Previously
"Let's go," Asuma said. Kakashi nodded his agreement.
Present
It didn't take us as long as I thought it would to get to Kumo. We were greeted at the front entrance by two ANBU ninja and escorted to the Raikage. We went in once we heard a muffled "Enter!" The Raikage was sitting behind a dark wood desk. He glared at me.
"Lord Raikage," I greeted, bowing.
"You three, leave," Lord Raikage said, pointing to Kakashi, Asuma, and Kurenai. A tense air surround us at his order.
"Listen to him. I can handle a human quite easily on my own," I said. I set my hands on the handles resting just past my hips.
"Rule 15, Rin," Kakashi said.
"Get out!" Lord Raikage snapped. I heard the soft shuffling of feet behind me as Kurenai, Kakashi, and Asuma filed out of the Raikage's office. Once the door softly clicked shut the Raikage stood.
"Rule 18," I said, knowing none of them could hear me.
"Can you take the Tailed Beast out of someone else while still keeping them alive?" He asked.
"I would need to know what type of seal is used before going any further," I replied.
"Iron Armor," Lord Raikage said.
"It's going to take me some time to be certain, but I believe it can be done. I know it can be done with the Eight Trigrams Seal. Though the Iron Armor Seal is a bit outside my knowledge I should be able to research quite a bit about it here," I rambled.
"Quiet!" he yelled.
"Okay, then," I said.
"Go. You have a mission to complete," Lord Raikage snapped.
"Of course, sir," I answered. I left his office. After a little searching, I met up with Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma at a little hotel near the center of the village. We got two rooms and set our things down. I quickly put protective wards around our rooms and closed the curtains. Call me superstitious but I don't trust many after being sent to Hel by Hera.
"Are you going to tell us what all this is for?" Kakashi questioned.
"Forgive me for not trusting the denizens here, Hatake. I highly doubt the Raikage would let us stay here without supervision," I answered.
"Any Kage would do the same, right?" Kurenai asked.
"I would be more concerned if they didn't keep an eye on newcomers. Now, the Raikage asked about the Iron Armor Seal after you three left. As of now, I don't really know why he wants to keep the Host alive while extracting the Eight Tails. I fear it won't be for anything good," I said, debriefing them on what had occurred in the Raikage's office.
"That's impossible, isn't it?" Asuma asked.
"For most, yes. There are those few that can keep the Host alive while extracting whatever is in the seal," I answered.
"Who can?" He asked.
"I'm not entirely sure. I am one of the few that can but I don't know if it's because I'm a Jinjuriki or a god. I've only read about a Host surviving the extraction of a Tailed Beast in the rare accounts of the Juubi being resurrected. Outside of that, there's nothing," I replied.
"Juubi?" Kakashi asked.
"The Ten Tails. You would need the collective energy of all the other Tailed Beasts to bring it back," I answered. I winced as Kurama thrashed against the Seal. I knew he didn't have a fondness for the Juubi but I didn't think it had turned to hatred for it. I sighed and set a hand on my stomach.
"I take it he is being most difficult?" A male said stepping out from behind the curtains.
"You would be correct in believing that, Gyūki," I said lowly.
"So you know who I am already, hm?" He asked.
"It wasn't all that hard to figure out. I made the wards a bit more accessible only to those that were hated. A Jinjuriki is one of the most hated in the human world," I replied.
"What about another?" Gyūki asked.
"In Hel, we are feared. Though, far more go to Valhalla than anywhere else," I answered.
"So you are one of them," he growled.
"If by 'them' you mean one of the gods, you would be correct. Now, what is it you came here for?" I asked.
"Why would you even consider helping me? Your kind hates half breeds," Gyūki said.
"Hate to burst your bubble, but not all the gods are bastards. If you had bothered contacting Azazel, you might have heard that I am... unlike the others," I said. I felt a light scrape of a nail on my mental shields. I brushed it off easily and followed the tendril of power back to Gyūki. I ran a small bit of my power against his own shields. He winced. I retracted my power from his mind.
"How?" He demanded.
"Hel thrives on the torture of the powerless," I said tightly.
"Very few ever live to tell," Gyūki said.
"It's not living when you can't get it away from it. What happened never gets out of your head," I said shakily.
Kit, Kurama said softly. I retreated into my mind and went to his little sanctuary. There were pipes lining the walls, some slowly leaking. I saw the gate with the seal keeping him in place. I could feel my father watching from the shadows. I jumped on top of the seal.
"We work together from here on in," I said.
"Agreed," Kurama rumbled. I stepped back and tore the paper off. I hopped back a bit, lifted my shirt just past the seal, and undid it. The gate flew open and Kurama stepped out. I climbed onto his hand. He lifted me up and let me hop onto his head.
"This place could use a remodel, don't you think?" I asked.
"I will handle it," he said.
"Okay. Just please don't keep the sewer pipes," I requested.
"Fine," Kurama rumbled. I smiled softly and drifted back to the real world. I blinked a few times. Gyūki was gone. In his place stood the Greek goddess of wisdom, Athena. She was a pale blue in color. She was smiling softly at me, almost as though she knew me.
"There is no where you can hide. The truth will always come out," Athena said.
"I know," I said gravely. Athena disappeared a moment later.
"Who was that?" Kurenai asked shakily.
"Athena, goddess of wisdom," I answered. I didn't look at any of the others as I started stumbling toward the door. I stopped when a pair of feet came into view. I looked up dully.
"We're not letting you go out alone," Kurenai said. Kakashi and Asuma were a step behind her.
"Why do you care so much?" I whispered.
"Why wouldn't we?" Kakashi asked. I looked down at my feet.
"No one ever cares about monsters like me," I whispered, my hands clenching into fists.
"You bloody imbecile," Asuma spat. I shuffled back a few feet and wrapped my arms around my torso.
"Asuma..." Kurenai said softly, shock lacing her voice.
"If she honestly thinks no one ever cared, she's a damned fool, Kurenai. I agreed to be on this mission because I knew I would make it back with you three. I don't care if people believe she's a monster. Anyone that believes that one of my friends is a monster is an idiot," Asuma snapped.
"So even you have a limit," I said quietly. A heavy pounding at the door sounded before Asuma could say anything more. I slowly walked around the others and opened the door a small bit.
"He is wrecking havoc on the village. His only demand was to retrieve you," Lord Raikage snapped.
"Tell Gyūki to stop terrorizing the denizens. If he refuses, tell him the Grim Reaper will have his soul," I growled, slamming the door in his face. The pounding knock on the door sounded again a moment later. I opened the door again.
"How do you know this will work?" Lord Raikage demanded.
"Everyone in Hel fears the Grim Reaper. Word travels fast. Have fun being a messenger!" I said in a false cheery tone and slammed the door in the Raikage's face again. He didn't knock on the door again.
"Rin?" Kakashi asked. I didn't answer and instead fell face first onto the couch under the windows. I flicked my fingers and opened up the curtains.
"Mmfp," I grunted.
"Enough, Nohara," Kakashi snapped. I turned my head to look at him.
"I'm not talking, Hatake," I said.
"You have to at some point. Why not now?" He growled.
"Do you really want to know?" I demanded.
"Tell me," he said evenly. I sat up.
"I don't want to talk to you about what happened because there's no going back. It terrifies me. Everyone I've ever told has used it against me. I don't want that to keep happening," I said lowly, looking down at my hands.
"We won't leave you," Kurenai said mater-of-factly.
"Say that after you know what I've done," I said grimly.
"Then tell us," she pleaded. I swallowed thickly.
"Please, don't interrupt me," I said, my voice barely more than a whisper.
"Okay," Kurenai agreed. I swallowed again. I started telling them everything. I couldn't stop. Kakashi filled in details I couldn't. By the time we finished, all four of us were crying.
"I'm not leaving you, Rin Nohara," Kakashi said.
"I'm not either," Asuma said. Kurenai didn't say anything. Instead, she walked over to me, sat down on the couch, and wrapped me in a bone crushing hug.
"Thank you. All of you," I said sincerely, leaning into Kurenai's hug.
"Thanks for telling us," Kurenai whispered.
"I think I owed you that much," I replied. Kurenai gently let me go and pulled away.
"That was everything?" Kakashi asked.
"Yeah," I lied. "Now, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow. Let's get some sleep, okay?"
"Yeah. I think we could all use it," Kakashi agreed.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hey everyone! I hope you enjoyed this chapter!
Anw... I hope you have a good day/night and I'll see you in the next chapter! Bye guys!