It had been some time since the fateful meeting with the Uchiha. The type of meeting that altered the proceedings, and yet ultimately the end goal was still obtainable. Rin Tohsaka, stripped of his achievements and rank, had basically been placed under house arrest to never leave from Konohagakure grounds. Most people anticipated that Rin would hate anyone and everyone within the village. Despise them even, and yet Rin does not. Originally, Rin was going to try to negotiate with the Kage in Iwagakure and ultimately push for a treaty, an alliance however temporary to root out the main problem that had eluded the great leaders for many years.
The Society, while an instrument originally for destruction and hoarding any exclusive technique and artifacts they could find. Even to go as far as wiping out an entire village to do so. Some were seduced by the demonstration of power, while many turned their swords and bared their fangs at the General of the Society of Rebirth. Yet little did everyone knew at the time that several Kage had been aligned with said Society, and plenty more made deals of power with them. All of this chaos, all of the destruction that the Society wrecked both publicly and in the shadows did not come out of thin air as Rin deduced as such. The one time Rin stole a glance at Honiko told him what he needed to know in the future. That she served someone else. At first, Rin had thought it was by the name of C that was the culprit, but C was the boss Dragon of Watashi Wasteland. Which meant, as Rin had connected the dots in the past, that Honiko served someone who had remained hidden. Someone that Rin theorized he had met in person before in disguise.
Whoever the person was, Rin knew he'd need to gather his strength, and to win over Kyuubi's favor. However the bijuu detested such a route, Kurama couldn't deny that the end goal behind Rin's ultimatum was to put down whoever was behind these schemes. In the end, it would not only save thousands of lives, including his beloved family, but it would also break the chains that had been stringing Nozomi for so long. To break the puppet strings, so that she can be truly free. In order to achieve that, Rin knew he must be prepared to hit that target with everything he has.
"So do I hold it like this?" A child-like voice spoke that disturbed Rin's absent-minded and brought him back to reality. Together, Rin stood with Tsuna, a little girl with solid black scales and a pair of small horns dressed in a blue shirt and black pants. Her raven colored hair pulled into a ponytail with a blue ribbon. In her hand was a single kunai, but her tensed demeanor left little room for flexibility. They were located within the Grand Konoha Training Facility as they faced a lone training dummy. The Outcast only offered a smile before he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Take a deep breath and relax your shoulder Tsuna. When you hold a weapon of any caliber, you want to hold it with a balance of control and strength." Rin instructed her as they were going over the basics of how to use a kunai. As part of her studies of course as Rin wasn't going to drill advanced techniques on the spot. He understood that these things took time. Tsuna took a deep breath, but while her shoulders felt relaxed there was still tension in her. Rin could've gone through it again, but he figured they could smooth that out as they move along.
Tsuna does her best to heed his instructions whether it was to simply stab the dummy or to accurately throw the kunai at said dummy. For the first time in what felt like forever to her, Tsuna threw the kunai dead center into the dummy's heart. Relief had washed over her face, but she immediately tensed up from what Rin could figure out was fear.
"That's good Tsuna, if you keep aiming for the vitals then you'll be quite the sharpshooter." Rin encouraged her with a dose of praise as he moved over to retrieve the kunai from the dummy. Then, out of the blue, Tsuna popped the million ryo question.
"Why did you do it?" The girl inquired that made Rin silently question her intention. Tsuna fidgeted with her hands as she asked with clear nervousness.
"When you came to my village I mean, you were hired to look after me. But when those… those horrific people came… I thought they were going to take everything away from me again." Tsuna stammered over some of her words. Yet Rin listened all the same as the kunai slowly twirled around his fingers.
"There was a lot of them, and you had your chance to run… you could've taken the money and ran. Yet you stayed and fought. Why?" Rin didn't answer the girl's question right away as he sighed. He chose his words with care, as she was now old enough to understand the real weight behind Rin's actions.
"It was never about the money Tsuna… I stayed, because I wasn't just going to rescue one person and leave the rest to perish. I simply had the power to protect, and protect I have done." Rin stated in hopes that the answer was what she sought after. In truth it has been nearly two years since that incident. He doesn't know the really reason behind Tsuna's question, but something tells him that she's searching from within. Not too long ago, Rin had been on the road for self discovery.
"Yet at the end of it, you brought me with you despite the dangers you've faced. Even when I thought you were dead, you endured that pain alone never extending a hand for help. I don't know what you heroes have in your heads that you need to shoulder everything by yourself, but if you had reached out sooner then maybe not everyone would say nasty things about you." In truth Rin cannot argue with those statements. She had the right of it, but at the time Rin had to play it carefully to not let Menza catch wind of any betrayal. As they looked back at it, Rin probably could've gone after Akihiro or Kimiko for assistance. Yet he had the distinct feeling that should that happen, Menza probably would suspect betrayal and given that Rin had no idea of where Yui was. He had to go by with it.
"Well, I do make mistakes, and I'm no hero. I'm just a shinobi who was given a bad hand by fate." Rin admitted as he made a relation to a game of poker where the dealer of fate gave him cards with no matches. No pairs, straights, or flushes. Rin approached Tsuna before he hands her the kunai back.
"But make no mistake. Bringing you with me was not a mistake. I brought you with me because I wanted to give you a life that's not governed by fear of whether you live to see the next sunrise or not." Strangely, those words brought Tsuna's smile of pearly whites teeth. Almost like he answered just like she expected him to.
"Sounds like a hero to me just like from the stories. I wanna grow up and protect people like you do." The unfortunate part was that he hoped that Tsuna didn't have to protect people like he did. Granted the only person he's gotten killed was Satomi Uchiha, and although the intentions behind the assassination was unknown to this day and Rin had no direct hand in it. He was the assassin's way in. Some protector he was.
"Well you better keep practicing that throwing arm of yours." Rin gestured to her kunai and Tsuna got back to practicing her aim at the dummy. While she practiced the kunai throw, Rin took some steps back away to give them some space. Tsuna's expression shifted to being concerned once she noticed that he was stepping away, but Rin gestured for her to wait. In a blur of motions, Rin strung together handseals that ended with tiger. With a deep breath as the chakra kneaded in his body flowed up into his throat. Rin exhaled a jet of flames from his opened mouth that was directed away from anyone.
[Learning Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique - C rank]
The Society, while an instrument originally for destruction and hoarding any exclusive technique and artifacts they could find. Even to go as far as wiping out an entire village to do so. Some were seduced by the demonstration of power, while many turned their swords and bared their fangs at the General of the Society of Rebirth. Yet little did everyone knew at the time that several Kage had been aligned with said Society, and plenty more made deals of power with them. All of this chaos, all of the destruction that the Society wrecked both publicly and in the shadows did not come out of thin air as Rin deduced as such. The one time Rin stole a glance at Honiko told him what he needed to know in the future. That she served someone else. At first, Rin had thought it was by the name of C that was the culprit, but C was the boss Dragon of Watashi Wasteland. Which meant, as Rin had connected the dots in the past, that Honiko served someone who had remained hidden. Someone that Rin theorized he had met in person before in disguise.
Whoever the person was, Rin knew he'd need to gather his strength, and to win over Kyuubi's favor. However the bijuu detested such a route, Kurama couldn't deny that the end goal behind Rin's ultimatum was to put down whoever was behind these schemes. In the end, it would not only save thousands of lives, including his beloved family, but it would also break the chains that had been stringing Nozomi for so long. To break the puppet strings, so that she can be truly free. In order to achieve that, Rin knew he must be prepared to hit that target with everything he has.
"So do I hold it like this?" A child-like voice spoke that disturbed Rin's absent-minded and brought him back to reality. Together, Rin stood with Tsuna, a little girl with solid black scales and a pair of small horns dressed in a blue shirt and black pants. Her raven colored hair pulled into a ponytail with a blue ribbon. In her hand was a single kunai, but her tensed demeanor left little room for flexibility. They were located within the Grand Konoha Training Facility as they faced a lone training dummy. The Outcast only offered a smile before he placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"Take a deep breath and relax your shoulder Tsuna. When you hold a weapon of any caliber, you want to hold it with a balance of control and strength." Rin instructed her as they were going over the basics of how to use a kunai. As part of her studies of course as Rin wasn't going to drill advanced techniques on the spot. He understood that these things took time. Tsuna took a deep breath, but while her shoulders felt relaxed there was still tension in her. Rin could've gone through it again, but he figured they could smooth that out as they move along.
Tsuna does her best to heed his instructions whether it was to simply stab the dummy or to accurately throw the kunai at said dummy. For the first time in what felt like forever to her, Tsuna threw the kunai dead center into the dummy's heart. Relief had washed over her face, but she immediately tensed up from what Rin could figure out was fear.
"That's good Tsuna, if you keep aiming for the vitals then you'll be quite the sharpshooter." Rin encouraged her with a dose of praise as he moved over to retrieve the kunai from the dummy. Then, out of the blue, Tsuna popped the million ryo question.
"Why did you do it?" The girl inquired that made Rin silently question her intention. Tsuna fidgeted with her hands as she asked with clear nervousness.
"When you came to my village I mean, you were hired to look after me. But when those… those horrific people came… I thought they were going to take everything away from me again." Tsuna stammered over some of her words. Yet Rin listened all the same as the kunai slowly twirled around his fingers.
"There was a lot of them, and you had your chance to run… you could've taken the money and ran. Yet you stayed and fought. Why?" Rin didn't answer the girl's question right away as he sighed. He chose his words with care, as she was now old enough to understand the real weight behind Rin's actions.
"It was never about the money Tsuna… I stayed, because I wasn't just going to rescue one person and leave the rest to perish. I simply had the power to protect, and protect I have done." Rin stated in hopes that the answer was what she sought after. In truth it has been nearly two years since that incident. He doesn't know the really reason behind Tsuna's question, but something tells him that she's searching from within. Not too long ago, Rin had been on the road for self discovery.
"Yet at the end of it, you brought me with you despite the dangers you've faced. Even when I thought you were dead, you endured that pain alone never extending a hand for help. I don't know what you heroes have in your heads that you need to shoulder everything by yourself, but if you had reached out sooner then maybe not everyone would say nasty things about you." In truth Rin cannot argue with those statements. She had the right of it, but at the time Rin had to play it carefully to not let Menza catch wind of any betrayal. As they looked back at it, Rin probably could've gone after Akihiro or Kimiko for assistance. Yet he had the distinct feeling that should that happen, Menza probably would suspect betrayal and given that Rin had no idea of where Yui was. He had to go by with it.
"Well, I do make mistakes, and I'm no hero. I'm just a shinobi who was given a bad hand by fate." Rin admitted as he made a relation to a game of poker where the dealer of fate gave him cards with no matches. No pairs, straights, or flushes. Rin approached Tsuna before he hands her the kunai back.
"But make no mistake. Bringing you with me was not a mistake. I brought you with me because I wanted to give you a life that's not governed by fear of whether you live to see the next sunrise or not." Strangely, those words brought Tsuna's smile of pearly whites teeth. Almost like he answered just like she expected him to.
"Sounds like a hero to me just like from the stories. I wanna grow up and protect people like you do." The unfortunate part was that he hoped that Tsuna didn't have to protect people like he did. Granted the only person he's gotten killed was Satomi Uchiha, and although the intentions behind the assassination was unknown to this day and Rin had no direct hand in it. He was the assassin's way in. Some protector he was.
"Well you better keep practicing that throwing arm of yours." Rin gestured to her kunai and Tsuna got back to practicing her aim at the dummy. While she practiced the kunai throw, Rin took some steps back away to give them some space. Tsuna's expression shifted to being concerned once she noticed that he was stepping away, but Rin gestured for her to wait. In a blur of motions, Rin strung together handseals that ended with tiger. With a deep breath as the chakra kneaded in his body flowed up into his throat. Rin exhaled a jet of flames from his opened mouth that was directed away from anyone.
[Learning Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique - C rank]