**Authors note:
Laptop screen is still down but I have the chance to post this haha so here we go!
This is sad and I'd like to say it gets better but we have a few emotional chapters to run through before it gets better.
Enjoy and please commnet!
**
Shikamaru
Rin hit the ground the moment Hidan drew back the staff. I felt my heart thumping against my chest as I tried to move closer. Both she and Asuma were deathly still. Hidan sighed as he retracted his staff.
“Pitty, her blood is too mixed with my own”
“Asuma, Rin!” Asuma still didn’t move but I noticed Rin turn her head towards me. She slowly reached out a hand and grimaced when Hidan stepped on her wrist.
“You’re going to pay for this!” I shouted, but just as I was going to try to get up again black feathers began to fall around us. I did the sign for a genjutsu thinking it may have been Itachi but stopped when crows began to attack. Itachi’s genjutsu, I assumed was similar to Rin’s and revolved around Raven’s rather than crows.
“Do you really think you can beat me with a flock of crows!?” Hidan shouted.
“A pitiful attempt at a diversion” Kakuzu muttered, but was forced to drop Kotetsu and Izumo when a black sword nearly pierced through his face. I looked up just as Choji grabbed Asuma but failed to take Rin.
“Don’t worry Shikamaru, we’re here to help” I was surprised to see Jazmine but pushed her aside.
“Get Rin!”
“Shikamaru…”
“Do it now!” The urgency in my voice is what pushed her. She ran forward as I forced myself to stand and I only followed when Jazmine had Rin in her arms. I somehow found the energy to jump to the roof with the others. Jazmine laid Rin down before she ran to Asuma. I dropped beside him and listened for a heartbeat. It took a while but somehow there it was, faint but still beating.
“He’s alive” I breathed.
“Choji you’ve got rush him to the leaf hospital. Ino and Jazmine go with him and use your medical ninjutsu to buy as much time as you can” I ordered.
“We’re on it” Jazmine confirmed.
“I’m not giving up my bounty” I turned as Kakuzu landed on the building.
“That’s e-enough Kakuzu” I stared wide eyed as Rin managed to step in front of us. She gripped her shoulder with one hand, blood staining her fingers.
“What are you going to do stop me?” I stared as black marks spread over Rin’s skin. I felt a chill down my spine as she began hand signs.
“I have nothing to lose now, you should be afraid” She threatened as dark chakra started swirling around her hands.
“Dark Wall jutsu” The shadows didn’t pull like they normally did, instead the dark chakra expelled from her hands creating a think wall of what looked like black smoke between us and Kakuzu.
“Try to get through that”
Rin
Releasing the curse mark was always a last resort, but it did relieve some of the pain in the shoulder Hidan had stabbed through. If dark chakra ate away at your life span then this did it twice as fast, but right now my only concern was protecting Shikamaru. I thought Kakuzu was actually going to go for it, or Hidan would get up here and try his hand. He looked ready to fight until a voice echoed in my head.
“Your fight is over” I knew the voice and I knew Kakuzu and Hidan heard it too. It was Pein, a simple communication jutsu he created but refused to share.
“We need to seal the two-tails, it’s time for you to return” I was relieved even when I heard Hidan’s objections. Kakuzu stepped back, probably annoyed but as much as he wanted his bounty he also had a strange amount of respect for Pein.
“It’s of the upmost importance” Kakuzu jumped from the building and towards Hidan. I held the jutsu as I stared down at them.
“I’ll be returning to H.Q once I’m done here”
“Without Sasori we need every member” Pein objected.
“You have Ai and Hidou, besides once I seal the curse mark again I’ll be too weak to be of any use in the extraction” I argued and heard him sigh.
“See to it you get back by nightfall. Hidan and Kakuzu will brief me on your actions after the extraction”
“Yeah whatever” I replied. I looked over the edge of the roof. Hidan and Kakuzu stared back up. I waited till they turned and disappeared into the forest before dropping the jutsu. I walked through the black mist left behind unscathed.
“Don’t touch that” I warned the others before I dropped to my knees beside Asuma.
“Rin your injured, you shouldn’t be…”
“I’m a criminal Shikamaru, I don’t matter.” I said shortly before facing the rest of his team.
“Ino, Jazmine well need to combine our medical ninjutsu”
“Right” Jazmine agreed.
“I’ve never seen someone survive Hidan’s jutsu” I admitted as I put my hands over Ino and Jazmine’s.
“But there’s a first for everything” I knew I had a connection with Gaara. I knew that’s probably what aided in his return to the living but I was hoping that somehow, whatever power I had that helped Gaara would also help Asuma.
“D-Don’t even bother trying to heal me. I-I can feel it” I was surprised that he was still able to speak in his condition.
“You guys can feel it too right?”
“You shut up! Ino, Rin, Jazmine keep going!” Shikamaru’s outburst made me flinch. I knew Asuma was right, even as I combined my jutsu with Ino and Jazmine's I could feel him fading. I looked up as the storm clouds rolled in and closed my eyes for a moment before letting my hands slip from their's.
“Rin?” Jazmine questioned and I sighed.
“You can feel it too, four vital spots Jaz. There’s nothing we can do, I doubt even Lady Tsunade could help him” I admitted.
“But Rin, you have to have something. You always have something!” Jazmine begged, but I shook my head. Not this time.
“I-I think I finally understand now, what the third Hokage meant…” I got to my feet and stepped away. This wasn’t for me. This was their team, he was their sensei and I had no part in it anymore.
“Why” I muttered. Why when I needed it, that power never came. I jumped slightly when a hand touched my shoulder.
“Rin…” I turned and met Jazmine’s large blue eyes, eyes that were full of tears.
“A-Asuma sensei, he wants to speak with you”
“Jazmine, I can’t…”
“He’s dying Rin.” I fell silent then and let her lead me back to the group. I remained standing but met his gaze. I could hear his breathing getting longer and slower, the way his chest rose and fell.
“Go back” I tensed as I stared at him in surprise. I expected cursing, even insults or anything along the lines of being a traitor. I barely heard him when he asked Shikamaru for one last cigarette which he obliged too. I watched as he lit it. Ino and Choji had tears running down there cheeks. Jazmine had a hand on Ino’s back as she tried to hold back hers. Shikamaru just stared. I looked up as the Rain began to fall, the waiting was coming to an end.
“Sensei!” Ino’s scream made my stomach drop. It made a familiar emptiness seep into my heart. One that I tried to ignore, I walked forward stopping only by Jazmine. I put a hand on her shoulder and she reached for it, holding it tightly but not turning. She only looked up when Shikamaru stood. I felt her hand slowly leave mine and she released a slow breath.
“He needs you”
Shikamaru
Choji had tears running down his cheeks. Jazmine had an arm around Ino as she cried, her other hand was holding tightly to Rin’s. Jazmine’s own tears mixed with the Rain as she stared with hard eyes down at Asuma-Sensei. I held the lighter tightly in my hand when I got up. I felt a heaviness in my chest that was unfamiliar. It hurt when I thought I had lost my comrades on our retrieval mission for Sasuke, it hurt when Rin left the village but this was something else entirely.
“I still hate those damn cigarettes” I managed; the lump in my throat seemed to grow as I tried to speak.
“I can still feel his smoke in my eyes”
“Shikamaru” I turned slightly when I heard her voice. I met Rin’s dark eyes and watched as the marks on her skin receded. I reached for her when stumbled but she somehow found the strength to shake it off.
“Your shoulder….”
“The curse mark relived some of the pain; I’ll deal with the rest later.” She interrupted. I stared down at her and she stared up at me.
“When your family died, how did you deal with it?” I asked hating the sound of my voice when it cracked. Rin gave me a sad smile and she sighed.
“Does it look like I’ve dealt with it” She replied and it was silent for a minute.
“I lost myself in training mostly, the only hope I had was that my brothers were still alive”
“But Itachi…”
“And Sasuke are all I have left, my clan is dead Shikamaru and nothing will bring them back. Just like Asuma” She said.
“But just because he’s dead doesn’t mean he’s lost, you still have your team. That’s all you can ask for, is that someone lives to carry on the legacy” Her voice was gentle as she spoke. Her hand created warmth when it touched mine and I let her pull me into a tight embrace.
“What am I supposed to do?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper.
“Make him proud” She replied and finally I put my arms around her. I had to bend down to rest my head on her shoulder. I stayed like that for a while, griping the back of her shirt.
“Will you come back?” I asked and heard her sigh.
“I hate to decline a dying man’s wish Shikamaru. I have more respect for Asuma than that, but I can’t.” I released a slow breath as I let her go.
“I knew you would say that” I replied.
“Can you at least tell me why?” I asked.
“And not the your brothers excuse, I know there’s something more Rin.” She was silent for a while. I watched as she pulled a ring from under her shirt, it dangled from a chain that hung around her neck. She undid the clasp of the chain and held it in her palm.
“The night before Itachi killed the clan, my father took me to the hill that over looked the compound.” She started.
“My father gave me this ring and asked me to promise to always protect Itachi and Sasuke. At the time I thought he was crazy, I mean he was always the first to tell me I’d never reach that amount of power. If only he could see me now right?” She seemed to smile slightly at the memory.
“So I did, I promised him that no matter what happed I would protect my brothers at all costs.” It started to make sense now, why she left and why she refused to come back. The final pieces of the puzzle were coming together.
“No one knows that I made that promise” She said her voice shaking slightly.
“This ring is all I have left of my Father; it means the world to me.” She explained and met my gaze.
“And you're the only person I could ever give it up too.”
“Rin…”
“I will come back to the village Shikamaru. I will face the penalties for all the misery I have caused. I promise you this, but right now my brother’s need me and you’re team needs you.” She said firmly. I stared at her for a while before taking the necklace from her hand.
“I’m just so sorry I couldn’t do more.” I swallowed the lump in my throat and took her hand.
“I know you’ll find a way to make it right” I said and she released a sigh.
“I have to go Shikamaru; I only have a few hours at best before my body gives up.” I nodded slightly and pulled her in for a hug. I held her tightly until she reluctantly stepped back.
“Goodbye” I said quickly.
“Troublesome woman” I added and she managed a small smile as she stepped back.
“I’m sorry, for everything Shika.” I watched as she back flipped off the roof and disappeared into the forest. I took the necklace and fastened it around my neck before hiding it beneath my vest. As I always suspected Rin never wanted to leave, she never wanted to murder, she never wanted to join the Akatsuki and only now I knew why she did it all anyways. It was her burden and her sacrifice, one I'd know that she'd willingly suffer through just to keep the last promise she made to her Father.
“What did Rin say?” I glanced at Jazmine then back towards the forest.
“Nothing important” I replied. This was between us and no one else, I knew that’s how she wanted it. That’s why she trusted me with something she has hidden for years. It was a weird feeling, now at least. While one part of me felt at peace the other was fighting against it with guilt and grief. I turned to Ino and Choji as I put an arm around Jazmine’s shoulder; I had to push the negative aside for now. It could be dealt with at a later time, but right now my team needed strength and that’s what I needed to be for them, strong.