailed jinchuuriki than any of them ever will. " Okay, that's enough. Let's change the subject to something else now." Kakashi butted in with some annoyance, but also sadness for missing his partner.

" Hmm…" Looking at his sensei, then back at the cat, Naruto grinned. " Cats are still better than dogs." He poked at the topic, but Sasuke just squinted his eyes. " What does that even mean? How do you figure that, loser?"

And just like that, they were back to bickering like normal.

" Are you sure you want to go down this path? I do not think they mean to target us. It might be more beneficial to let them move on when they decide to leave, Lord Zabuza." From a good distance from the hotel room, the two Shinobi outcasts from the land hidden in the mist watched as the wood user left for seemingly some random reason.

It wasn't hard to track down the two Anbu members from the Hidden Leaf, but like a true assassin, Zabuza couldn't turn down a challenge. Especially when it seemingly falls straight into his lap. " I know what I'm doing, Haku. San and I go back a long way, and we have some unfinished business. It shouldn't be hard to settle on some kind of ground. Even if it ends with their blood spread all around."

A proud murmur came from the older male, but Haku just nodded in agreement, even though he opposed this type of violence, especially when not needed on both their sides. " If you say so, Lord Zabuza. I'll only step in if you need me to." They didn't even need to look at each other to know that was the best option for the predicament that Zabuza forced them into. " Won't this anger Gato with unwanted attention heading our way?" The masked Shinobi questioned calmly, but his master didn't really react to it. " He'll get over it. This isn't even our main mission, just some fun and time to kill while we wait for our main target to come back home. It shouldn't be that hard to handle. Kill the Anbu, and there won't be anyone to call for help."

" Think about this: if these two get away from us and somehow tell the hidden mist where we are, they might send more shinobi our way. And we can't afford to hide if we really want to move forward and change the Hidden Mist for the better."

While the two were talking away in the nearby shrubbery, Rin started to get impatient, waiting for their next move. She couldn't tell if it was Zabuza from earlier, but it didn't take a genius to figure out that it was the same. " I wonder if he is still obsessed with Yagura." She murmured to herself, slowly getting out of bed and keeping her hand on her stomach.

" I doubt even food would give us energy." Though they were apart in real life, Isobu still heard and nodded ever so slightly in their shared mindscape. Still connected through their chakra, heart, and soul. Nothing could separate a jinchuuriki from a bijuu… well, that wouldn't realistically kill one or the other.

She walked over to the sink in the bathroom to notice how pale she was in the window, only to lift her mask slightly and drink a huge glass of water. Even in this situation, water didn't seem to touch the ever-growing distance between the three-tailed duo. " I don't think it's going to get any better staying here. I think I'll just make my way to the other side of the island, closest to Kirigakure, and at least give you a few more miles of breathing room until you reach the outer barriers of Kiri."

Letting out a soothing sigh after the slightly refreshing glass of water, she began to pour herself another one, only for her to lift her head and look in the mirror. An echo of a familiar voice, and multiple other ones, seemed to pass through a part of her inner ear. It even caused her to look around, but then finally catch on to one of the biggest mistakes she might have caused, by placing anyone that wasn't herself, or in the three-tailed, into their dimension.

" You forgot again, didn't you, yeah?" The bijuu slightly mocked his jinchuuriki in a playful tone, only for Rin to glare at the mirror and click her teeth. " Yeah. Yeah. It's not like they can think on their own either."

Exploding into a cloud of mist to delve fully into her own dimension, Rin left the room right as Haku walked up to the front door to politely knock on it. A setup for a setup.

Showing herself in the same area that she had dropped Tenzo in their dimension, only to find it in complete disarray. All her stuff had been thrown around and scattered all over the floor; there were burns in various areas on the misty floor, a lingering smell of fire, and some stuff had melted. A slight gasp came from her lips as concern racked the jinchuuriki, and she hoped she wasn't too late to stop the destruction. " No! No. Please don't be hurt." She whispered to herself, even giving a slight prayer to the gods above that they hadn't been hurt.

Not seeing any of the mini turtles around, Rin easily ignored the constant, annoying chatter she heard in the distance and jumped over a few piles to her most important group of personal items that she's collected over the years. " Oh, thank goodness." She gasped happily and ran over to see that a match of her group picture with her team had only been blown over onto the front side, and her most important item had just glided a few inches away from a supposed blast of some kind.

Picking up the goggles that once belonged to her beloved fallen comrade, Rin also picked up the picture to set it back right in its place. This copy also belonged to her deceased loved one, as her copy hung in the apartment she shared with her son, but it was still important to her as well. There was clear tape residue over Kakashi's face that always confused Rin, but made Kakashi laugh for some reason. It didn't make sense, but it was still important to keep.

Rin regretted not being able to save their sensei’s version as Kurama's attack 13 years prior had destroyed their home, so Rin was very protective of most things that dealt with their team's past. Some of the newer things near the picture were their team Bell, and even Naruto’s ninja book picture. Very precious and only for her. " Sorry, Obito. This mission has my mind going crazy and forgetting basic things. I guess I shouldn't separate from Isobu like this ever again, right?" Her index finger poked Obito's forehead in the picture as she smiled gently and even put the goggles next to it to keep them safe.

" Damn, tiny turtles. They are never careful enough." She grumbled and put her hands together to pray. " I love you, and please keep me safe during this whole mission. Guide me back safe, same with Tenzo, so Kakashi can stop worrying about this whole ordeal, too." She opened her eyes and sighed when the chattering became too much. " They still never shut up either!" The jinchuuriki innerly complained, even earning a small and quick chuckle from her bijuu within their mindscape. They both suffered from something that was essentially a part of Isobu. But sadly, they didn't have much control unless they were there in person.

The tiny turtles always acted like a child with a hive mind, but it was the size of an acorn.

In the distance of the dimension, her eyes focused on a sudden and surprising growth of a massive wooden pole, and Tenzo ended up standing up on top of it. Anyway, anything to get away from the looming threat of the growing number of mini three-tailed bijuu. And yet, even at the height, the wooden tree didn't seem to stop the tailed beasts as they began to crawl up it, using each other as ways to achieve the needed height to get their long-awaited meal.

" We're not even starving, but they act like we don't feed them." Rin murmured, slowly getting down on all fours and jumping off to transport herself to the ever-growing stump. " Tenzo! Are you having trouble with some turtles?" Raising her mask to seemingly tease the wood user, this was far from a joke, but she hoped it was something they could poke at later. " It's not… funny, Rin! What the hell is going on?!" Tenzo rebutted and looked at the still gathering mini Isobu's below them.

Rin stood on the edge of his wooden stump for a quick moment, using her chakra to keep her attached to the side, but found herself low on it and easily sapped by the wood's style properties. Her feet disconnected, and they both gasped out from her falling status, only for Tenzo to slap his hands together and produce a branch for Rin to land on below him. She blinked slowly, grumbled from the harsh landing, and just lay there feeling even worse than before, her head resting on the leafy foliage. " I might have forgotten that without Isobu, there might have been a chance that his copies might swarm the dimension. They normally stay within his body, small or not, but it seems he's having to use other techniques to keep from being pulled back here."

Turning over to look at the tiny turtles still attempting to climb and claw their way up the wooden pole, Rin shook her head and pushed her way through the branches to fall straight into the pile below. She kicked out over a hundred of the mini Isobus and crossed her arms when all Tenzo could hear was various clicks of their brakes and hisses as well. " Will you please quiet down!? He is not to eat. He is an ally and friend!" She had to yell out for the group to hear her, only for them to stop for a moment and then start to scurry away.

" And clean up the messes you guys made. I swear the brain cell you guys all share is getting smaller and smaller." Complaining, then looking up as the group started to disperse, Tenzo finally displaced his jutsu and landed back down to the jinchuuriki, who just put her head into her hand and inwardly rolled her eyes. " I'm not supposed to eat? What does that even mean, Rin?" He questioned, and Rin could only lick her lips when the question seemed to bring up memories.

" Don't worry about it, they shouldn't bother you again. I haven't offered them, or really Isobu, that type of substance in a long time." Running her hand through her hair with a small sigh, she shook her head as well to push those memories from her head. " Do I even want to know what you mean by that?" He prodded lightly, only for a small and dark snort to come from the jinchuuriki. " Not in the slightest." Sticking out her tongue and pointing to the familiar seal on it, Tenzo's eyes squinted, but he quickly caught on. " ...... Gotcha ….."

It was a clear understanding between the two that Tenzo didn't want to truly understand what she meant, even if he got a good idea of what it might mean. While Rin didn't want too deep into those memories, let alone did they have time to really have time to really mess with the past like that.

" We can pick this up later if you would like to, but right now we need to focus on getting to the other side of the island. We need to get closer to Isobu so he can get closer to Kirigakure and not have us mistakenly die… I doubt it would happen, but let's not push that idea, alright?" The discomfort was very clear in the jinchuuriki's voice, and Tenzo simply walked to her side to allow her to transport them both back to the apartment.

Fixing her mask, her eyes tightened, and she glared behind the white plastic. " I don't think we'll be alone when we get inside, so keep up your guard, Kinoe." She whispered and wrapped her fingers around one of the straps of his anbu vest, even waiting for him to fix his mask on. " Same visitor as we had earlier at the food shop, I'm assuming?" He questioned only for Rin to nod and let out a small hiss. " I'm in no mood for play time. So if anything, I'll just transport us back early to Isobu, just make sure you hold your breath. There might not be any warning. Stay near me if you can."

When the two Anbu members reformed in the room, the whole place was flipped upside down as if looking for something or someone in particular. The room was barely lit anymore from the window, seemingly being blocked out by one of the futons being thrown, and a small mist flew in from the door, bringing it completely off its hinges." Seems like you got out of here in the nick of time, San." The two didn't move in the slightest, as their eyes tried to look around and they sensed whether there might be any traps in their room now. " We're not paying for this."

A hue of red crossed over the jinchuuriki's eyes as her reptilian qualities took over, but there wasn't much red or green to see in such low light. " I think we're cl–!" Finding himself being kicked off his feet by the three-tailed jinchuuriki, he found it amazing how quiet the kunoichi was when she did it. The wind was louder when a giant blade was sliced through it just above where he had stood, and Tenzo's eyes adjusted to see Rin crouched down on the ground as if she were a frog.

The jinchuuriki pushed Tenzo to fall faster onto the ground, swept her hand around his chest, and pulled his back closer to her side. The wood user didn't make a sound, but he did turn to face the three-tailed jinchuuriki " One of the seven deadly swordsmen of the Mist. Be happy this is only one of them, but hold on to me, Kinoe." Rin felt him with no hesitation, easily keeping himself close to her side, and pulled out his sword in case it was needed.

" Damn it. You dodged that. I shouldn't be surprised." Ending up with his sword being sliced into the wall of the apartment, it took no effort for Zabuza to pull it out to be ready for another slice, but Rin simply wrapped her arm and hand around Tenzo's waist as if to treat him like a doll in her arms. A sharp hiss of warning crossed her lips, but she grunted out in shock and exhaustion. Grabbing at her chest with her free hand, before completely collapsing onto her companion’s back, Rin's sight started to darken more than even the room. " K-kinoe… run."

Miles away, even the three-tailed bijuu's body pulsated and caused him to black out in the deep water. Isobu's body began to float to the mist surface as he was nearly at his destination on the edge of Kirigakure, but the limit had been reached.

Good news: it only knocked out the three-tailed duo, and there was someone, or something, they could trust to bring them close enough to rekindle their connection to wake them up.
Bad news: the way they were gaining distance from one another was not in the way they had hoped for.

Someone sensed the hidden bijuu, but who knew whether he was friend or foe.
At first, the strange feeling of familiarity seemed to echo inside his stomach and soul, something that hadn't come over him in a number of years. He couldn't pinpoint what the cause was, nor why he had such a strong desire to investigate the cause. His priorities were just escaping this bloody land or definitely becoming the next target for murder within the Land of Blood Mist.

Word of the death of the Fourth Mizukage had quickly spread through Kirigakure, though the leading cause was never listed, a new one had already been chosen. Even if it was some sort of cover-up, there was no way he felt safe, especially after what his master had just put him through. He was just trying to be a good shinobi for the mist, and they were trying to kill him for it. At least … that's what he could remember.

It wouldn't be hard to slip away with his powers of transportation, but it would have been better under the cover of night, and with the sun starting to rise over the horizon of the misty land, he would just bide his time until then.

Leaning up against a tree near the banks of Kirigakure, his stomach still burned, and the discomfort of earlier trauma turned his appetite. He was just watching the soft waves against the water side and would decide to nap to kill time if needed, but for now he would just wait.

But luckily, he didn't have to wait too long before something of interest caught his senses. It seemed to soothe his stomach and chakra system, even strangely making him happy for some damn reason.

Taking in a sharp inhale from the strange change in his emotions, the black haired jonin turned his attention further into the small tides and squinted his eyes to see if his senses could pick up anyone or anything strange. And of course, the bright color of crimson red crossed his eyes and fully focused his attention on the present situation. It wasn't something he could just ignore, and it was pretty clear that it wasn't going to go away whether he wanted to or not.

Glancing around in case this was a trap of some sort, the man pushed up from the tree he was leaning on and carefully treaded onto the water’s surface to examine the strange floating object closer. Seeing it up close, the smooth topside of the red floating thing made him tilt his head and even bend over to look at it closer. " ........." He reached out to seemingly poke its belly and turned it to see that it had arms and a head. So this thing was a living creature, but it seemed dead more than anything.

" He important to I. Ally and all." A voice rang out from inside his body, causing the man to jump back and look around with alarm and fear at the unexpected. It wasn't until he looked down at his stomach and rubbed it a bit that he truly understood what he might be looking at. "You've never spoken before. This thing must be important, then." He murmured softly and reached down to poke the creature again, ultimately just reaching down to pull it fully from the water.

He had to struggle to lift the heavy creature, but managed to get it turned back over and found that its back was spiky enough to prick his finger. He took the creature under his arm and used the water to clean the wound, which almost instantly healed itself from his own high amount of chakra.

The first thing that caught his attention, besides the obviously heavy weight, was the fact that three shrimp-like spiky tails were attached to the base of its hardy shell. He gasped out when he realized what he was holding, but he still looked around to make sure this wasn't a trick. " Three-tailed? What… how are you out here? I thought you were dead." He looked so troubled when the idea of what the true meaning of it being out there could have meant.

With the distance the wood user was able to run, through the misty forest of the land of waves, it was able to strengthen the bond between the three-tailed duo enough to allow one of them to stir. The sad thing was there wasn't much distance made from their now destroyed apartment room, with how heavy Tenzo found Rin unexpectedly, but he was doing his best to carry his teammate on his back.

This went against all the training the two were put through within the root and, even in some cases, some of the training within the Anbu black ops, but Tenzo wasn't going to leave Rin. Not when he had the power to save her. This was her mission, after all, so having her die from a technicality would be horrific. And he could only think of what Captain Kakashi would think if anything bad were to happen to his friend.

" San, wake up! I can't carry you forever!" Tenzo shouted out as he once again had to use his wood style jutsu to try to intertwine the sword user in Zabuza’s never-ending pursuit of their trail. And sadly, the sword user was easily able to cut through it, given how quickly and so thinly made the wood was when it was produced. " This is pathetic. I thought the great leaf ninja produced elite ninjas to take down the likes of me. You two couldn't even kill the weakest punk from my old village." The missing-nin toyed with the wood user, only to start dousing the area in a blinding amount of mist to throw Tenzo off.

It forced him to stop to analyze the surrounding area, only to look over his shoulder as the three-tailed jinchuuriki began to stir and let out a gasp to catch her breath. A few coughs came from her lips, and she tightened her grip on her teammate's back before lifting her head to gaze around inside the mist. " K-kinoe?" She murmured softly in her real voice to her savior, and her brain finally caught up to the trouble the two truly were.

Catching on to the fact they were completely surrounded by a blinding mist, if not for the fact that Tenzo was carrying her, even the jinchuuriki couldn't see him. " At least it's only one of them. Try taking on all seven. Never really fought them when I would rather escape, but it always pissed them off when I disappeared out of thin air. Might have broken a few of their swords… But they still lost against a Genin-level shinobi from Konoha." Rin whispered at first in her real voice, then spoke in her false voice loud enough to try to poke at the swordman’s pride. " A genin from Konoha? Who?" Tenzo questioned while looking back at the kunoichi pressing up from his shoulders to try to look around and see if she could sense their enemy, but she wasn't that type of ninja.

" I'll tell you about him later." Hearing a small clank in the distance in the mist, the jinchuuriki leaned forward, her knees tightening around Tenzo's upper hips and chest area, and lunged her full body weight off the now-unbalanced comrade. " Stay with me, Kinoe. This won't take long." Rin spoke out as Tenzo almost fully fell over, but staggered his feet to fix his stance. " Warn me the next time you do that, San. It's dangerous to jump into battle like this."

The way she jumped, Rin completely disappeared into the misty surroundings, but Tenzo was right on her trail. Unfortunately, it seemed like he had completely lost her in the huge trees and foliage of the area. " Damn it, San. I can't stick with you if you just disappear like that."
," I can see why the others find you hard to work with, but that hasn't changed much from the days in root…" Tenzo tried to look within the fog and mist, even finding some coverage by a nearby thick tree, and glanced around to see if he could catch any sight of his team mate.

Pulling out his Anbu sword to cover his own six, Tenzo gasped out lightly when the hair on the back of his neck stood up from the feeling of a deadly threat close by. He grunted out from the surprise of being caught off guard for a second and glared forward to see the familiar stance of their enemy attempting to swing his massive sword down on the wood user. " Found you." Spoken so confidently, and low, Zabuza was ready to drop his first kill on the weaker of the two Anbu (in his eyes).

However, a few clicks in the area seemed to catch Tenzo's attention, making him gasp silently and fully lean back against the tree to give way to whatever he was supposed to move for.

Much to the surprise of the swordman, a pop of mist came from in between Tenzo and himself, and without even the use of a ninja tool in the slightest, the female Anbu member grabbed hold of the blade with both hands on each side and held it in place in midswing. " Took you long enough, San," Tenzo spoke lightly, while the jinchuuriki exhaled a wisp of mist from behind her mask.

A soft hiss crossed her lips, and she pushed back rather easily against the strength of the swordsman, but even as Zabuza's legs started to push into the dirt from the strength difference, this was a one-sided fight. " You couldn't even take on the Fourth Mizukage by yourself, let alone with a group of other ninja, Demon of the Hidden Mist, and win. You honestly think you can take on a fight against me and win? What makes you think that?" Zabuza grunted and attempted to pull his executioner blade away from the kunoichi, but Rin simply pushed back on her grip in an attempt to throw Zabuza off his footing, but he was able to recoup just as easily.

" That was back when I was younger and more naive. I never make the same mistake twice, San. And that was a Kage-level threat. You are nowhere near that powerful." He spoke coolly, needing to place his blade in the dirt to fully recover from the mighty push, while Rin simply crossed her arms over her chest with a tilt of her head. " Obviously not. And your judgment of power lacks a lot of comprehension, Zabuza."

" You're strong, I'll give you that, but I still have the upper hand." Zabuza toyed around, proudly lifting the sword to point it their way as if it was a threat she would take seriously. She attempted to reach out to grab the tip of his blade with one hand, but he pulled it back so that it would not touch it. He knew she could break it with the rumors of her monstrous strength and doubted he could gather enough blood to reforge it enough for his main mission. " Mmhm... and what is that?" The jinchuuriki questioned rather curiously, Tenzo looking at her strangely as to why she was playing this sort of game if they were in such a hurry.

But Rin could only really blame the fact that she wanted to get some slight revenge for what he attempted against Isobu's other quarter. It was only right.

" I never said I came alone." Zabuza and his sword both exploded into a gush of water to show that it was a simple water clone jutsu, and though Tenzo seemed to tense up, Rin simply shrugged toward the display. " We should probably leave soon, San. Whatever the distance that is left to the mist village, we can just swim the rest of the way. It'd be much safer than dealing with this, especially if you're not in tip-top form." He murmured, and though Rin scoped out the area, she backed up a few steps to get closer to her comrade.

" Yeah, you're right. Forgive me. I guess I should leave him one last gift, though. Or them, I suppose. Can you give me some cover, Kinoe?" Flexing her fingers a few times and slowly kneeling down toward the dirt below them, Rin readied her jutsu by just placing her palms completely against the floor. " I thought you didn't have much chakra left?" Sheathing his anbu sword and slapping his own hands together, Tenzo readied his wood to encase the two, but was forced to slide past the tree, and Rin needed to lift her arm to protect her face and neck from some thrown kunai and senbon needles.

The weapons stabbed into different areas around the two Shinobi, and some even impacted, reflected off her metal anbu cover, and implanted themselves into Rin's exposed upper arm skin. " Tsk, I don’t, but I don't need much to use what Kirigakure gave me " Much to the surprise of the wood user, he finished surrounding the two fully in wooden planks to cover all their bases and rushed around to check on Rin. " San?! Are you alright?" He waved his hands to try to remedy the situation, while Rin didn't give much of a look to the slightly bleeding wounds. " Normally, my thick skin is impenetrable from such useless tools, thanks to Isobu’s influence, but the distance is showing its effects." She spoke calmly, ignoring the dull pain, she placed her other palm on the floor.

" We have them right where we want them, Haku. They can't stay in there forever, and even then, I can chop down their wooden defenses with no problems." Zabuza seemed to smirk, while Haku eyed the wooden dome rather curiously with no knowledge of any sort of jutsu like that seen before. " Of course, Lord Zabuza, and with your main target still being able to be stabbed and able to bleed, perhaps this won't be as difficult as I previously assumed." The young boy agreed, but both their ninja senses strongly went off for no reason.

They looked around with confusion as the ground below their feet seemed to tremble for no reason. " Haku! Below us!" The two jumped to the trees for safety as spikes of different sizes and thickness protruded from the ground in all sorts of directions. They even protruded up some of the trees for a few feet up their trunks, and upon closer examination, seemed to be pure white in color. " What is that jutsu, Lord Zabuza?" Haku questioned with no emotions in his voice, but bent down from his tree branch in an attempt to look closer at it. " I don't know, but… I feel like I've seen that before."

" Kinoe, if you can open a small amount for me." Tenzo seemed thrown off by the request, but watched as she didn't even flinch when she began to remove the senbon and kunai from her flesh, only to stand fully up when the top opened while twirling a senbon in her thumb and index finger. " I'll hold on to your… little gifts here, Demon of the Mist. Don't worry. You've caught me at a really bad time, and I'll come back on equal terms. I won't even tell Kirigakure where you're hiding. That wouldn't be fun if someone else took you out for what you attempted to do to the Mizukage." Squinting his eyes from the mistrustful words coming from the female Anbu, Zabuza watched as Haku sped down the tree and jumped with his own amazing speed in an attempt to take down this threatening opponent.

" Wait, Haku! We need to pull back for now." Zabuza warned his ward, but Haku seemed to jump right into a snake pit with his attempt to defend his master and their own safety in the process. He jumped to the top of the tree that protected Tenzo and Rin, but watched in slow motion as Rin twisted her head up to look in Haku’s direction. Tenzo looked up rather slowly as well, but jumped into Rin's waist as if attempting to push her out of the way.

She allowed him to pick her off her feet, but simply wrapped her arms around his upper chest with a small grumble from being picked up like this. " Stop playing around, San!" Tenzo yelled out in annoyance from this fight, simply taking too long for his own comfort. Something so quick should have ended more than an hour ago.
" Good timing, Kinoe. Bye now.~"

Right as Haku was about to connect with more senbon to cause more damage, the two exploded in a huge cloud of mist, causing the young boy to land in their makeshift wooden barrier of sorts. " Damn. They got away." He murmured softly, easily pocketing his weapon while Zabuza jumped off to the side of the wooden structure to investigate the spikes. " They always run away. The cowards as they are, I do believe San will be back. But no worries, it won't change the fact that I'll and their life the next time we see them."

Chopping his way through the wooden side, he reached out to pull off a piece of white spike, only for it to crumble into his hand as if it were as brittle as a piece of Rock. " What the hell is this stuff?" He reached for some more, but this time it molded like a liquid, pouring from the few spikes around the one grabbed and onto his hand, up his arm, and even began to spread down his feet and legs. It spread like a virus and only hardened whenever it reached a certain thickness." Augh! What the hell?!"

" Lord Zabuza!?" Haku reached out to try to touch the spreading and hardening coral, but pulled back when a noise above them forced their attention upwards. A small chortle came from the tree branches above the two, causing the two to gasp as Rin was crouched above them to try to enjoy the show. " I wouldn't touch that if you want to help your friend out. Haku, was it?"

" This is! This is just like the Mizukage’s kekkei genkai, isn't it?" Zabuza grunted in annoyance, but another wisp of mist from behind Rin's mask caught the swordsman’s attention with a squint of his eyes. " The one in the same. I'm accused of stealing the best work from Kirigakure, I figured. Why not steal the Mizukage's power as well? Anyway, don't move too much or it'll block your airway. It'll break away when I'm far enough away from this village. So, I'll see you two later." Rin prodded and transported herself into her own dimension again.

Luckily, Zabuza wouldn't have to wait long, with Rin heading straight to Kirigakure, but it wasn't like they would know that. " Damn it! San!"

Much to the annoyance of Tenzo, who had to keep walking to her mini Isobus away from thinking he might be their next meal, he jumped to join her next to Rin. She ran her fingers over her chidori scarred shoulder, noticed that the old wounds were already healed, and tilted her head when she figured out that her teammate seemed mad at her for some reason." What the hell was that about, Rin?" He seemed to be at the end of his rope, but Rin lifted her mask to rest on top of her head. " He targeted Yagura once upon a time. That was after I gave a piece of Isobu to Kirigakure. I'm just tired of my friends and family being affected by my past mistakes. So… I figured I'd scare them straight enough to try to keep them off our trail. Or maybe the next time we encounter them, they will think twice about messing with the two of us."

Rin looked down at the ground for a second, then lifted her head to look at the dark ceiling in the dimension. Sensing the growing stress in the jinchuuriki, Tenzo understood the taunting side coming from more of the bijuu side of the three-tailed duo, not the jinchuuriki side, but at least she wasn't quiet about her answers. It was always hard getting answers out of Rin after missions in the Root, especially if certain lines needed to be crossed.

" Is your bijuu ready for us?" Tenzo asked softly, but Rin seemed distracted for some reason. " Isobu isn't answering me on this plane. He must still be out from the separation." She spoke cautiously and squinted her eyes with some mistrust. " Let's go." She ordered as she forced her mask down, not even allowing Tenzo to get ready in the slightest, and just grabbed him by his lower arm to teleport them back to the bijuu side of the duo.

However, it was never easy for the three-tailed duo.

When they suddenly teleported to the middle of the air, they began to fall rather rapidly from the surprising teleport. " San! Where the hell did you bring us?" Tenzo spoke out in shock as they pivoted their bodies to get ready to land on their feet. Rin let go of Tenzo's arm and searched around as they fell into the shallow water below their feet. She caught on to the fact that her bijuu was in a strange bubble and seemed to scratch the back of her head from the strange jutsu.

" This is Kirigakure. No doubt about it, but I have no idea why Isobu is in a bubble?" Rin crossed her arms over her chest and took a few steps closer to the rising bubble. " Wake up, turtle! You can stop faking it." The jinchuuriki seemed to smirk a bit when that seemed to work in waking up and fully curled up his body to flip back onto his stomach.

" Rin! You'll never believe this, yeah!" The excitement was full in the bijuu's tone, and though he only spoke to his jinchuuriki, all three caught on to the sight of more and more bubbles floating down from around the bijuu and down their way. " Kinoe… get closer to me." The jinchuuriki whispered to the wood user, who looked at the bubbles with curiosity, but still got closer to his comrade for both their sakes. " Bubbles?" Tenzo grabbed out his Anbu sword and attempted to reach out to pop one with the end of his sword, but the group's attention was pulled by a Kirigakure ninja.

A single ninja in a much bigger bubble floated from further away and popped down a few paces from the two Konohagakure Anbu members. A man with spikey black hair, a Kirigakure headband, and a grey jonin vest dismounted from the bubble and held a pipe of some sort in his one hand.

" Now, where did you come from? And what do two Konohagakure Anbu black ops members want with the three-tails bijuu?"