Third Training Ground
After finishing lunch, Obito rested for a bit before resuming his practice.
"Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique!"
Obito's movements were stiff, as if every hand seal brought a twinge of pain.
A faint flicker of flame sputtered from his mouth.
"Cough, cough..."
A scorching pain surged from his chest to his throat, and Obito hurriedly gulped down some water to soothe the burn.
The Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique required guiding chakra through the body's meridians according to specific hand seals, gathering it in the throat, and then expelling it outward.
It was a jutsu he'd mastered long ago, but now it felt utterly foreign to him.
His hands, once nimble with seals, had grown sluggish. Every time chakra coursed through his system, something went awry.
"Here, Kakashi."
Obito handed Kakashi one of the popsicles he'd bought.
"You're done practicing already?"
Kakashi took the popsicle. Obito had only practiced two or three times.
"The popsicle, man, it's melting!"
Obito grinned smugly at Kakashi, as if to say Kakashi lacked basic common sense. You had to eat a popsicle right away—Obito was just warming up earlier, that's all.
But deep down, he harbored a little scheme: he wanted to catch a glimpse of what Kakashi looked like under that mask.
Kakashi said nothing. His lips twitched slightly, but he held his tongue. He reached to lift his mask and eat the popsicle. Obito's eyes widened, ready to take in every detail.
Yet, in a flash—two or three seconds at most—Kakashi had pulled the mask down and back up. It was over before Obito could register anything.
Obito smacked his lips, inwardly grumbling that Kakashi was too guarded.
He finished his popsicle in a few quick bites, then shouted, "I've got energy now!" and resumed practicing his Fire Release.
While the two chatted, someone stood silently behind them.
Nohara Rin, dressed in pristine new clothes, not a speck of dust or a single wrinkle to be seen, watched Kakashi and Obito quietly from her hiding spot.
"Huh, isn't that Nohara Rin?"
Uchiha Tekka, passing by, wondered who this striking girl was. Then he noticed the familiar purple markings on her face. There was only one answer—Nohara Rin.
Only Rin would paint those odd patterns, similar to the Inuzuka clan's markings, though hers were purple while theirs were red, making them easy to tell apart.
"Nohara Rin?"
Uchiha Tekka, was leading a four- or five-year-old child by the hand. He let out a puzzled sound.
"That's your brother Shimizu's friend. It's normal you don't know her," Tekka,said matter-of-factly.
He tugged at Uchiha Shisui's hand, intending to move along. He still had to take Shisui to collect the clan's stipend.
It wasn't much, but it could at least ease the burden on Shisui's struggling family.
Shisui's father, Uchiha Teru, had lost a leg in the war. The injury left him bedridden, still unable to get up even now.
Their household consisted only of Shisui, his mother, and his father, surviving on his mother's meager income.
Shisui nodded, absently touching his prominent nose.
What were these people… doing?
He could sense a faint sadness in the older girl standing before him.
It was the same expression his mother often wore unconsciously—full of helplessness and uncertainty.
Shisui didn't fully grasp what these emotions were. He followed Brother Tekka, onward.
As they walked away, he glanced back.
He caught the older girl turning to leave, heading toward what seemed like the Uchiha compound.
Was she, too, saddened by the war's aftermath?
Shisui pondered this innocently as he left the vicinity of the Third Training Ground.
"Huh? Who was that?"
Obito scratched his head.
Glancing back by chance, he spotted a graceful figure in the distance—something about her felt vaguely familiar.
Even just her silhouette radiated innocence and kindness.
Obito wasn't sure how he sensed it, but his gut told him so.
His first thought was Nohara Rin.
But in the next instant, he dismissed it.
Rin wasn't the type to fuss over her appearance. How could it be her?
He turned back and continued practicing his ninjutsu.
"Rin's probably still resting at home right now," he muttered, as if reassuring himself.
Because that girl had been heading toward the Uchiha compound.
"Ha!"
Shimizu slammed his palm into a boulder a meter tall and wide, leaving a deep imprint.
"With this heat alone, it'd be enough to scald an ordinary person's insides raw."
Looking at the small blackened spot gradually forming, Shimizu made his judgment.
That single strike had hollowed out a pit inside the rock. If you sliced it open, you'd see the interior glowing red-hot.
"Come in."
Shimizu glanced at the half-open door. It shifted slightly, but even that subtle movement didn't escape the corner of his eye. At his words, Nohara Rin pushed the door open.
She stepped inside, head lowered.
"So, this is your choice?"
Shimizu's voice dripped with amusement, almost mocking her.
Rin's hands clutched the hem of her clothes tightly, her knuckles whitening from the strain.
"You promised me you'd heal Obito."
"Of course."
Shimizu nodded.
Even if he deceived Rin, she'd have no way to fight back.
But there was no need for that. This kind of thing required a slow, steady approach.
He wanted Rin to feel her sacrifice had meaning, to let her moved herself to tears in solitude.
Only when she looked back in shock would she realize she'd fallen into an abyss, her path diverging from the light.
That version of Rin would thrill Shimizu.
Only then could he sever her ties to the world completely, turning her into a shadow in the darkness.
What brilliance would a Nohara Rin, wholly devoted to researching medical ninjutsu, display? Shimizu couldn't wait to find out.
He stepped into the house and ascended to the second floor.
Rin lifted her gaze, watching Shimizu climb the stairs until he disappeared from sight.
She let out a soft sigh.
Things had come this far—there was no turning back now.
She followed him up the stairs, her steps slow, as if trying to stretch out time.
Each footfall let her feel the weight of her body distinctly—her own burden.
With every step, that weight shifted from one foot to the other, an endless cycle.
"At least what I'm doing can ease the heavy burden on Obito, letting him become a ninja again and pursue his dream of being Hokage."
That reasoning gave Rin a slight reprieve, a breath amid the suffocating pressure.
Creak…
Rin pushed open the door.
What met her eyes was Shimizu's bedroom.
It was her first time here.
The decor was simple, devoid of any excess ornamentation.
Beyond the pristine white walls and a square window, there was only a large bed in the center.
The bed sat close to the window, which Shimizu had just closed.
"How's the window?"
Shimizu asked.
"Uh… expensive, I guess?"
Rin wasn't sure why he'd asked, but she answered honestly nonetheless.
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