Archive of Our Own ^beta

Despite Obito and his kids’ efforts, the plan succeeds. Rin succeeds.

The blond one- Minato’s kid- is yelling something at her as the ground shakes. She can’t hear a thing over the sound of blood pounding in her ears. She’s just- she’s worked for this for so long-

The moon is red, and Rin raises her hands to cradle it gently in her palms. No illusion embraces her- it must be Obito’s sharingan. She’ll have to claw it out, once it won’t be of use to her anymore, once she’s sure that everything will stay like this. She can’t do it yet, because they aren’t asleep- she has one last fight to win, and then she’ll rid herself of the troublesome eye, and sleep forever. Rin takes a breath and tears her gaze away from the stars. She’s waited for this for her entire life- she can wait a little bit longer. 

“Rin!” Obito shouts, hands clenched by his side as he steps protectively in front of his kids. “You can’t- this isn’t what you think it is!”

“Isn’t it?” Rin asks airily, twisting the fabric of her robe around her fingers as she turns to face him. “I’m not going to justify myself to you, not when you’re so stubbornly opposed. You won’t hear a word I say.”

“No, you have to listen to me! ” Obito cries out desperately. “Rin, regardless of your dreams- of the world we want to create, of how to do that- this genjutsu won’t do that!”

“I’ve heard this before,” Rin raises an eyebrow and shakes her head. “You’re not saying anything new.” 

“No- Rin, your little ‘friend’ told us-” Obito yells. “He- Zestu said that this is all his plan! Don’t you see-? The purpose of this- it’s just meant to drain our energy for a greater purpose. This isn’t what you want! You’re being manipulated!”

“Oh no,” Rin says dryly. “Our interests happen to align in such a way that makes us both happy with this turn of events. How tragic.”

“No, that’s not it!” Obito begs, his eyes blown wide. “Rin-”

And then the moon, beautiful and red, peels open like an egg. Rin’s eyes widen, and she takes a step back, and a woman steps down from the sky. She glows with all the light and power of a celestial body, and her long, flowing hair curls around her ankles. 

“He was trying to free her!” Obito hisses, gesturing at the moon-lady. “She’s- there was a reason she was sealed away, and all this- all the lies that he’s fed you- She’s going to destroy the world, Rin!”

Rin stares at the moon-lady, and falls to her knees. 

“All this time,” she croaks. “I’ve been chasing a lamp. A pale imitation, because I believed that I could never come close to touching the real thing.”

The world waits, breathless, for the moon-lady’s next steps. She comes forward, eyes hard and red, and Rin does her best to drink it all in.

“Never did I think,” Rin whispers. “That my efforts would bring me the moon. The actual moon.”

“Rin,” Obito says, face pinched and worried. “I- I know you were trying to help, and that you miss- you miss the way things used to be, but… we can make a better world, now. We can start now. We’ll fight Kaguya together, and once the world is safe, we can- we can- things will be better. You don’t need Kakashi to-”

Rin laughs, sharp with disbelief. “You really haven’t been paying any attention at all, huh? Haven’t I made it clear? I don’t care about you. I don’t care. The thing I’m chasing- the thing I’ve always been chasing- my dream, for so long…”

Her gaze drifts back to Kaguya, in all her pearlescent glory. “You don’t love me, Obito. You love the picture of me you made up in your head. That’s all you’ve ever loved. Don’t talk to me about what I want- don’t treat me like I don’t know what I’m doing. I want this. I- the only reason I give you the time of the day is because I despise what you remember me for. I’d kill you, but that’s too kind an ending.”

“Rin-!” Obito says, frustrated. “You can’t just- you don’t really believe that.”

“Tell yourself what you need to,” Rin scoffs. Maybe she’ll keep the eye after all- once Obito’s rotting away, he’ll be forced to keep seeing the world through her. He certainly deserves it.

Gingerly, she picks herself back up off the ground, brushing ash off of her knees. Obito makes an aborted motion to offer her a hand. His kids watch her with confusion and fear. Kaguya tilts her head carefully, curiously, her rabbit ears twitching.

“Well,” says Kaguya. “I thought all the humans would be asleep, when I came back.”

“But how glad I am not,” Rin murmurs to herself. “To see her… even if I were to be struck down this next second, it would have made my entire life worth living.”

Obito’s words catch in his throat, and the only sound he makes is a sort of strangled gasp. 

Minato’s son steps forward, face finally fixed with determination, his chakra boiling. “We won’t let you do anything! This world- the people on it-!”

“Shut up,” Rin says, sending the mokuton at him, anger at the interruption surging through her bones. He yelps as the wood encases him. “You shouldn’t promise to do things that you are incapable of. Obito, I thought you would have taught him better.”

“I-” Obito struggles to respond, settling for glaring a hole through Rin’s head. She ignores him, even though something warm is sparking in her gut as he drops his silly savior facade.

“You let him go!” the broody kid snarls, eyes swirling into sharingan. “You- you-”

“ You will not ruin this for me,” Rin corrects him, voice deceivingly light. 

“Let him go,” Obito says, voice low. He fingers his tanto. 

Rin shrugs, a loose, rolling motion, and the wood recedes, dropping Naruto onto the ground. Obito is a force to be reckoned with, when he gets serious, and even though Rin has never been afraid of death, Kaguya is watching, and-

It would be embarrassing, to die before they had a proper conversation. It would be a shame, to stop watching the goddess now, when she’s had so little time with her, if it could be prevented. 

“The moth is right,” Kaguya says, voice melodious and even. “You cannot stop me. Struggle is futile. 

“We have to try!” Minato’s brat shouts, defiant as ever. 

The ghost of a smile flits across Kaguya’s face- her eyes narrow, and her lips twitch, and the world waits in anticipation for her next move. The ocean leans in closer, and Rin feels a blush creep across her face, and the planet spins, and spins, and spins-

“You do not submit to me because you are afraid,” Kaguya observes, staring directly at Rin. “You love me. You are not afraid at all.”

“How could I be?” Rin greedily drinks in every piece of Kaguya’s face that she can see. “When it’s so- it’s so good, when this is what I’ve been waiting for- you’re perfect. You’re everything I’ve dreamed of and more.”

Kaguya chuckles lightly, and moves forward towards Rin. She lifts her arms towards Rin’s face and slender, pale hands emerge from the massive folds of fabric that make up her sleeves. Rin leans forward into the touch, and Kaguya cradles Rin’s face like Rin cradled the moon. 

Obito watches with horror and envy; slowly, Rin and Kaguya lean forward until their foreheads are touching. Then, slowly, like a rabbit sliding off of the moon, they change the angle at which their faces meet until they are kissing. 

It’s tender, and slow, and not especially passionate, but to Rin, it is everything she has ever dreamed of. Distantly, she entertains the notion that this is the infinite tsukuyomi. It almost seems too perfect to be real. 

They come apart as slowly as they came together, Kaguya’s hands sliding back into her voluminous sleeves and Rin bringing her hand to her cheek. The moon is red, and Kaguya is silver, and the stars shine like waypoints. Kaguya draws back, her three eyes soft and fond, and Rin can barely breath.

“My moth,” Kaguya croons. “My loyal moth- how could you be anything but loyal, when I am everything you’ve ever wanted?”

“Everything and more,” Rin repeats reverently. “I never thought- I have been chasing lamps.”

“So you have,” Kaguya murmurs. “You will stay by my side, as I take my rightful place as ruler of this world, and you will help me conquer it.”

“Of course,” Rin agrees without hesitation. “I couldn’t dream of any other ending.”

“No,” Obito croaks, haunted. “No, you can’t- you’re not like this- you’re better than this-”

“I’m me,” Rin says, not bothering to look at him. “I’m perfectly human. I’ve always been like this.”

“We’ll stop you,” Minato’s brat repeats. He’s shaken, unsure. 

“I am the moon,” says Kaguya, and that is all that she has ever been, and Rin loves her for it. She has loved her since the moment she drew her first breath, and she will love her until she draws her last. 

The moon above them is red, and the ground shakes. The world is dreaming, and it will stay that way until every dreaming person is dead. 

“You cannot stop me,” Kaguya says, her voice like the night sky. Rin smiles, and prepares her chakra for a fight.