Naruto 1. Chapter 1

"I don't understand why I need to kill you Rin." shouted Kakashi as he tree hopped with Rin away from the Kiri ninja.

He had just gone to great lengths to get her back; chasing them over the course of almost a full days run. A quick surprise attack had gotten him this far, rescuing Rin with an unexpected ease. At this point he was running on a soldier pill and fumes; but even if he had to die he would keep his promise to Obito.

"I... I'm nothing more than a pawn to Kirigakure now..." replied Rin with a steely resolve. Despite her stoic face her voice was quivering. It betrayed her strength and gave away her inner fears. The last forty eight hours had been hell on earth for her, having had her entire world view flipped on its axis and then flipped again.

"Pawn as in how?" he asked, carefully paying attention to both the trees ahead of him and the scared girl beside him.

"They... They sealed something inside of me. They called it the Sanbi." commented Rin. As soon as the words left her mouth she spasmed in pain and lost her balance. Carrying the momentum from her swift pace, she slammed into a tree branch and then went tumbling towards the ground.

"Rin!" shouted Kakashi as he immediately backpedaled and dove after her. "Shit!"

She was falling headfirst and there was nothing but stones and dirt on the ground. A fall from this height would cause serious damage if she fell wrong and she was currently falling wrong; her body tumbling towards the ground head first.

Kakashi pushed all of the power he could into his legs as he tried to catch up to Rin. Both of them were falling fast at this point but he barely made it to the kunoichi before they hit the ground. Using his body, he somehow managed to break her fall. Unfortunately, in the process he slammed his head into the dirt, eliciting a cry of pain before rendering him unconscious.

For what seemed like an eternity the two ninja simply laid on the ground. One caught in the bliss of unconsciousness and the other caught in the hell of reality. Kakashi lay with his back to the ground with one arm wrapped around Rin and the other sprawled lifelessly on the ground.

"Kakashi?" whispered Rin. She tried to move but the combined effects of the control seal on her tongue, the collision with the branch, and the fall all kept her still. She couldn't even move her head off Kakashi's chest when a nearby explosion sent winds buffeting. She panicked silently as the thought that the Kiri ninja had finally caught up with them raced to the forefront of her distraught mind.

"Wow what in the heck did I just do? Good lord where did I end up this time… oh hey are you two alright?"

Rin closed her eyes and fought back a tear as one of the Kiri ninja walked closer to them until he was right on top of them. She could hear the crunching of his boots on the hard dirt grow louder until he was right next to him.

"Hey, that's Kakashi! Wow he looks young. You must be Rin, I guess?"

"_Wait, what?_" Thought Rin as she was rolled off of Kakashi's body and set with her back to the ground. Thanks to the confusion overruling her fear, Rin managed to overcome the initial shock and moved her head to get a good look at the person.

At first glance, she thought she was looking at Minato-sensei. But this person's face was rounder and he had the strangest whisker marks on his cheeks. But he did have a Konoha headband and he was wearing an outfit similar to her sensei. Did Minato have any relatives in Konoha? She had always thought that he was an orphan.

"Look," interrupted the man, cutting her off before she could speak. "I can tell you're a bit confused but it's a long story how I got here but I probably shouldn't tell you anyways. Let's just say that I'm trying to find my way home at the moment and I decided that you could use a little help. Why don't I do something about those seals on your tongue and chest?"

"Huh?" Rin questioned as she rested on the ground helplessly. How did he know about the seals? Was he one of the conspirators? Was Konoha in on the kidnapping or was he some sort of double agent?

"No, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm assuming that you just got freed by Kakashi and you've got the Sanbi sealed inside your left breast right now. Kirigakure plans on releasing the seal once you enter the village. Am I right so far?"

Speechless, Rin simply nodded.

"Well I can fix that. All you have to do is lay still and trust me while I fiddle with the seals a bit. I promise that nothing bad will happen. I'll even speak with the Sanbi to make sure he's nice to you."

"But how?" questioned Rin. The reassuring smile that the blond sent her wasn't very reassuring. Part of her doubted his honesty, but ultimately it didn't really matter. Before she could react, the man's hand glowed with a bright orange and she found herself being groped rather aggressively.

"Hmmm," muttered the blond with the Konoha headband. He ignored the indignant cries of the new jinchuriki as he gently massaged her breast. She struggled at first but a quick pulse of chakra sent her into unconsciousness like her forgotten companion.

Naruto frowned as he removed the shirt from the girl. With trepidation he found his eyes trying to avoid the now visible breasts while at the same time his right hand massaged it. If anyone that he knew saw him, he would never live it down.

Seriously, she was only fourteen for Kurama's sake.

Reassuring himself that he was not a pervert like Jiraiya, Naruto delved into the seal. With a mixture of disgust and apprehension, he couldn't help but marvel at the simple cleverness of the seal.

All in all, the seal was just a temporary storage seal. Since it was going to erase itself in about twenty-seven hours there wasn't really any need to tie it into Rin's chakra network. As such, there was no visible health impact; all the usual symptoms of a fresh sealing were stifled because they were the result of the sudden influx of the usually poisonous tailed beast chakra. Granted, after a week the host would have died from long term complications in the seal but if they were being used as a bomb there wouldn't be any problems with that.

Those Kiri ninja were right bastards when it came down to it. With no visible symptoms, the only person that would know anything was wrong was Rin and she had a seal on her tongue to prevent her from speaking out. Konoha might eventually piece together what was going on but by the time they put two and two together it would already have been too late. Isobu would have caused a great deal of damage before they could contain it, if they could contain it.

No wonder Rin had chosen to throw herself in front of Kakashi's raikiri. It was the only way she thought she could save the village.

"Well, that's not going to happen." muttered Naruto in grim determination as he quickly fixed the mess. The conversion process was fairly simple. He used his own seal as a blueprint for Rin's new seal and created it around the old seal. When that was done he unsealed the Sanbi and drew a key matrix for the seal on her right hand.

While he was at it, Naruto unsealed Rin's tongue and lowered the location of her seal off of her left breast and onto her stomach. It wouldn't due to have to reveal her chest when someone needed to see the seal.

After a quick chat with this dimension's Sanbi, Naruto was ready to wake Rin up and explain a few things before he went on his merry way. Unfortunately that was when the Kiri ninja decided to show their faces.

Annoyed, Naruto summoned a few clones and went to politely inform the Kiri ninja that they needed to get lost.

== Saving Rin, Chapter One ==

"Wake up..."

"Wake up..."

"Wake up!"

Rin regained consciousness with a start; at least she would have if any of her muscles were under her control. Every single nerve in her body was screaming out in pain and she would swear that her body was on fire. If she could scream she would but at the moment all she could do was open up her bloodshot eyes far beyond what was normal.

"Oh right, chakra pains. Give me a second." said that man. That pervert was right on top of her and this time he poked her forehead. Suddenly all the pain disappeared, though she still had zero control of her body.

"Right," explained Naruto, taking his fingers off her forehead. "I just temporarily cut off your brain from sensing your chakra. It also shut down your voluntary muscles but anything involuntary is going to keep working. The pain you felt was the Sanbi's chakra starting to circulate through your system. But you know about how jinchuriki work right?"

Silence.

"You do know how jinchuriki work right?"

In her mind Rin was shouting that in fact no, she did not know what the heck a jinchuriki was. She couldn't exactly say anything because by the blond's own admission he had just shut down her tongue. All she could do was stare at him with annoyed eyes despite the strangeness of the situation.

"Oh right! I shut down your tongue too. My bad, just blink once if you don't understand and twice if you do."

Rin blinked twice.

"Okay so you understand right?"

"_Is he an idiot?_" thought Rin as she stared at him. After a withering gaze she blinked once.

"Wait, you don't understand?"

Annoyed, Rin blinked twice. For someone that was apparently so good at seals, he really was quite dense.

"Okay so you do understand but you don't understand... Gah screw it I'm just going to write it down."

While it was slightly amusing to watch the blond Konoha ninja get frustrated, the fact of the matter was that Rin was thoroughly confused. Her week, month, and even year had all gone to hell when she had been kidnapped and forced to become a ticking time bomb. Then took a turn for the unbelievable when someone that looked like her sensei showed up and magically 'fixed' the situation.

"Alright, there we go." muttered Naruto as he finished writing on a piece of paper he had acquired from somewhere. With a smile he put away his calligraphy pen and gently blew the ink dry. Then he turned to Rin and stuffed it in her fanny pack.

"Okay, the seal should wear off in about two hours. You'll feel a burning sensation in your muscles for the next twenty four hours followed by extreme weakness for the next two weeks. Don't tell anyone you saw me and make sure to burn that paper when you're done reading it. Have fun!"

With that the blond made a few hand signs and then disappeared. Bewildered Rin simply rested on the ground, unable to move a muscle. It was at that exact moment that a fly decided that her nose was an excellent resting spot.

=== Saving Rin, Chapter One ===

Three hours later.

"Huh? Where am I?" questioned Kakashi as he cradled his throbbing head. The last thing he remembered was jumping to catch Rin and then hitting the ground.

"Rin!" he shouted as the realization hit him.

"Ow." whispered Rin from beside him. "Not so loud..."

With a relieved sigh Kakashi turned to find Rin on ground next to him. She wasn't moving but other than that she looked fine. Her body was lying on the ground in a natural way, so it didn't look like she had broken any bones. She was also wincing in pain but she wasn't bleeding anywhere.

"Are you okay?" he asked softly, respectful to her request.

"I'm fine; it just hurts to move anything." whimpered Rin, all the while smiling despite the pain. "The Kiri ninja aren't chasing us anymore, but do you think you can carry me back to Konoha? I can't exactly move right now."

Kakashi nodded, and then lifted Rin on his back. Gently he moved her around to get her as comfortable as possible and apologized every time he heard Rin's jaw clench from the pain. Once she was secure, Kakashi wrapped her arms together across his neck and together they began the slow trek back to the village hidden in the leaves. All the while Kakashi made certain to avoid jostling her unnecessarily.

"Kakashi?" whispered Rin into her companion's left ear. Her eyes were closed and her head rested on his shoulder. Despite all of the pain her body was in, she managed a smile.

"Yes Rin?"

"Thank you."

* * *

(A/N) Inspired by _Saving Mizuki_ by Lucillia. A story in which a time travelling Naruto inadvertently saves someone and ends up changing the way the story flows.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

If anything, the steady beeping of the heart monitor was making the silence much more unbearable. There was a window, but the only view it gave was that of a brick wall belonging to a building that had been built about 5 feet away from the wall of the hospital she was currently in.

"GRAH!" with an emphatic yell Rin ripped the measuring device from her finger and chunked it across the room with an unusual strength. The machine itself followed the small instrument and topped to the floor with a crash while in the process setting several warning alarms off.

Almost immediately several ANBU and medical ninjas broke through the threshold door. Some in a panic, some controlled, but all in a hasty manner. Rin gave them one look and they immediately settled down. The medical ninjas went about resetting the heart monitor, but when they tried to reattach it to the new jinchuriki's finger they were met with crossed arms and righteous indignation.

"Rin-chan," chided Boar, the leader of the ANBU guarding the room. "You know that you're required to wear that monitor at all times."

"It's been six days already." responded Rin, casually changing the subjects while ignoring the medical ninjas. "I think it's safe to say that I'm not in eminent danger of keeling over and dying."

Boar sighed as he dismissed his fellow ANBU back to the shadows and pulled up a nearby chair. At first he and his team had assumed that this case was a simple shore leave, but after dealing with an increasingly irritable Rin for four days Boar was fairly certain that they all would have preferred the bastards of Iwagakure over Rin. At least they were predictable; in between bouts of complete exhaustion Rin was alternating between extreme sweetness and extreme irritability. The medical crew had dismissed the mood swings as common for post-traumatic stress patients, but it didn't make Boar's job any easier.

"That doesn't change the problem." countered the ANBU captain. "The Hokage already told you while you need to stay in the hospital, I trust you remember why?"

Oh yes, Rin definitely remembered why. Quarantining her in the hospital was one of the first things that Sarutobi had done when the two ninja had reached the gates of Konohagakure. Almost immediately the Hokage and a dozen ANBU had surrounded them before shipping them off to get medical attention. At least, Kakashi got medical attention. Rin got poked and probed whilst being questioned endlessly about the circumstances following her kidnapping and return.

=== Her Name was Rin, Chapter Two ===

_Six days ago…_

"Are you sure that's everything involving your kidnapping?" questioned Sarutobi's advisor Danzo. The old man carried himself with a resolute dignity as the Hokage and his advisors Koharu and Homura stood next to Rin's bed. They, along with several members of the torture and interrogation division, had been debriefing the brunette jinchuriki for the past three hours.

They had already inspected the seal and gone through her possessions, finding Naruto's letter in her fanny pack. It had taken them a while to reach this point, but the elders all seemed to prefer accuracy and correctness over haste.

"Yes, that's all I know." replied Rin with a calm finality. Despite the tense air in the situation, the sedatives and calming drugs that the hospital had pumped into her were quite effective at keeping her calm and level headed.

Officially, the drugs served to calm her down as she was attended to by both medics and interrogators. Unofficially, the drugs severely inhibited her ability to lie. Potential traitor or not, Konohagakure was not the Bloody Mist and they would not treat their ninja with brutality. Subtle persuasion maybe, but the Hokage liked to believe that they were not barbaric to their own people without cause.

"So let me get this straight." said Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage. He was holding up a pad of paper with various things written on it during the debriefing. "Three days ago you were kidnapped by Kirigakure ninja while patrolling the Konoha Kiri border. In a Trojan horse maneuver they sealed the Sanbi into you with the intention that you would return here, to Konoha, before the seal faded and released the Sanbi upon the village. Upon rescue by jonin Kakashi Hatake you made your way towards the village border, when one unidentified blond ninja bearing a Konohagakure headband intercepted you and resealed the Sanbi properly so as not to be released in the city. He then left you with a sheet of paper explaining the intricacies behind the eight trigrams seal and what it means to be a jinchuriki. Am I correct so far?"

After Rin nodded an affirmative the four elders turned away from her and began whispering to each other. A small quieting jutsu by Koharu silenced the noise so that none of the other ninja could hear and Rin was left to worry as they deliberated amongst themselves. At least she would be worrying had the sedatives been any less effective. Good old morphine, she was currently as high as a kite.

"I don't like it," whispered Danzo, "what if she's lying to us?"

"About what?" replied Hiruzen, "the kidnapping or the part after that?"

The Hokage's three advisors stiffened as Sarutobi raised the point. None of them could really make heads or tails of the situation. For a few tense seconds they exchanged eye contact with each other, as if daring someone to make a move. The case with Rin Nohara was precarious enough to risk any multitude of actions, and their decision would be of paramount and secret importance.

"Any of it." muttered Danzo, finally breaking the silence. "There are too many unaccounted factors involved." His comment was painfully neutral while still reflecting his stance of pragmatism on the subject involved.

"I agree that none of this makes any sense." replied Koharu. "However the evidence does fall in favor of Rin Nohara's story. We all saw the seal and we saw that letter; such a thing is undoubtedly secure."

"We all read the letter and we know that the seal appears strong enough to hold back a tailed beast," replied Homura, holding up a copy of the seal that they had made on a piece of paper. They had each inspected the seal and it appeared to be holding perfectly well. "But what if this is all an elaborate ruse? I would still like to have Jiraiya-sama and Uzumaki-san look it over. They know more about seals than we do."

The four nodded in agreement, it was only prudent to investigate the matter further. After all, the village was still at war. On one hand, they risked a potential disaster in the village. On the other hand, Kirigakure may have just given them the weapon to end the war.

"Do you believe it is a potential risk or a potential boon to the village?" questioned Danzo. Hiruzen almost winced at the subtlety of the question. It was carefully worded but Hiruzen understood the context in which Danzo spoke.

It was not Rin that Danzo was worried about; it was possession of the Sanbi. Such a weapon would undoubtedly change the course of the war. Danzo cared little of Minato's student, more for the pragmatic benefits of having a second jinchuriki – Rin or no Rin. If Rin could not contain the Sanbi, perhaps someone else would.

"Maybe," evaded the Hokage with a sigh. "We'll send off the copy of the seal to Minato-san, Uzumaki-san, and Jiraiya-sama. Until we can get one of them to inspect the seal Rin will remain under isolation. The letter's existence will remain an s-class secret, and I will defer to her teacher's opinion as to whether or not Rin will be given the paper. Rin will remain safe and her status will also remain an s-class secret."

The advisors muttered their acceptance of the plan and Koharu broke the quieting jutsu. They then returned to the bedridden Rin and informed her of their decision.

=== Her Name was Rin, Chapter Two ===

Rin sighed for the millionth time as she blankly stared out the window. The sun set was quite majestic as it dipped below the sides of the village wall and painted the skies a brilliant red and gold. With a lame expression and almost completely devoid of energy Rin rested alone in her hospital bed.

It was all she could do at the moment, gone was the defiant fourteen year old chunin; replaced with a tired shell. Every muscle in her body protested the abuse that was movement, just like the blond ninja had warned her about. At least her little show of defiance had gotten her a nicer view of the village outside.

After hours of protesting, Rin had managed to convince Boar to let her go for a walk to the outside garden section for a bit of fresh air. Unfortunately the walk was cut short as she had collapsed after about a hundred or so feet. As she was rushed back to her waiting hospital room, Boar had been kind enough to persuade the medical staff to transfer her to a room with a better view.

"_I'm so pathetic."_ She thought to herself. While the rest of her friends and teammates were off fighting the war she was stuck in a hospital bed resting while the powers that be deliberated as to whether or not she was a traitor. It was a miracle she was actually at the civilian hospital and not the prison hospital that didn't officially exist. Still, from the way she was being guarded by an ANBU team, it was obvious that the elders didn't completely trust her.

Meekly she turned her head from the window to her new IV drip and heart monitor. This time the doctors weren't taking any chances with Rin's health and they had reinserted a damnable hydration machine's tubes back into her arm. At the very least Boar had also managed to acquire a silent heart monitor that displayed numbers instead of a pulsing line. Boar was such a nice ANBU captain, he didn't deserve the abuse she gave him but at least he was understanding enough to know that she wasn't normally moody like this.

She didn't know how long she stared at the dull red numbers on the monitor in the fading light, but when the window unlocked and silently opened she was too deep in introspection to notice.

"Heya squirt!" whispered Jiraiya as he slid through the newly opened window and into the hospital room. The effect of Jiraiya's presence on Rin was instant as a bright smile quickly drew itself across her face. "You have no idea what kind of chaos you did to Kirigakure."

"Jiraiya-sama!" exclaimed Rin with as much strength as she could muster. If her teacher's teacher was here then that meant that someone would finally be able to validate her story clear her for return back to the general population. Not that she felt like going home at the moment. There was no way she could walk a hundred paces, let alone the couple of miles between the hospital and her apartment.

"Yes Rin-chan. It is I, the great and gallant Jiraiya! Here to aid the distressed and miserable and spread great joy to the world!" proclaimed the white haired wonder. With a flash of light, Jiraiya scattered a few rose petals into the air before striking an absolutely ridiculous pose. The combined effects were a mixture of comedic and majestic, but in the setting sun he sure looked like a superhero. At the very least, he managed to illicit a quiet snicker from his one man audience.

"You know you really caused quite a stir in the Bloody Mist." continued Jiraiya as Rin's laughter subsided. He exchanged a few quiet words with the ANBU outside the door and turned the lights on before moving back to her bed. With a comforting hand he ruffled Rin's hair with a gentle touch and smiled as she squirmed beneath his calloused fingers. "You should be proud of yourself. Your little stunt got Kirigakure to withdraw from the war."

"What do you mean Jiraiya-sama?" questioned Rin as she relented and leaned against Jiraiya's arm. Even though he was a known pervert the toad sage was still one of the nicest people that Rin had ever met. He was also warm and comforting and the first friend she had seen in several days. Jiraiya rolled his eyes and waved his free hand in dismissal as he continued to stand beside the tired brunette.

"Oh you know. Getting the Sanbi sealed into you before escaping and killing half the Bloody Mist's hunter ninja population in the process. They were already low on manpower from our pushes against their borders, the sudden loss of such a large amount of men means that they can't keep up the war front any longer."

"But we didn't kill anyone in our escape…" whispered a confused Rin. Together Kakashi and Rin had managed to elude the Kiri ninja, but they hadn't gotten into any major altercation. Could it have been the blond ninja that had resealed the Sanbi inside of her? Maybe that man had something to do with the massive casualties that Kirigakure had reported.

Jiraiya frowned as he pondered Rin's words. Kirigakure hadn't openly reported their casualty count from that day, but his spies had informed him that someone or something had killed off at least a thousand of Kiri's best ninja in a single battle. He hadn't believed it until he had seen the carnage first hand.

Corpses everywhere, some impaled by wood fragments or swords and some torn in two at the waist. The only things left of some corpses were bloodstains on rocks. There was death everywhere, it had been that bad. The only reasonable explanation was a tailed beast rampage. If it wasn't the Sanbi that did that… well he would have to talk with Hiruzen about the subject.

"You say you didn't do anything like that or you don't remember doing anything like that? Regardless, Kiri sent a missive of surrender a few hours ago. Our troops are already rotating over to the warfront with Iwagakure. Iwa was already struggling to withstand your sensei's assaults so with any luck the extra manpower will be enough to force Iwagakure to submit as well."

"I… I can't believe it." whispered Rin as she hugged the sage's arm. "The war with Kiri is over…"

Upon hearing Jiraiya's words, Rin allowed herself to dream. It wasn't often, but perhaps she could dream about peace once more? Ever since she had been a ninja, Konoha had been at war with the other elemental nations. But now, now there was an end to the conflict in sight. An end that would give everyone a chance to lay down their arms and live again. A chance for her to once again be the child that she knew she still was, buried deep beneath the toughness that she had been forced to adopt for the war.

It mystified her to think that maybe, just maybe, she had played a not so insignificant role in the war. Sure, she had been forced to become a jinchuriki, but it was a small sacrifice to pay compared to the countless others already given by everyone she knew. Konoha might have slowly been gaining the necessary momentum to end the war but now the war with Kirigakure was finally over. The only two nations left in conflict were Konoha and Iwa. The end was so close, and then she… everyone… could live again.

Jiraiya's snapping fingers pulled her from her reverie.

"C'mon kiddo, I still have to look at that seal of yours."

* * *

(A/N) I tried writing back in 2009, but I discovered that I was writing for the wrong reasons. I spent a good three years trying to identify what I was doing wrong before I decided that I should just write again. These aren't beta-read and I can't promise fast/regular updates, but I definitely want to see this story through to the end. Hopefully you will want to watch as well. Leave a review or send me a PM, if you love it let me know, if you hate it let me know.

To answer a few questions: Yes you will see Obito, it will not necessarily be happy. You will see Rin the badass, but it will not be an overnight change.


	3. Chapter 3

== Her Name was Rin, Chapter 3 ==

_Final report on the Eight Trigrams Seal in regards to the subject of Rin Nohara._

_The eight trigrams seal is as much a work of art as it is an example of functional ingenious. The combined pair of four symbols seals created in symmetry to form an interlocking bond where each of the eight symbols was fastened securely by the presence of a symbol directly opposite it along the horizontal axis. The sealed item (in this situation the Sanbi) rests between the trigrams, not forcefully bound but still unable to escape._

_Through the middle of that axis are two small openings created by the outer symbols to allow the chakra of the sealed object to mix with the host's chakra. These openings can be adjusted to either increase or decrease the flow of mixed chakra. The only exception is that they cannot be manipulated without a special key and even then the openings cannot be completely closed off. Due to the nature of the seal, chakra from the sealed object is required to trickle outwards at all times, if only to power the seal._

_The outward orientation of the symbols and the dual openings maintain the seal from the outside in. Rather than draw chakra from the host, each of the eight symbols has been tuned to constantly draw power from the object sealed inside from the host's body. Each trigram draws upon the sealed object's chakra for power but only after the chakra has passed through the openings and circulated through the host. This allows easy access for the host to draw upon the sealed item's (the Sanbi's) chakra._

_However, a double inversion of the four inner trigrams means that the sealed object's chakra is not restraining it along the inner patterns, but rather preventing the seal from crushing the sealed object. Should the host die, say from poisoning by the sealed object's chakra, the seal would be unable to remain open and would obliterate whatever was sealed inside. The process works by forcefully squeezing the chakra out in an attempt to power itself, not similar to crushing an orange to release the juice inside. The chakra, unable to circulate back into the seal, will be subjected to an entropy inside the dead host's body until it has decayed to nothingness._

_In doing so, the eight trigrams seal bypasses the most common problem when dealing with sealed bijuu while still chaining it to the bijuu's chakra. The seal prevents whatever was sealed inside from forcibly breaking away by overpowering the seal until its structure collapses - as was common when the seals drew upon the sealed object's chakra – and also deals with the potential lack of chakra from the sealed object to power the seal. _

_It is our opinion that the eight trigrams seal will securely hold the Sanbi inside of Rin Nohara. Given her repeated loyalty to Konoha, we do not believe her to be a security threat at this time. However, given the common side effects of creating jinchuriki, we do not recommend that she be returned to active status or allowed to leave the village until she has gained control over her new burden._

_~Signed: Minato Namikaze, Kushina Uzumaki & Jiraiya of the Sannin._

Hiruzen Sarutobi palmed his forehead as he finished reading the report by the three sealing experts. Together Minato, Kushina, and Jiraiya had spent nearly three weeks looking over Rin's seal in an attempt to understand as much of it as possible. After many long hours the trio had finalized and presented their report on Rin's seal to him. It was fortunate that the war had finally ended in Iwagakure's capitulation as Hiruzen shuddered to think of how long they would have had to quarantine Rin with just one expert looking over the seal.

"There is one concern that I still have," pondered Sarutobi verbally, "Where is this key?"

There was a brief silence followed by Kushina pushing Minato forward. Jiraiya laughed lightly and Hiruzen could only smirk at their antics. Even as a soon to be married adult, Kushina still hated giving reports.

"That's the thing," replied Minato after a quick ribbing by Kushina, "Rin doesn't know anything about a key and none of us can figure out what it would look like. From what we can tell each seal has a specially created key and each one is different."

Hiruzen frowned as he digested the information. It was far too convenient for such an incredibly powerful seal to exist and there to simply not be a known key for it. It certainly was a windfall but he hadn't become the hokage by not questioning everything. Still, he trusted his students when they said that Rin didn't know about the key.

"And what is Rin-chan doing right now?" inquired the Hokage.

"She's currently in training ground seven with Kakashi." replied Minato. "She expressed interest in tackling her little burden and we all felt that a little training wouldn't hurt anyone…"

== Her Name was Rin, Chapter 3 ==

The taijutsu lesson had started off simple enough. Minato had informed them that they were to work on Rin's stances and movements before leaving to address the Hokage. The warm up was followed by a practice spar to help Rin adjust her style. Kakashi played the attacker and slowly worked through offensive movements while Rin slowly evaded each and every attack. As Rin evaded each attack, Kakashi slowly increased his speed until an onlooker would have mistaken them for an actual fight rather than practice.

"Stop defending and return a blow!" shouted Kakashi as Rin frantically evaded his attacks. He was purposely leaving gaps in his guard to entice Rin into throwing a punch.

"I'm trying!" replied Rin as she dipped her head below Kakashi's overextended right fist. For a moment she thought she saw an opening; with a reversal she could dodge the blow and then use his overextended arm to knock him off balance. She had almost done it too, but body was already falling back on the trained defensive stance that she had practiced for years. Instinctually she pushed her body backwards away from his fist and gained a few yards of separation.

Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge. The five D's were the fundamental principles that every medical ninja employed in their taijutsu mastery. The defensive style relied on the basic principle that the medic had to avoid getting injured at all costs. The style she had learned left very little deviation for offensive movements, instead relying on those opportunities to put distance between the combatants so that a teammate could interrupt the fight and free the medic to return to supporting the team.

"Keep trying Rin-chan!" shouted Kakashi as he made a charge at Rin.

While it was a proven taijutsu style for team fights, Minato had expressed his concerns on the two times that it had failed her. Both times Rin had been kidnapped and interrogated; the second time becoming an unwilling jichuriki and a time bomb. That was why her team was trying to retrain her style into something with a little more balance. Even before she had been released from the hospital Minato was having her work through the stances and the new katas.

It wasn't a massive change that required relearning taijutsu from the ground up. Instead it was a modification of some katas that flowed in and out of the basic stances she had learned. The changes weren't much, but hopefully they would be enough to allow her to end a fight on her own without relying on a teammate. Where her purely defensive style would try to separate space, the more balanced style would strike back in an attempt to end the fight.

"_Stupid muscle memory."_ thought Rin as she tried to identify Kakashi's attack. Rin knew she saw where the openings were. Kakashi knew she saw where the openings were. Despite all the grace of the attacks, Kakashi was going through the moves and carefully leaving an opening that one of the newly memorized katas would exploit. The problem was that Rin kept returning to her original, purely defensive style.

"You can do this Rin-chan! Believe in yourself!"

Kakashi was almost on top of Rin when she saw it. His hands were too far from his face to properly guard it. In her mind Rin remembered the fifty-third kata. Rin felt her left leg shift backwards and cursed herself as she fought her instincts.

Kakashi's arms were closing from both sides, preventing her from dodging to the side. Her purely defensive style would have had her duck backwards. Instead she ducked forwards and cocked her arm. Then she threw her punch upwards.

With a cry of power, Rin felt her knuckles impact the bottom of Kakashi's jaw.

Kakashi's head snapped backwards as he took the blow. Even as he fell backwards to the ground he could hear Rin's surprise with herself. It was fortunate that he had expected the blow; otherwise Rin could have broken his jaw. Still, she had hit him a lot harder than he had expected and he hadn't been able to regain his balance after the blow.

"_No reason to tell her that."_ he thought to himself as his eye focused on the clouds above him. It was hard enough to get her to attack him in the first place, no reason to take away all the progress that they had made.

"Are you okay Kakashi-kun?"

"Yeah," lied Kakashi as he tried not to wince, "Just admiring the clouds."

== Her Name was Rin, Chapter 3 ==

Minato had returned a few minutes after Rin's first punch. Kakashi tried to feign indifference, but to the seasoned sensei it was fairly obvious that Kakashi was hurting. After a few congratulations and comforting words, Minato had set Rin onto her next task while he let Kakashi rest.

That had been two hours ago.

Water sprayed from the creek in all directions as Rin once again failed to properly match the chakra beneath her feet with the energy of the water below them. For years she had prided herself in her immense chakra control. It was her way of excelling as a ninja and it had allowed her to keep pace with her team as a specialized medical ninja. Before the Sanbi had been sealed inside of her, Rin had been an excellent medic, but now her chakra control had been shot to hell.

And where did that leave her?

Now, well, now she wasn't so sure of herself anymore. While she could perform a tree climbing exercise without difficulty that was something that anyone could do that. Water walking was essential to having a proper grasp of chakra control.

This wasn't like learning a new taijutsu style to supplement something she already knew. This was having to start over from square one.

"Focus…" whispered Rin to herself as she began the exercise once again. Once again she gathered the smallest amount of chakra possible into her left foot and slowly lowered it to the water line.

For a second, she thought she had control. She could practically feel the pride that her sensei and teammate had in her, and then the water exploded. Without warning, a massive shockwave erupted from the water below as though a depth charge had detonated below her feet and she was caught in the epicenter.

As the water slowly drained from her hair, Rin fought back her anger. The brunette was almost comical in the way she stood at the water line, childish anger and frustration dripping from her just like the massive amount of water caught in her clothing.

"This isn't working," commented her sensei Minato from the nearby tree line. Like any good teacher, he stifled his laughter but the amusement still carried in his voice. Beside him stood a stoic Kakashi who feigned aloofness. Still, the subtle signs that he was enjoying the moment at Rin's expense were apparent.

"I think it's time to call it a day Rin."

"But Sensei!"

"No buts. You've been at this for two hours. It's well past time to get lunch, we can come back later."

Dejected, Rin did her best to hide her frustrations. On one hand, she was happy to once again be training with her team. For once they were actually having fun and getting stronger together, instead of focusing on missions that invariably resulted in the death and sorrow. On the other hand, the training reminded her of one of the side effects of being a jinchuriki.

There had been a variety of changes to her body since the sealing, but the one change that had quickly proven to be the most frustrating was the fact that her chakra levels had skyrocketed due to the constant influence of the Sanbi in the eight trigrams seal. While she had been in the hospital, the amount of chakra she possessed had dramatically increased without her devoting the necessary practice to properly control it. As such, her control had gotten really terrible in the past few weeks.

She had been good at controlling her chakra once, having to start over again was painful.

"Just one more time sensei." replied Rin as she focused her chakra. She could hear Minato saying something but she tuned it out as she circulated the chakra around her body. This time she gathered a moderate amount of chakra and covered her body with it instead of coating her feet with a small amount. With any luck, the increased amount of chakra would allow her to properly shape it and match it with the water below. Even if she had to waste the excess chakra, the extra energy would allow her more easily manipulate her shoddy control.

Unless she took steps now to remedy the situation, her control would only get worse. The scariest facet of the increased chakra levels was the fact that her chakra levels could potentially keep rising until the day she died. There was a good chance that, even with constant practice, she would never grasp the same amount of control that she once had. In time she could relearn to control her chakra properly, but the extremely fine control required for medical ninjutsu would likely be forever out of her reach.

Without the necessary control, medical techniques were too dangerous to use on allies. A mystic palm technique would hurt the recipient instead of healing them unless the chakra used was properly guided in the cellular level. With Rin's current control, she would evaporate the recipient's tissues instead of healing them. That meant that almost all of Rin's medical knowledge was useless and she would likely have to learn an entirely new skill set unless she could regain her former level of chakra control

"_I can do this."_ she thought to herself as she closed her eyes to focus on the chakra. She had faced many difficulties in her life and she would not be stopped by this one. Minato, Kushina, and Jiraiya had all told her that the Sanbi was a blessing in disguise, and she believed them.

She secretly knew that she wouldn't be able to rely on her teammates forever. That was why they were reteaching her taijutsu and taking so much time to help her relearn her fundamentals. Nobody had outright said it, but she knew that she had to get stronger. Before the sealing, she had slowly been lagging behind her friends and teammates.

She had been useless when Obito died, if she had been stronger she could have prevented his death. She had been useless when she had been kidnapped, if she had been stronger she would never have needed the mysterious blond haired man to save her. She hadn't told anyone, but she knew she was the weak link on the team, despite being an accomplished medical ninja.

But thanks to the Sanbi and the goofy blond haired ninja, she had an opportunity to catch up to everyone in terms of skills. Even if she had to start once more from the beginning she was secretly glad for the opportunity to catch up to her friends. Even if she had to bastardize the water walking technique to relearn what she had once known, she would not falter.

Rin channeled her frustrations into her control as she felt the chakra circulate her body. The amount of chakra she had gathered was more than she had expected to grab, but when she surrounded herself with the chakra she could practically feel the water levels vibrating in the creek beside her.

"_This is good,"_ she thought to herself, she could once again feel the level of energy in the water. It was clearer than it had ever been before, even before she had become a jinchuriki. The half ram symbol practically glowed with power as she steeled her nerves and focused on the water in front of her.

Rin already knew the basics of the technique. She understood the fundamentals and she had done it before. All that was left was to believe in herself and succeed. Slowly she walked towards the water before hesitating for just a moment.

Fear of failure pinged in the back of her head but almost immediately she quashed it. Inside her heart, Rin knew that she was a ninja of Konoha and that her teammates believed in her. Kakashi and Minato were waiting for her to succeed. This was a challenge that she wouldn't fail. This was a challenge that she couldn't fail.

With a cold focus, she took one step onto the water.

And then another.

And then a third.

She smiled when she heard the sound of clapping hands from where her teammates were standing. She had done it. It might have been the first of many steps in order to perfect the technique but she had done it!

She could hardly contain her excitement as she turned on her feet and sent the biggest, proudest grin she could at Minato and Kakashi. Minato was clapping proudly and reluctantly Kakashi had joined in. She made a fist pumping motion and hopped in a goofy success pose.

Then the creek beneath her feet exploded. The shocked scream of the brunette were stifled by the roar of a thousand gallons of moving water.

"Did you really have to do that sensei?" asked Kakashi. One of the easiest ways to sabotage someone was to break their concentration, and Minato had done it with his applause.

"Absolutely," replied Minato without missing a beat, "when your sensei says training's over, training is over."

* * *

(A/N) Last chapter got no reviews. I am sad.


	4. Chapter 4

== Her Name was Rin, Chapter Four ==

Fugaku Uchiha was a stern, but fair leader. As the head of the Uchiha clan as well as the military police, he was responsible for a larger than average share of the village's wellbeing. During the third war it was his diligent command of the inner fire country defenses that had kept Kumo and Iwa out of their borders. On more than one occasion his men had been severely outnumbered and still emerged victorious thanks in part to his leadership and the Uchiha tenacity.

While some of the other clan leaders chafed under his authoritarian views, there was no question that the village benefited from them. His watchful eye and the Uchiha police had allowed the village to prosper with safe streets in times of peace and in times of war. Although he regarded his clan's wellbeing before the village, it was no lie to say that the two often went hand in hand.

As the clan leader of the most prestigious Uchiha clan it was his responsibility that nothing escaped his eyes. From there he could then determine whether or not the Uchiha police could handle the problem. It was only rarely that Fugaku had to report a problem to the Hokage above him.

Unfortunately today was one such day, which was why he was currently in a meeting with the Hokage. His forces were stretched thin from the recent celebrations in Konoha, all over the village both civilians and shinobi were engaged in rowdy celebration over the end of the war. However, such a trivial matter as extra work was not why he was here today.

"You understand what this means, Hokage-sama?" questioned Fugaku as he stood before the Sandaime Hokage. Without allowing time for the aging leader to speak Fugaku answered his own question. "Someone has been abducting our citizens over the last six months."

Hiruzen took a deep draw from his pipe as he read over the report. Recently Fugaku had noticed a decrease in the homeless, the poor, and the undesirables from Konoha's streets. Investigations resulted with the evidence that many of them were being abducted; one particularly gruesome case had shown signs of a struggle with a faded trail of blood leading to the nearby sewers. Over the past six months almost a hundred people had disappeared from the village.

"If these reports are true then this is indeed unsettling news." replied the aging Hokage. Crime was rare in the hidden villages. Even without the Uchiha police, only an incredibly skilled or foolish person would attempt crime in a city full of ninja. "But the question is whether this is an internal or an external force."

"I don't like what you're insinuating, however we have considered the possibility of an internal affair." countered Fugaku with a scowl. In either situation, the ramifications were grim. While an outside threat was more straightforward an internal threat had the potential to be much more insidious, especially since they had no yet established a motive. "The Uchiha police have been unable to identify any potential leads as to an identity of the abductors."

Fugaku hated to admit it, but the fact of the matter was that the Uchiha police needed help in the investigations. These abductions were starting to become noticeable, and unless they were curtailed quickly the civilians of Konoha would begin to grow worried. A worried population would spread rumors to potential spies and those spies could potentially restart the war.

As a father of a brilliant son with a second on the way, war had to be avoided at all costs. The village had just escaped a costly war as the victor and there were many enemies that would jump at the chance to reignite the dying embers of battle.

It was for the best that this matter be handled as quietly as possible.

"Have any clan members disappeared while inside the village in the past six months?" questioned Hiruzen. He had a rough list of names but many of them were simply blank from lack of evidence. Some of them were censored almost completely, leaving nothing more than a first name, gender, and an estimated age. His intuition was telling him that something was wrong; something went deeper than the leader of the Uchiha was trying to put on.

Fugaku's hesitant silence gave the Hokage all the answers he needed. It was in those critical seconds where Fugaku debated the importance of answering honestly that he had been caught. The sudden understanding in the Sandaime's eyes had shocked Fugaku into a sense of consternation.

"As loath as I am to admit it, the Uchiha clan has suffered several abductions." replied Fugaku now that honesty was the only option. "The only reason we have identified these abductions is because they have gotten bolder. In the past three weeks six Uchiha have disappeared. All but two have shown signs of a struggle."

Hiruzen pondered the situation as he smoked from his pipe. Truly this was a dangerous time for Konoha. He shivered to think of a person that would be so bold as to attack members of the Uchiha clan, knowing their almost fanatical devotion to their own. Only someone with nothing to lose and everything to gain would outright attack the Uchiha in their home village and risk their curse of hatred.

"_I question when such matters began to drag on me."_ contemplated Hiruzen as he questioned the plot.

He had been entertaining the idea of retirement since before the war with Iwa had ended, but in this situation he couldn't help but be reminded of his advanced age. In his youth he had secretly enjoyed thwarting plots against the village, but now they felt like a chore.

The Sandaime Hokage knew the importance of solving the issues of the village but that didn't help the fact that he found himself enjoying the days where he did nothing but mingle with the citizens and smoke his pipe. People relied on him far too often, and sometimes he wished that they could look beyond the hat to see the old man that he was.

It was no secret that the third Hokage had seen better days. During the war every other nation had fielded their leader in at least one major battle. While they often remained on the home front, it was no secret that the four of the five Kages had been seen combat while only Hiruzen Sarutobi had remained behind the desk. There were numerous situations that had called for the Sandaime to be present in battle, but in almost every situation he had sent Konoha's Yellow Flash – Minato Namikaze.

While he was still one of the strongest ninja in the village, the notion of being the first Hokage to enjoy retirement was appealing. He was simply getting old to continue lead the village.

"What would you have me do?" asked Hiruzen, careful to avoid sounding frustrated. While he could go over the head of Fugaku and directly command an investigation he doubted that that would be the most efficient way to address the situation. Since there likely was a damaged Uchiha pride already at stake, it would undoubtedly be best to let Fugaku deal with the situation as much as possible.

"For now the Uchiha police are requesting ANBU support in the investigations."

"Very well Fugaku. You'll get your ANBU forces tomorrow morning. Meanwhile I'll have a chat with Danzo and his forces to see if they know anything. I'll expect a report every evening."

"Yes, Hokage-sama." replied Fugaku with a bow. As he turned for the door the elder Uchiha hid his disdain for the Hokage's weakness underneath his mask of Uchiha pride. While it did make dealing with clan matters easier, the old man's age was starting to get in the way of things. Hiruzen was fairly obvious in showing his reluctance to deal with these situations. The old man was becoming more and more useless with every passing week.

Fugaku knew that Hiruzen had been contemplating retirement before this situation had risen. Perhaps now the old man would finally have the sense to let someone younger take power and let him retire in peace. Someone more fit for the Hokage should have taken the leadership position years ago.

"_With every difficulty comes an opportunity."_ mused Fugaku. As the leader of the most prestigious clan in Konoha he had a significant political sway in the village. With skillful maneuvering he could have someone that supported the Uchiha in his pocket. Someone like Fugaku's old teammate, Minato Namikaze.

== Her Name was Rin, chapter 4 ==

"Focus, gather, envision, release."

Rin sat on the grounds of training field seven as she practiced her ninjutsu. It had only been a few days since Rin's water walking spectacle but her sensei was definitely keeping her on a quick schedule. Every day he gradually increased the workload and today he had added in ninjutsu practice to her exercise rotation.

Today's ninjutsu practice was a fairly easy practice. It was so simple (and useless) that most teachers didn't bother with it, dismissing it as a waste of time. Rin would be inclined to agree but it was surprisingly difficult to do with crummy chakra control.

Rin's eyes were closed as she gathered the chakra in her lungs and slowly exhaled. A barely visible cloud of mist left as she breathed out, signifying a completed exercise. Over the next few minutes, this process was repeated several dozen times.

The four basic steps to ninjutsu were deceptively simple. Every ninjutsu followed the same pattern, requiring individual deviations based on difficulty and genetic predisposition. A complete mastery of the four basic steps would allow for ninja to create ninjutsu more easily. However, with so many different ninjutsu already known it was much simpler to simply go to the library and read a scroll on already known techniques.

"Focus."

The half ram seal was one of the most basic ways to focus the mind. Rin held the hand sign in her left hand as she circulated the chakra in her body. The exact hand sign was unnecessary; they merely served as a focusing aid on how to gather and mold chakra. Once someone was sufficiently familiar with a technique they could begin lowering the number of hand seals required until that number dropped to one.

Ultimately, that final seal would serve as a releasing point for the chakra instead of a focusing tool. Rin had almost been at that stage with her mystic palm technique before becoming a jinchuriki. It was something she still hoped to be able to do someday.

"Gather."

As Rin held the half-ram symbol, she circulated chakra throughout her body and stored it in her lungs. The act of doing so wasn't nearly as difficult as water walking, but it did have its intricacies. For one, Rin had to focus it all without using more than a single half-ram sign.

The signs helped a shinobi gather chakra properly. Each sign corresponded with a different form of gathering the chakra. The twelve most common methods had been given the zodiac hand signs. As students learned the hand signs they learned to instinctually focus their chakra when they made the hand signs. It didn't matter how fast someone could make the hand signs if they couldn't properly gather and mix their chakra.

"Envision."

Rin felt the burn of the chakra in her lungs and imagined it being released into the air in front of her. This was the most important step in the method. Without envisioning the shape she wanted to mold and imagining the flow of the chakra outwards, the chakra she had gathered would be expelled from her body without substance.

But by envisioning her breath she could theoretically create anything from the chakra. That was the goal of the exercise. Before Rin could move on to actual techniques, Minato wanted her to understand the concept behind their invention.

"Release."

As she exhaled, the gathered chakra took the shape of her vision and saturated the air. A quick peep had confirmed that she had successfully drawn an Uzumaki swirl in the air with her chakra. With a smile she closed her eyes and restarted the technique.

Theoretically, the amount of ninjutsu possible was limitless. As long as someone had the skills and energy to back up their imagination they could create anything. In reality there were several limiting factors such as kekkai genkai and elemental affinities. Some elements were unable to be created without a special genetic predisposition or extreme training. Some elements required a combination of multiple sub elements; the combining of which was nearly impossible for most ninjas.

This time, Rin envisioned a kunai. Exhaling softly, she felt the chakra leave her body. The practice was a little boring but the fundamentals learned in the exercise would go on to improve her ability to learn other techniques. They also helped her control, trying to use the correct amount of chakra to create the correct amount of detail.

In the background she could hear the clash of kunai as Kakashi and Minato sparred. Judging by the rapid impacts, the two were in a deadly fast knife fight. A sudden gust of wind ruffled through Rin's hair as she couldn't help but think of the two ninja fighting. Apparently they had stepped beyond a simple knife fight.

"_I really shouldn't watch…" _thought Rin as she disciplined herself. She needed to be practicing her ninjutsu practice and not wasting time by watching her team spar.

When the sound of Kakashi's Chidori rang through the air, all self-control was lost as she left her exercise to watch her best friend fight her sensei.

== Her Name was Rin, Chapter 4 ==

Kakashi was on the defensive. Since the fight had started, Minato had given him three, maybe four, opportunities to attack him back. And to be clear, they were obviously given to allow Kakashi a chance to feel like he wasn't being completely dominated. Even though Minato wasn't using the Hiraishin, he was still leagues ahead of Kakashi.

"Chidori!"

Kakashi surged across the training grounds with superhuman speed as he held his lightning cutter in his right hand. Using Obito's Sharingan, Kakashi charted the path that Minato was sure to take as his sensei moved away from the attack. With graceful speed, white haired ninja slipped right through Minato's defenses as the Chidori tore into his sensei's chest.

There was a puff of smoke and in the place of Minato was a log covered in explosive tags.

Hastily Kakashi ditched the log as the tags began to detonate. He leapt backwards just in time as a rain of kunai pelted the ground where he had just been.

"You're really going all out Sensei." commented Kakashi as he began to spin a dozen hand signs in rapid succession. He was thirty symbols into his weaving when Kakashi's senses alerted him to the earth moving below him.

Cautiously he jumped into the air to avoid a pair of hands emerging from the earth. As he reached the apogee of his movement, he launched his counterattack.

"Katon: Hōsenka Tsumabeni!" shouted Kakashi. His sensei had completely emerged from the earth and was already moving to attack, but Kakashi's ninjutsu would force him on the defensive.

With one hand Kakashi readied a dozen shuriken then, as he released a large fireball from his mouth, tossed them through the flame at Minato. Propelled by the fiery shockwave, the tiny blades ignited as they raced towards the ground. Although the shuriken weren't very accurate they still carried enough force to penetrate through the ground. Most missed the Yellow Flash but Minato was still forced to block three of them with a kunai.

"I could say the same for you." replied Minato as he deflected a flaming shuriken into a nearby tree. A quick glance at the kunai in hand revealed that it had been partially melted through in three places. The tree itself had been completely penetrated, leaving a small hole where the attack had passed. Had Minato blocked with a normal kunai instead of his special kunai he was sure that the shuriken would have punched right through.

"There was a lot of power in those shuriken but let me show you a better crowd control technique."

Minato pulled out three shuriken and a single kunai as he waited for Kakashi to land. Despite their high level of combat it was still Minato's job to teach Kakashi, not kill him. Letting him land would at least give Kakashi time to run. The second the young jonin touched down on the ground he hurled the blades with incredible force and followed up with a quick series of hand signs.

"Kage Shuriken no Jutsu!"

Kakashi's Sharingan watched his sensei form the hand signs. There was a surge of chakra as Minato's four projectiles multiplied into four hundred projectiles. The line of steel was so thick and clouded with chakra that Kakashi could barely see past the sudden wall to see his sensei tossing a second wave of kunai before they too multiplied a hundredfold.

"Well shit." muttered Kakashi as the wall of steel was almost upon him. At the last second he reached out and felt for a nearby log. The two switched places just as the shuriken ninjutsu made contact.

The log lasted seconds before it was shredded into a pulp by the ninjutsu.

"So tell me Kakashi," asked Minato as he turned to the destination of Kakashi's Kawarimi. "Are you trying to show off because you recently copied that technique or because Rin is watching you?"

Kakashi's answer was to launch a water dragon at Minato's face. Apparently the Yellow Flash had struck a nerve because the dragon was only half completed and was flailing wildly in the air.

"Very mature!" taunted Minato as he jumped away from the concussive impact. Before he even landed the Yellow Flash was already weaving hand signs. "Futon: Diatoppa!"

Exhausted from the use of three elemental ninjutsu that he didn't have an affinity for, Kakashi was unable to dodge the light gust as it lifted him off his feet. His nerves cried out in pain as he was slammed against a nearby tree.

"Good fight," shouted Minato as he signaled an end to the fight. Frustrated at the weak finish, Kakashi simply nodded his head and covered his Sharingan with his headband.

== Her Name was Rin, Chapter 4 ==

The sun dipped below the monument of the Hokages as two tired ninja rested beneath the trees of training ground seven. The spar between Kakashi and Minato had lasted several hours and Rin had caught the tail end of it. Kakashi was beginning to lag behind in combat before he noticed Rin watching, and in a rather juvenile effort to show off (not that he would admit to it) he had decided to end the match in a rather flashy way. His excessive use of non-affinity ninjutsu had drained him to the point that Minato had deemed him worthy of a mercy kill.

He knew it was tactically stupid. Minato knew it was baseless showmanship. That didn't mean that Rin was any the wiser. She had been very impressed with the flaming shuriken.

"Cheer up Kakashi-kun. At least you're still conscious this time." consoled Rin as she rested beneath the tree. True to her words, Kakashi had collapsed not five minutes after Minato had left for a meeting with the Hokage. Unable to move, Rin was forced to watch over him as he recovered; all the while adamantly refusing to take her teammate to the hospital.

But, at the very least, he hadn't lost consciousness.

"You're not helping." replied a very sullen Kakashi. It wasn't a secret amongst Kakashi's teammates that every time the ninja went all out he usually ended up unconscious from chakra exhaustion. Obito's eye in particular drained him at a ridiculous rate. Ten minutes of the Sharingan would leave him tired and thirty minutes of it would leave him exhausted. He had used it for fourty minutes while spamming high level ninjutsu.

"Sorry," apologized Rin sheepishly. While Kakashi had gotten better about being an arrogant and standoffish prick, he was still embarrassed by the fact that he was currently unable to move in front of his teammate. It was fortunate that no one could see him, though he still wished she would carry him to the hospital.

"It's fine; I shouldn't have snapped."

As the two settled into a comfortable silence, Rin couldn't help but enjoy the atmosphere. It was late spring and several of the plants were beginning to flower. There was a subtly sweet scent hanging in the air that made the evening all the more enjoyable. The presence of her best friend, however unwilling he was, completed the scene in her mind.

It was nice to look forward to the night. Already the war felt like a long distant event giving way to the future. All the cruelties committed beneath the cover of darkness seemed like a faded memory. The hyperawareness required at night gave way to the uncaring enjoyment of youth.

"_I wish this moment would never end."_ thought Rin as she rested next to Kakashi beneath the trees. Content with life, Rin actually allowed herself to muse on the concept of romance once more.

Way back when they had first been assigned teams, Rin had fallen for Kakashi's matureness. While everyone else was just being promoted to genin, Kakashi had already been a chunin for six years. Despite being the same age Kakashi was miles ahead of everyone. Not only that, but he was also quiet and reserved; he was already a ninja and he carried himself as such.

After getting to learn the son of Konoha's White Fang, Rin found herself falling for him even harder. Behind that cold shell was a dedicated soldier who was determined to step out of the shadow that his dad had created. Kakashi was wrapped up in training and proving his worth and he hadn't had any time for romance.

Still, Rin had been sure that one day Kakashi would be ready. And then she would tell him her feelings.

In waiting for that day, Rin had managed to keep her crush to herself. At least she thought she had, until it became clear that Kakashi was aware of her interest in him. Apparently she hadn't been quite as subtle as she had thought she was.

But Kakashi had ignored it, deeming it unimportant. She thought that her love was unrequited; so she buried it deep inside her heart vowing to wait until he was ready.

Then Obito died.

"Kakashi-kun?" asked Rin quietly.

"Yes Rin-chan?"

"What do we do now that the war is over? What do we do now that we can live again?"

There was silence as Kakashi contemplated the answer. She wasn't sure what she was hoping to get as an answer, but remembering Obito and his death reminded her of how fleeting life could be. What good was surviving if they couldn't enjoy it?

After a while Rin was beginning to think he wouldn't answer. But just as she gave it up as a lost conversation, Kakashi spoke up.

"I'm not sure," replied Kakashi, "There will always be some conflict that threatens us, but Sensei says that if you always fight the current you'll forget how to live and that a life we don't live is still lost. "

After Obito's death, things had changed. Fearing their own deaths at the hands of Iwa ninja, Rin had finally worked up the resolve to tell Kakashi how she felt. But then, Kakashi revealed that he felt himself unworthy of her affection. Obito's death had made him realize exactly how precious his friends were, but how could he be loved if he couldn't protect the people closest to him? In his eyes, he was worse than trash.

Kakashi believed himself to be worse than trash, but every time Rin got into trouble Kakashi had bailed her out. After Obito's death he pushed himself harder than ever to protect the people important to him. Rin, Minato, fellow Konoha ninja, random strangers – Kakashi strived to protect them all. He didn't think he was worthy of love but every time he rescued her Rin found herself loving him a little more.

She respected his distance. Kakashi was trying to limit the pain he would cause her if he was to die during the war. In a morbid way, it was touching. He valued himself as worthless despite how important he truly was to her.

Kakashi kept reciting his promise to Obito but every time he said it the statement became less about Obito and more about Kakashi. The white haired teenager couldn't bear to lose Rin; she was his teammate, his friend, and his family all in one person. She was important to him, and he would rather throw himself upon his own Chidori than hurt her.

Her becoming a jinchuriki hadn't changed that. To him, Rin was still the same person she was before the sealing. They both knew that eventually her secret would get out, but that didn't change anything.

"Rin-chan?" asked Kakashi quietly. The first of the stars were beginning to line the sky. Even without the ocular powers of his Sharingan he could feel the majesty of the night above him.

"Yes Kakashi-kun?"

"I think we should start living life again. It's what Obito would want."

== Her Name was Rin, Chapter 4 ==

"I swear to Kami if Madara doesn't like this one I'm going to kill the old geezer."

Obito complained to himself as he pulled an unconscious Uchiha into his pocket dimension. The jonin had put up a decent showing but ultimately all the man's mastery of fire ninjutsu proved useless against Obito's Kamui.

With his new Mangekyo Sharingan and Mokuton it was all too easy to overpower anyone that he couldn't get the drop on. He wasn't ashamed to admit that the mokuton body attached to his right half had given him a significant boost in power.

A part of him wanted to leave Madara behind, abandon him in favor of returning to the team he had left behind. Obito missed them and he was sure that they missed him as well. No doubt they would be surprised when he returned to tell the tale of life, death, trees, and old men.

But despite the apparent madness that the greatest Uchiha displayed he couldn't help but feel sorry for the old man. The blind Uchiha was truly a pity; betrayed by his own clan, left to die by his best friend, and tethered to life by the Demon Statue of the Outer Path. If there was some way he could help Madara he would, no one deserved all the crappy cards that life had dealt him.

Obito didn't know why Madara wanted the living bodies of the strongest Uchiha brought to him. All he knew was that Obito owed Madara a life debt and when Obito brought the right Uchiha for Madara's judgment the elder would release Obito from his debt.

Then he could return to Konoha and start living again.

* * *

(A/N): I just started a 40 hour a week internship last Friday. I love the position but waking up at 6 AM for the drive time commute/carpool is simply murder. The trip gives me time to churn out raw material but the early mornings leave me a little behind in reviewing and refining the material. I'm not going to actively search out a beta reader but if you're reading this and you're interested send me a PM.

Poll - In story related news, I've got several ideas for the night of Naruto's birth and all of them involve lots of action. I would like to find out how most readers feel about adherence to canon. I started a poll questioning how everyone would like for me to address the story, you can find it in my profile.

Story - I'm starting a new arc with this chapter, hoping to move into a reasonable plot while moving along with the timeline.

Review Questions/answers - Am I Kakarin/Obirin shipper? _maybe._ Will I feature the idiot bird? _if I do an omake chapter_. Who massacred Kiri&why? _plot spoilers!_

_edit: left out a really important sentence. It's fixed now_


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