Of Turtles and Transformations (A Naruto Fanfiction)

Chapter 3: Ghosts

The gentle slopes and grassy fields of Uzushio extended far past the ruins of the village, and Rin quickly came to the realisation that the cliff she had cleared was an anomaly. Most of the building remains were next to a river that wove it's way down to the sea, and the hills (not truly hills, she thought cynically) extended far across the island.

The rubble of Uzushio told tales of a civilization far more sophisticated than that of any village. Pillars and bricks and the remains of what seemed to be a multi-story building larger than the Hokage's tower were common.

While not the norm in Konoha, she assumed that the limited space of the island had forced the Uzushio shinobi to build upwards instead of outwards. Even so, the structures she could see seemed far too large for any sort of safety, too likely to collapse in case an attack.

When she saw the first carving, she realised how they had existed despite the opposition.

Although void of chakra now, the markings were obviously seals, and despite being far out of her understanding, she could recognise structures meant for stability and endurance. With material like that, structures from her wildest imagination could be possible.

Uzushio hadn't fallen during her time, but it had during Kushina's, and she could remember the longing and nostalgia, undercut with true misery that would appear in Kushina's eyes whenever-

No.

Rin shook her head. Tried to shake the memories away, because when she thought of Kushina she thought of Minato, and when she thought of Minato (dead, dead, he's dead) she thought of Team 7, of black and silver, of explosions and rocks collapsing, of a jutsu that sung like a thousand birds, of a pain that consumed her entire being, of-

STOP.

She couldn't do this to herself. She had to move on.

She gritted her teeth and stood tall, forced her feet to move underneath and at the same time pushed her memories behind her, in a small box that she locked up and let sink into the depths of her mind.

Her pace quickened. She began to run, and she was out of the ruins. The grass came up to her knee, and a harsh wind blew through, whipping her hair against her face and neck.

She didn't slow, only increasing her pace, and before long she could feel a burn in her legs, not from chakra but from the muscles themselves.

Rin could feel herself reach her own limit, and with a growl she channelled chakra into her body. Her own, and while she had nowhere near the same sort of control she had had, if she was able to run over waves, even for less than five minutes, she could pump it through herself. Faster and faster and faster. Still not fast enough.

Not her own this time, but the wild green-blue chakra that originated from her stomach, from her seal.

The wind whipped like wires against her, painful and harsh, and her vision began to blur. Faster and faster Rin ran, until the horizon began to grow closer, the green rushing towards her, and she dug her feet into the ground.

Long furrows behind her, she stood motionless by the edge of the water, toes curled over a little ledge, and eyes gazing far off into the distance.

Her breathing was harsh, and now she could see rocks, massive rugged boulders that stuck out of the water like bone shards, like something broken, little more than a hundred meters away.

In the water beneath them, whirlpools churned, powerful swirls that would suck people down to the very bottom of the ocean if given a chance.

Paying attention now, the line of destruction likely curved all around the coast, perhaps leaving some space near the old village.