Fire in Stone

Once upon a time, there was a girl who turned to stone.

She didn't know it was happening and by the time it reached her heart, it was far too late to stop it.

But the girl didn't mind all that much, because when you're a stone, you don't have to worry about petty things, like thoughts or opinions of your own.

You have one purpose in life and being the best stone, you can be, you'll achieve it.

At least, that's what Rin felt, as the words on the scroll played out before her.

No matter how far she came, what lives she touched, the relationships she'd made, at the end of the day, she had a purpose in life and it was to serve that man.

His cold, lifeless hands, as they trailed up and down her skin, the memory of his raspy voice in her ear, all of it played in her mind like some horrid cinema and she had a front row seat.

"You've been summoned to go to the Village Hidden in the Sand. There is a high-profile client who needs your assistance."

"Who's the client?"

He smiled, the lips reaching a fraction too far up. "Why, none other than the Kazekage himself."

Rin's heart sped up at the thought of standing toe-to-toe with the monster she'd heard of.

He may have seemed normal at the rally, but she'd read the reports about him and heard the rumors. Who was he really? What kind of beast was she taking on?

"I'm not sure I'm the best person for this mission."

"Nonsense, out of all my creations, you're the very best at making a man feel something."

His hands took her shoulders, their frozen wake chilling her skin, as he brought his lips to her ear. "Just do for him, what you've always done for me."

"Sir?"

He sniffed her hair, the chuckling, that haunted her dreams, fluttering against the skin of her neck, when he smiled. "Treat him like a man and he will be clay in your hands. This is important for the Sound. Relations with the Sand have been... strained. I'm counting on you to resolve this matter. By any means necessary. Do not fail me."

"Yes, Lord Orochimaru."

~~~

Rin felt the memory as if it were before her very eyes. The words "use" and "creation" stuck to her like mud, so much, that she didn't even hear Gaara's voice. "Rin? Rin!"

"Hm?"

He reached out to take her in his arms. "You don't have to do this. I won't ask you to do something you don't agree to."

She stepped out of his grasp and walked past him. "It's fine. I'm fine."

Gaara watched her pass, confused by the sudden transformation. There was something otherworldly about her calm, an almost haunting aura about her, that made him feel cold.

Rin never made him feel cold.

He tried once more to catch her arm. "Rin, please."

She turned, her eyes seizing him in their intensity. "Let's just get this over with."

His hand instantly released her and stayed in the air, grasping nothing, as she walked away with the two waiting guards.

This wasn't right. Nothing about this felt right, at all.

Rin didn't wait for Gaara, if he were going to watch her betray her values, she'd prefer him not to have a good view.

She looked to the taller of the two guards. "Take me to the prisoner."

"Yes."

"Yes, what?"

The guard stammered. "Um... yes, ma'am."

"That's more like it."

She suddenly understood how Temari felt. Why bother with kindness when you could have respect? This must be what it's like to be a creator verses a creation. No one speaks down to the creator.

She may have felt like a stone, but she was going to be an unmovable one and heaven help anyone who tried.

"Ms. Ito, I've been looking for you."

Speak of the devil.

The captain stood before her, the same regality that Rin was trying to emulate, but didn't come nearly as natural.

She regarded the woman with a dead stare. "What?"

Temari was clearly taken back by her tone, but dismissed it. "By the look on your face, I take it, the Kazekage discussed our request?"

"More or less."

"And you agree?"

Rin looked down at her hands, which felt numb. "More or less."

Gaara brought up the rear and caught his sister's attention. "Temari, what are you doing here? We weren't supposed to be disturbed for the rest of the evening."

She bowed her head. "Unfortunately, that's not a luxury we can afford tonight. The council has come to the conclusion we thought they would, regarding Ms. Ito. They want to speak with her before she... addresses the prisoner."

Gaara's brow drew together. "That's hardly their place to summon her on their whims. I may be at their mercy, but that doesn't mean she is."

"It's fine, Gaara."

He looked to Rin, who seemed a fraction of her former self. "But..."

"It's fine. Point me in their direction. I'll jump through their hoops. I just want to be done with all of this."

Temari's eyebrows rose at her tone. This wasn't the fiery girl she'd seen before; she wasn't even a shadow of her. The captain would have taken the disorganized, haggard display over this walking shell.

She extended an arm, gesturing for Rin to move to the council room. Before they entered, she leaned over to whisper to her brother. "What did you say to break her like this?"

He looked as if she'd slapped him. "I did no such thing. It was this."

The scroll was shoved into her grasp and Gaara pushed past the guards, so he was walking beside Rin.

Temari skimmed the message and closed her eyes at the mention of the Sound's leader. She remembered the man, if he could be called that, and he made her skin crawl. How someone like that, could lay claim to someone like Rin, was a sick mystery.

Gaara walked ahead of Rin and addressed the council with his best leadership voice. "Council members, this meeting is untoward. Our guest is not to be held to the same standards as a villager living in the Sand. You can't enforce her presence."

"We hear your protest, Lord Fifth, but there are pressing matters at hand." Kaba said from her perch.

Her beady eyes took in the girl, who stood behind Gaara like a detached shadow. "Young lady, step forward, please."

She did.

The council appraised her. "Well, I see your attitude has calmed since your stay in our village. What an interesting change. Maybe all you needed was some discipline from the Sand? Who knows what standards the Sound has taught you."

Rin's hand curled into a fist, but she stayed silent.

The old council woman continued. "I'm sure you've been made aware of our situation, Ms. Ito?"

"I have."

"And your cooperation in this matter, would be most helpful."

"I'm sure."

The members looked at each other, their sidelong glances speaking volumes.

One of the younger men, Yashida, cleared his throat. "Ms. Ito. Is something wrong? You don't seem too keen on our request."

At this, her eyes finally rose from the floor and assessed the council. "You're asking me to use my prized jutsu, the same one that's touched the lives of the people around me, as a weapon of interrogation. Forgive me, if I'm not jumping for joy as I adhere to your torture."

There was a light murmuring. "Of course, we can't force you. If you wish to decline your help, we will see you on your way, back to the Sound."

Rin sighed. "That won't do me any good."

Without bothering with formality, she snatched the scroll from Temari and tossed it on the table for them to inspect. "As you can see, the leader of my village, is in complete agreement with your needs. I'll start immediately."

The council regarded the message and nodded approvingly. "Well, that's set then. Guards, please escort Ms. Ito to..."

"Enough!"

All eyes turned to the Kazekage, who stood in front of Rin, like a brick wall.

"Lord Gaara?"

"I've heard enough of this. All of it, is ridiculous. Rin isn't your dog and you won't order to do anything, not while I'm here."

"But, Lord Orochimaru..."

"Is a sick and crazed individual. You were so concerned with his image when Rin first arrived and now you are apt to follow his lead, simply because it's beneficial to your desires. This isn't what the council is founded on. You don't give the orders around here."

Kaba bristled. "Lord Gaara, our role in these seats..."

"Is to advise me. That's it. Advise. I am the one who decides whether or not to take that advice and I'm refusing it now. No one will force Rin to do something she doesn't agree with. Not you, not the leader of the Sound."

He turned and met her eyes, his voice softening. "And certainly not me."

The shocked silence filled the room like a heavy cloud. All of the council members twitched in their seats, none certain of how to counteract what he said.

As always, it was Kaba who found her voice first. "Captain Temari! As head of security, surely you don't agree with this?"

The cold woman leaned back against the wall, crossing her arms. "I believe the Kazekage has spoken."

"But, he..."

Her eyes held the council. "He, what?"

Kaba fell silent under her gaze and Gaara nodded his thanks to her.

He turned his body so he was blocking Rin from the prying eyes of the council. "Rin, please, listen to me."

She looked away and his hand found her chin, gently tilting it. "I don't know why what Orochimaru said upset you so. If it's about you being his creation, or whatnot, so, what?"

Rin stared at him. "So what? Did you honestly just say, 'so, what,' to that?"

There it was. The spark inside her. It was small, but it was enough and Gaara pressed on. "Yes. So, what? What's the big deal?"

Rin scoffed. "I'm not a person to him. I'm a thing. I'm one of his creations and I have a job to do. Don't you understand? I wasn't placed on this earth for anything other than what he intended. I'm not even really human."

Gaara's hands came to hers. "Neither am I."

Her eyes shot up to his face, searching it. Gaara's thumb traced her right knuckle. "Remember what you told me, the last time you went into my mind? It didn't matter if I held onto my past or if I still felt darkness or shame from it. It made me human. Why can't that be the same for you?"

Her own words thrown against her. Rin looked down, processing what he said. "But, there's still a danger to your village."

"Potentially and if you want to help me fight it, I'll welcome your support. But no one is going to make you do anything against your will. Honestly, I'm surprised you'd even allow it to go this far."

That small spark started to fan into a flame. "What do you mean?"

Gaara smirked. "My Rin, wouldn't stand for a bunch of old people telling her what to do. What do you say? Are you still my girl?"

Raging inferno.

Rin felt her color return to her cheeks, the sharpness to her tongue and she took a step around Gaara. "Ladies and gentlemen of the council. I've heard your request and the permission of my village head. For you to ask me to betray everything I am and invade another's mind, is out of the question and I won't stand for it."

Kaba sputtered. "But... but you..."

Rin bowed in a mock display of grace. "Thank you, councilwoman, for your cooperation."