"Do it."

Rin stared at Kakashi, his chidori chittering in the rain, arcing from raindrop to raindrop. This was it. This was how she was going to die. She had hoped desperately to die of old age one day. To at least live long enough to have a family would have been fantastic. But dying for the sake of her village. To prevent other Konoha ninja from dying.

That was a good death.

She could accept that.

"Rin," Kakashi muttered, his voice drowned out by the storm that fell around them. She chose to believe the drops falling from his face weren't rain. He leveled his arm towards her heart. "I'm so sorry"

"You have to," She smiled at him. She needed to be strong. She didn't want to die. "It's for the good of Konoha." Was she telling that to him or herself? Her heart was racing. And the chakra of that beast inside of her was running wild. It was going to break free soon, if Kakashi didn't kill her now then those other ninja would take her to Konoha.

Where she would die anyways: And so would hundreds of others. "It's for the good of Konoha Kakashi. Please before it's too late."

They had seconds, before those mist ninja finally found her and she was their bomb once again. It was a shame. She would have liked to become a great ninja. To see Konoha one more time. To watch the ninja that Kakashi would become. To fall in love. There was so much she wanted to see. He needed to kill her before she changed her mind.

Kakashi lunged forward, the rain parted for him, guiding him right towards her. For a brief second it looked like he was in two places at once. Several feet away from her, and with his hand inches away from her beating heart.

She didn't want to die.

Time froze. The rain hung in mid air like crystal tear drops. Kakashi's lightning was little more than a wild spider's web caught in flash freeze. The ninja in the background didn't move, suspended in mid air like actors in a play. The only thing that moved was that red eye that stared at her, slowly twisting and sucking her in.

It felt like her body was being sucked through a straw. At first there was resistance, a futile effort as she was too big, too solid. Then, something gave. And she began to slide, forwards, backwards, left, right, up, down, from every direction she was pushed, pulled, or dragged into that straw that was barely bigger than a pea. It hurt. It hurt a lot.

Was this what death felt like?

A thousand miles long, the width of a pinhead. It continued to stretch her drawing her ever thinner to point where she might break. She was still there in front of Kakashi. But she was somewhere else to.

Then came the snap, whatever had anchored her with Kakashi finally let go and she flew towards her destination like a rubber band stretched to the limit. In one moment Kakashi was there, then the next he was gone. The rain vanished, the forest around her changed, and the sun was shining.

"What?" She looked around, panic setting in. Where was she? What happened to Kakashi? Was she dead? No. That wasn't right. She could still feel that thing wiggling inside of her trying to break out. It was only a matter of time. The seal wasn't meant to last. The fuse was already lit and she was a bomb that was about to go off.

"I need to get away," She mumbled, taking a step forward. She needed to find the nearest people and get as far away from as possible. Nobody should have to die because of her. Bracing against the tree she felt how drained her body truly was. There was nothing left. And everything hurt.

If she stopped now the Three-Tails would be unleashed and who knows how many people would die. She needed to kill herself.

A cliff, a river, enemy ninja. Any of those would do.

XXXX

The seal was about to break. Any moment now the Three-Tails would be free, already she could feel its voice calling to her gnawing at the back of her every thought. It promised power, and safety, a quick death if she just stopped fighting it. "No way in hell you monster."

It growled in response, its voice like the roar of a waterfall.

With one more step Rin saw her final resting spot. She didn't know where she was, a cliff somewhere warm and sunny, far away from any real village. It overlooked a beautiful valley full of life and trees. A beautiful last sight. "Hopefully someone finds me and gives me a proper burial."

She took that last step and closed her eyes, letting everything go. There would be nothing left after this. For the first time in her life she could finally stop fighting. It felt good. Hopefully Kakashi was alive, and Konoha was fine. This was the right thing to do.

The wind pushing against her face as she fell to her death felt cool, clashing with the warm sunlight.

"Hey!" she heard a voice. And her eyes snapped opened. The ground was coming fast and fear clenched her heart.

Then someone caught her. He had blonde hair, and blue eyes. With a Konoha headband. "Don't worry! I got you!"

No, no, no, no, no nonononono. He was saving her. The seal was breaking, there was no way that she could kill herself in time. She thrashed trying to push away from the other ninja. "Let me go! I need to die!"

"What? Hey. Watch it!" the boy shouted even as her elbow slammed into cheek. They landed onto the ground in a jumbled heap, the momentum of her fall sending them tumbling into the nearest tree and bush. "What the hell! Is that any way to thank someone from saving you?"

The seal broke.

"Oh no," Rin held her stomach. Feeling dread as the first bit of the beasts chakra began to poor into her. She looked towards the orange clad ninja that had just saved her life, he looked to be her age. His selfless nature would be his own downfall. With the last bit of her free will she gave him a smile. "You need to run. Now."

Then she was lost to the beast, it was consuming her, eating her mind body and soul.

"Naruto-" another voice. This one sounded familiar. Like a distant memory. "What are you-" She looked and saw a familiar tall man come running. He had long white hair that was probably longer than she was tall. If she was in her right mind she felt like she might have remembered him. "What the Fuck."

Then everything went red.

XXXX

She was alive?

Or was she dead?

It was hard to tell.

Everything hurt, but that had been her normal state for weeks. And it wasn't even that bad, more the dull pain like a sprained pinky, just all over her body. Her chakra was still there, a wonderful reminder that she was very very very much alive.

But so to was the Sanbi. It was fainter than before, like it was locked up tight in some far away corner of her soul. So she was alive? When? Why? How?

Leaning up she saw her room was well lit and clean, the warm blanket fell off of her revealing the numerous bandages that covered her chest so that she looked like a mummy. That explained the hurt. Not so much how she was still alive.

"You shouldn't move so much." A small voice from beside her croaked.

She looked down to see a small toad that sat next to her the green light of medical ninjutsu poured from her hands.

"Oh," Rin lay back down, staring at the toad for a moment "Did Minato-sensei send you?"

"Nah, that Jiraiya-boy summed me, I think he's wanting to explain things to you." She lowered her hands and gave a low grumble. "I'm just her patch up his hasty seal on the Three-Tailed Beast."

Jiraiya: she knew that name. "Wait! Jiraiya, as in The Jiraiya one of the Sannin and Minato-sensei's sensei?"

"Hmph, don't tell him that or his head will get even fatter." That toad looked her in the eyes. "I'm Ma, by the way."

"It's nice to meet you Ma, I've only really met Gamabunta once before but he seemed like a nice enough boss." Aside from the fact that he reeked of alcohol. "Do you know what happened to me? Anything at all?"

Ma scooted closer to her, her hands moving down towards her stomach. "I know that you have the three tailed beast inside of you, and that Jiraiya and Naruto managed push the beast back long enough to place another sloppy seal on you then called me here to try and make something decent."

"Do you know how hard it is to work like this? It's one thing to make a working seal from scratch. It's another thing to try and salvage something from scraps!" Ma shouted, her right foot thumping on the ground.

"Umm, sorry?"

Ma sighed, "Its not your fault deary, that burden rests on who ever sealed the beast in you to begin with. But I'm just about finished with you, it's a good thing I read that Minato-boy's notes."

"So I'm safe?" Rin couldn't fight back the tears as fell from her eyes. She didn't have to die. She got to live to see Konoha again to see Kakashi and all of her friends and family.

"As safe as any ninja." Ma touched her stomach with both hands, eyes still locked onto her. "This seal is still a mess, but it's the best I can do. It draws its strength from you, the stronger your will is the strong the seal is. Remember that."

Ma vanished in a poof of smoke.

For the first time in what felt like ages Rin found herself smiling. Her happiness was dull like the pain, but it was still there constantly reminding her to smile. She felt where her seal was on her stomach, she was a jinchuriki now. But most importantly she was alive.

"I need to find Kakashi." Her stomach burned when she sat up, and her arms and legs felt like jello. "He's probably worried sick about me. He might even think I'm dead."

Minato and Miss Kushina too. They'd probably need her for another mission soon anyways. Kakashi was such a dork, he refused to let anybody but her treat his wounds. It was annoying, but kind of nice to.

Sliding open the thin wooden door Rin came face to face with a verdant green forest, the same forest that she had tried to kill herself in. It smelled like the a forest should, thick with sap, pollen, and green. But there was a hint of salt to everything. Were they near the ocean? Where on earth was she anyways?

And how did she get here?

"Dammit, brat, I told you to quit worrying about her," A gruff manly voice echoed from around the corner. "She'll be fine, just focus on your training."

That was Lord Jiraiya! Or at least she thought it was. She'd only briefly met the man once when he interrupted their training to grumble at Minato. That was a week after Obito died. Still the man was as famous as Lady Tsunade and Lord Orochimaru!

She turned around the corner and was blinded by the setting sun for a moment. Was it that late? Or was it early? Her sense of time was all messed up. Standing in a wide open field was Jiraiya, looming over the blond boy that had saved her. Naruto if she heard right.

"Lord Jiraiya?" She coughed, bracing her hand against one of the support beams of the patio.

The two looked at her.

"Hey! You're awake!" Naruto shouted. He tried to move forward but Jiraiya blocked him.

"I told you she was fine, now get back to training, I'll talk to her." Jiraiya pushed Naruto back a step, pointing towards a makeshift training dummy. Naruto pouted and Jiraiya sighed. "You can talk to her later okay. But right now give me a bit."

That didn't sound good.

Jiraiya walked up to her, even as he stood on the ground and her on the patio he towered over her, making her feel like even more of a child. His smile wasn't a happy one and he scratched the back of his head nervously. "Let's talk inside for a bit. You feeling okay?"

"A little tired," she admitted placing a hand on her stomach. It felt like she hadn't eaten for days. "But a lot more hungry."

Jiraiya nodded, stepping past her, opening the door for her and gesturing inside with his hand. "We'll eat in a bit, but for now I think we need to have a little chat."

The inside of the house was just as clean and spotless as the room she had been in before, only there was a pile of bags sitting in the corner and several empty ramen cups on the countertop. They made her stomach growl twisting in pain.

"Right then, so before we get started can I get your name?" Jiraiya laughed, plopping down onto the couch. It was a nervous laugh. "I think I might know who you are, but I want to be certain."

Rin sat down on a chair sinking into its comfort. She gave him a small bow, which only made her stomach flair in pain. "I'm Rin Nohara sir, you taught my sensei Minato."

"Damn," Jiraiya tightened his grip on the couch before he let out a long breath of air relaxing his body. "I was really hoping you were going to say something else. Well, do you want the good news or bad news first?"

Her heart felt like it was sinking, did Kakashi die? What happened? Why was she still alive? Was she still going to die? "Uhh the good news?"

Please actually be something good.

"Well, the good news is that the Third Shinobi war is over."

"Oh that's excellent!" Rin found herself clapping, the sense of dread that had washed over her finally vanished. If the war was over, then she could have a normal life, one where she didn't have to watch her friends die everyday.

"It ended ten years ago."

"What?" She must not have heard him right. She could believe ten days, she'd seen others survive coma's that long. There was no way she could have missed ten years like that. She was still short and somewhere between child and adult. "I'm sorry I thought you said the war ended ten year ago."

"I did," Jiraiya groaned. "Listen Rin, I don't know how to tell you this. But I think you've traveled forward in the future about thirteen years."

"No!" She stood to fast, her head spinning with vertigo, sending her back down to the chair clutching her head. "That's impossible you're lying."

"Kakashi is twenty seven years old." Jiraiya said firmly standing up and walking over to the bags. He pulled out a photo. "Here, take a look."

She didn't want to. This was just some elaborate prank. A fever dream. A genjutsu! Anything. Anything but real. The photo slide into her hands. Naruto was in it, looking displeased about something, as was the other boy equally displeased, the girl between them looked rather happy. And the man behind them - their sensei - he was tall, grey haired, with one eye covered by an a konoha headband and was wearing a mask.

Kakashi. There was no other person it could be. Kakashi didn't have an older brother, and his father was gone. At least he looked happy.

There was only one question she could ask. "How?"

"I was hoping you could tell me that," Jiraiya kneeled down in front of her. "All I know is that Kakashi reported that you had disappeared, and there were searches for you. But you were reported dead when the Mizukage claimed to have the Sanbi sealed within him."

Rin bit her lip and tried to think. That night was a blur, Kakashi was there, it was raining. And she was going to die. Wait, that was it. "There was a red eye. I remember a red eye and feeling like I was being pulled away. Then I was here."

"So nothing to go on." Jiraiya sat back down onto the couch and rubbed his eyes. "Right then, now for the rest of the bad news."

"There's more?" She was not ready for this. Her heart was racing, what else could go wrong?

"A lot."

XXXX

Minato-sensei was dead. So was his wife Kushina, the Third as well, Orochimaru was a traitor to the village and Tsunade was now the Hokage. Now because she was a jinchuriki a group of super powerful ninja called the Akatsuki were going to be coming after her.

Rin stirred her ramen cup, her medical training and body told her that she should eat. But her appetite was completely destroyed. It felt like she was all alone, drifting along in the world with no one to cling onto.

Now she couldn't even practice medical ninjutsu because of the Sanbi. Her chakra control was all over the place, and it was likely to only get worse as time went on as her seal began to fade.

"Hi!" The blond boy, Naruto, almost shouted as he came bounding up to her like a puppy. "I'm Naruto, I'm the one that saved you earlier."

"Yea, I know," Rin offered him what little smile she could. "I'm Rin, and thank you."

"No problem." He sat down next to her, slurping from his ramen as happy as can be. "I would have done it for anybody, but I'm kind of happy it was you."

"Why's that?" Did he know who she was? What she was now?

"Well we're the same!"

"Huh?"

"Yea!" He pointed towards his own stomach, "I have the Kyuubi sealed inside of me, has been there since I was born. And you have the Sanbi in you right? So we're kind of the same like that. Plus we're both Konoha ninja!"

Rin let out a laugh, feeling her whole body shaking with each breath. It hurt but it felt good to. "Well I guess we are the same Naruto, thank you for that."

"And don't worry, It sucks being alone, I know what that's like, so I won't let you be alone!" He had such a large kind smile, it reminded her a lot of Kushina, and a bit of Minato with that hair. "You have my word, and I never go back on my word, that's my ninja way, believe it!"

Rin stared at her cup of ramen, there was always somebody that wanted to protect her. "Thank you Naruto, I'll be sure to hold you to that."

Her ramen was cold.

AN: Beta'd by xxTerror33xx. Hey look another Time Travel fic! this one has a character going forward instead of back! Yay! Anyways here's a Naruto x Rin story. A couple people suggested it that I send Naruto back in time to get with Rin (and make him super powerful) But I think this is a more interesting take on the couple. I'm going to try and make sure that the chapters for this fic are between 3k-4k

As always I hope you all enjoy. Goodnight and be sure to leave a review if you like :D