Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Crossing Rubicon's	By : Saphri Category: Naruto > Het - Male/Female Views: 1427 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of the characters portrayed in this story. I make no money from writing this fanfiction. I write purely for my own amusement and the amusement of fellow fans.

Chapter List
- 10
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- 12
Rewind, Play, Repeat

Rin had purposely taken her time getting ready for her latest mission. If the Hokage thought it so important to not allow her the proper time to prepare then he could bloody well wait. She hadn't had the time to sort through her laundry and get it cleaned which was one of her most major problems. She had planned to go to the laundrette in the morning, fat chance of that now. The first thing that would greet her when she got back would be a pile of smelly clothes... gross.
She had only a few pairs of underwear at her disposal and she felt an embarrassing heat come to her face at the thought that she would have to stop part way to her destination to buy more. All because the Hokage wanted them to leave straight away. Selfish prick, she thought viciously.
She was in the right mind to tell Naruto to stick his mission right up his tight little sphincter. Hell, she felt she could cram the mission scroll up there herself given her current state of mind. Rin knew she would never do something like that in a million years, but the imagery of the fantasised torture session drove her on steam powered legs be that with a clenched jaw and a roaring fire in her chest.
She was so angry.
She prayed for his sake this mission was important and not some stupid little errand that most shinobi were being piled off to these days. God help him if was the latter.
She was still annoyed from before, annoyed at being sent away again so soon, annoyed that she felt she was abandoning her duties at the hospital, annoyed that her and her wannabe lover were interrupted... again.
Despite the fact she was certain this mission would be spent mostly with Kakashi, she knew it just wouldn't be the same. They had to maintain a professional relationship to focus solely on the mission at hand. To lose focus, no matter how trivial the task, could have dire consequences. Rin knew that more than most, heaven knew she had learned from her past failures.
She groaned dismally through gritted teeth as she stalked through the village and hutching the large brown pack on her shoulder. She was tired and appropriately grumpy; anyone that got in her way was going to feel pain and lots of it.
A group of young boys donning hitai-ate's on their glossy brows dominated the street as she stomped through them. Didn't kids have curfews to abide by these days? It was well gone ten o' clock in the evening. Her parents would have ripped her a new breathing hole if she poled home after eight thirty when she was their age.
"Hey! Watch you're going, lady!" one of them hollered after a precise shunt of her elbow cracked him square in the chest.
"Fuck you," she grumbled mainly to herself briskly traversing through the rabble and crushing the strap of her pack in a relentless scrunch of her fist. Stupid kids don't know they're born.
She eventually reached Hokage tower and stopped at the foot of the entrance. She gazed up at the tall building wondering why she was even here. Her brow pinched together in annoyance before she huffed a distasteful sigh and trudged through the threshold.
Making her way to towards Naruto's office she was suddenly struck with a strange sense of nostalgia. This had been the first building she had entered on her return from Lightening. She found herself gazing around the walls in that same whimsical awe she had felt back then. Her anger dissolved and was replaced by that warm welcoming feeling she had experienced the first time she stepped on Konoha soil only a few weeks ago.
She didn't realise she had stopped in her tracks until a familiar body all but fell over her. He slammed a hand on her shoulder and she heard him grunt in surprise to all but stop himself sprawling all over the floor as he unintentionally shunted her to one side. Serves him right, Rin thought smugly even as she spun herself around to face the culprit with a startled cry.
"Rin, seriously, don't do that," Kakashi muttered at her obviously feeling a little foolish that had very nearly fell flat on his face. His voice carried a hint of amusement but he tried to mask it over with something more cynical. He failed to sound convincing to Rin's ears, however, which only made her giggle in his face.
"You should pay more attention to where you put your gigantic feet instead of burying your face in that filth you call a story, you clod!" she piped pointing a knowing finger at him and feeling a lot cheerier than she did mere moments ago. She figured then that it didn't matter that she would be unable to pursue her desires with the copy nin while they were away. There was a vast difference between being on a mission as a part of his team and doing what she had been doing for the past ten years. That and the extra money would come in handy.
Kakashi promptly snapped the little orange book closed and shoved it into the pouch resting on his backside.
"Well, perhaps if silly girls like yourself didn't stand in the middle of walkways the world would be a safer place," he deadpanned as he gave her one of his trademark eye crinkles and a knowing arch to his silver brow.
Rin swatted his arm playfully before turning on her heel and beckoning him to follow. "Let's stop fooling around and get moving. We must be late if you've caught up with me," she retorted.
They walked together in a comfortable silence along the dimly lit corridor and Rin pretended not to notice the little sideways glances Kakashi was giving her. She wasn't sure if he was doing it to purposely make her aware that he was checking her out in the outfit she wore or whether he just couldn't help himself.
Her attire looked remarkably like her old clothes she had worn as a genin, in colour anyway; she wore a black body suit, a white corseted long camisole over the top and a large white belt strapped around her waist. The outfit was armoured to protect her from any sudden blows but she had worn it ever since she worked in Lightening. She didn't wear it because it made her feel particularly sexy, she had just found herself drawn back to a black and white combination as she got older.
She saw the outfit has her signature much like Kakashi saw his Jounin get up as his. His glances made her feel a little sexy though (seeing as he struggled to keep his roving eye off her for more than a few seconds) but a little paranoid at the same time, like she had a horrible stain forming somewhere on her person that he found so fascinating. She chose not to draw attention to it anyway. He would only deny it and she had no desire to embarrass him before their meeting with the higher power of the village.
They both approached the waiting area where a young dark haired girl sat at a desk just to the side of the door that led into the office. There were other people milling about the area, obviously waiting for an audience with the Hokage himself. Rin didn't recognise any of them so she didn't take much notice.
Kakashi held out a hand to her in a signal for her to stop, which she did, while he stepped over to the pretty young thing sitting at the table.
"Hinata-chan, Naruto is expecting us," he drawled uninterestedly, cocking his leg so he slouched a little to one side. The young girl, Hinata, looked up from the table and fixed the copy nin with a bewildered stare before she blushed furiously. She whimpered somewhat pathetically and ran a finger down the page on the table in front of her.
"Y-yes, Kakashi-sensei. He-he said to go straight through, sorry about that..." she squeaked as she flitted her sights back at him and smiled meekly. Rin noticed the young girls' eyes at that point, so pale and completely devoid of any pupil that made her seem ghostly in appearance. Was she part of the Hyuuga clan? She must be... no one else in the world had eyes like that. The young girl nervously turned to look at Rin who was gawping back stupidly with the inability to look away.
"This is Rin, she's on the list too, Hinata-chan," Kakashi droned as he offered a hand out to the dark haired medic who was still staring at the pretty girl and her gorgeous eyes.
Hinata simply nodded and smiled the sweetest of smiles that caused her to close her eyes in a cherub like fashion.
Rin vaguely heard Kakashi speaking to her suddenly realising that he had moved from his post and was now stood in front her with the flat of his hand against the wooden door. She blinked at him for a few seconds before shaking her head quickly and muttering, "Sorry, what?"
"I asked if you were ready..." Kakashi grumbled back, arching his back awkwardly and shooting her a weird sideways glance that made him look like he thought she'd just that second gone completely bonkers.
Rin shifted her sights between him and the confused looking Hyuuga before smiling idiotically as she began to realise just what she had been doing. Gawking at strangers was not the best impression to make. But the girl was so pretty, she certainly wasn't at the little desk the first time she had come here to deliver her mission report, she would have remembered that.
She stood straight at that point, feeling a little silly and stalked towards the door as Kakashi pushed it ajar without knocking.
"Are you alright?" he whispered in her ear just as she began to walk past him. The heat from his mouth surrounded her and took over her good sense, strangely though the feeling wasn't arousing. The shiver in her spine was there, granted, but it made her feel a little light headed and she couldn't stop the manic grin that was now tugging at each corner of her mouth as she turned her head towards him. There was something about him, something she couldn't quite put her finger on, but it made her think and do ridiculous things, this time was no exception.
She had no idea why she did what she did next, she felt brave and sort of giddy at the thought of spending goodness knows how long with the man she loved despite knowing the sexual contact was at an all time minimum. So she did it anyway completely oblivious that there were more people in the room besides her and Kakashi.
"She gots pretty eyes!" she all but shouted into the crowded room.
Silence dropped into the space like a bomb and Rin's entire body lost the basic function to create heat. She swore she could feel the icicles forming on her eyelashes and every single muscle in her body began to shrink.
Kakashi gawped at her, head tilted a little to one side, his dark eye so wide it could literally roll out of its socket and splat to the floor.
"Oh god..." she whimpered as she looked around the room to see that very same expression from all the other people in the room waiting to have an audience with the Hokage. Rin had just that second lost the will to live...
Kakashi scanned the area himself, lifting an arm and scratched the back of his head nervously before laughing softly in the same manner.
"Sorry, they don't let her out often," he chuckled just as he wrapped an arm around her and tried to tug her into the office. Rin had other ideas.
She pulled away from him sharply and slapped him hard in the chest earning her a slight wince from his loan dark eye. "Did you just insinuate that I'm crazy?" she hissed in his face feeling the horrific blush morph into a flare of rage towards her tall counterpart.
She could still feel the eyes of the people in the waiting room boring into her skin, but she didn't care anymore. She was more astonished by Kakashi's remark that pointed towards her being let out of the nut house for the day.
The copy nin just stared at her blankly and absently ran his fingers along the supposedly sore spot on his chest before he answered. "Well you are acting a bit weird, Rin," he replied dully.
She stared back, wide eyed and a little traumatised that he had said something so callous and so out of his own character to people in the room she didn't even know.
"I swear, when we're done here I'm going to knock your teeth out," she grumbled as she tried to push past him.
Kakashi slammed a hand on the doorframe completely blocking her path before shoving his face into hers. A mischievous glimmer shot across his onyx eye which in turn caused Rin to almost take a step back.
"Are you threatening me?" he growled flirtatiously his eye crinkling ever so slightly at the corner.
She merely frowned at him. What was with him tonight? They start off on a wonderful date with him singing praise to a small fishing hole that floated in the stars, to him all but ripping her clothes off in her apartment. Now he seemed to picking a fight with her after she'd already done an excellent job of making herself look and feel like a complete idiot in front of all these people. All these things just didn't seem within his nature... not the nature she had been so used to anyway. But in spite of how unusual she found it, she found she actually quite liked it. It was fun to see different, more adventurous sides to people, especially seeing as she'd known him for, like, forever and a day.
Eventually she craned herself forward to the point where their hitai-ate almost clashed together. She gave him the most evil smile she had before she responded coolly. "You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
If there was one thing that she was certain hadn't changed about him it was his inability to back down. She had seen him wave his hands in defeat at his own students but she knew for a fact that he found it impossible to step back when he was around her. Rin couldn't pin point exactly what it was but he had always been the same. He acted differently in her presence. Maybe she had an effect on him that she had yet to realise.
She watched his eye twitch, the signal she needed that he was gearing himself up for a fight, be it authentic or not. If he was going to try and embarrass her further he was in for one hell of a shock.
"I-is everything alright, Kakashi-sensei?" came the meek little voice of the pretty Hyuuga from the other side of the room. Both of them ignored her and continued to stare each other out in the doorway.
"You know I'll win," he remarked, his voice now cold and sterile.
"I beat you last time, remember?" she replied with a similar tone.
The staring ensued for what seemed like hours until she slowly raised a hand between them. Kakashi glanced down at her palm, poised as though to give him a high five. Just as he flitted his eye her way again and opening his mouth to speak, possibly to ask her what she was doing she shoved him, hard in the shoulder.
His body lurched backwards for a second and he instantly straightened himself as Rin turned her outstretched palm around and curled her fingers inwards beckoning him to retaliate.
His eye widened comically before he swung a strong arm around her neck and forced her to double over with a frightened squeal.
"OW! Kakashi, get off! You win, you win!" she cried as he pulled her through the door by her head. She knew this would happen. Rin knew Kakashi like the back of her hand. Aside from his collection of smutty books play fighting was his favourite thing in the world. The only downside being that he was a lot stronger than her and he hated losing.

Rin couldn't contain her laughter as her and the copy nin all but burst into the room, both of them a hazy mess of giggles. He had an arm locked firmly around her neck as he dragged her into the office forcing her feet to fight for purchase on the floor and resulting only in tripping herself up in his grip. This was a situation they had found themselves in a lot when they were younger. Play fighting was something Kakashi could never resist. He was most definitely a dog at heart.
"Ow! Lemme go!" she squealed between chortles while she tried to wrap her fingers around his arm in a frail attempt to get loose. She was more concerned with the people in the waiting area having an eyeful of her lycra clad ass than the fact that she was being manhandled by someone much bigger and physically stronger than her.
Kakashi had her head squashed against his chest and the only thing she was able to hear was his own rumbles of laughter as it left his lungs in loud thrumming gushes.
He stopped suddenly as a loud cough brought them both to a complete halt. Kakashi paused along with his prisoner crushed against him as they both stared at the Hokage and two other shinobi that gawped back like something out of a horror movie had just entered the room.
Briskly and with a strange cat like agility Rin never thought she had, they unravelled themselves from the awkward position and stood to attention. The heat on her face intensified as her brain began to piece together what had just happened.
In the simplest of terms her and Kakashi had just made themselves look like a couple of morons in front of the Hokage too of all people. The people out in the waiting room she could deal with, but this guy was her superior, her leader and he just stared at them like he'd just discovered a turd floating in his coffee.
If only the floor had a gullet, she would dive straight into it right now and she was certain that the copy nin would follow soon after, if not he would shove her out of the way to get to it first.
She was so embarrassed, more than she'd ever been and the flush all but burned her skin off, but she found it so difficult to hide the smile that was threatening to send her into another fit of giggles. The only way to keep it under some kind of control was to pull her lower lip into her mouth which she knew made her look like a fish. The thought only served to heighten the amusement.
She shifted her eyes to Kakashi as they bowed their apologies to the blonde Rokudaime at the head of the room and was astonished to find Kakashi doing the same back to her. His eye widened momentarily his expression saying: Don't look at me, I don't know what happened… before they both straightened and eyed over the other occupants of the room.
Rin recognised only one of the other two that stood before them; the pink haired medic, Sakura. She was staring bemusedly at her sensei almost as if she had never seen him laugh before. The expression was perplexing and a little unnerving to Rin. For someone who had studied under him for so long to look at him like that didn't seem normal.
There was another man in the room stood next to Sakura giving them both that same horrified stare. Rin didn't recognise him, but he had the strangest set of eyes she had ever seen and found herself simply staring back. He was indeed a very strange looking fellow and she wondered why she had never seen him before, even just in passing.
She vaguely noticed that he was wearing the same jounin style outfit that Kakashi wore but his hitai-ate was extended over the sides his face and he wore what looked to be only half a mask over his chin.
Rin could never understand that, was it a fashion amongst men to wear pieces of fabric over the chin? What purpose did it serve anyway? Kakashi she could forgive because his entire face, save for the eyes was covered in an act to conceal at least a little of his identity. But she could see this man's face quite clearly… maybe he was hiding something. Maybe he had a zit or an embarrassing tattoo he didn't want anyone to know about.
The thought forced a snort to escape her which made her bite down harder on her lip and turn away from the group. She needed to stop laughing but she just couldn't… this was so not good…
"Oh … kay?" came the raspy voice of the Hokage sitting at the table. "I'm not sure what that was all about, Sensei, but it's good to see you both in high spirits," he continued a wide, toothy but pleasant grin all but filling his whiskered face.
"So ... are you going to brief Kakashi-sensei and Rin-sensei, Naruto?" Sakura asked flatly as she turned back to Naruto.
Rin felt her heart flutter at the formality the young girl had used in conjunction with her name. Did she just call her ... Sensei? She felt the glow on her cheeks flare in a split moment of pride that one of Kakashi's pupils thought so highly of her, only for her pride to be crushed by the hideous scowl she returned to her and her old friend.
"Seeing as neither of them could be bothered to turn up on time," the young girl ground out.
"We-we're really sorry, Hokage-sama, you see, I'm not used to receiving such hasty missions, I usually like more time to prepare, and ... you see ... the thing is..." Rin's flurry of panicked words was interrupted by an angry finger jutting viciously into her face. She heard herself gasp as she cowered away from Sakura who looked a little more than peeved. In fact she looked set to punch her square in the mouth. It was very unnerving to say the least.
"Don't make excuses! You're just as bad as your boyfriend!" she wailed, her pretty green eyes burning with a hidden fury that Rin found quite frightening. But even then she had come out with another comment that she found disturbingly bazaar.
"Wha-what? My boyfriend?" she stuttered as she lifted her hands defensively. She knew Sakura was referring to Kakashi, but it wasn't a word she associated with him. Was the deadly Copy Ninja her boyfriend? Maybe back when she was thirteen or so she would have liked to have called him that, but now it sounded ... well ... kinda stupid.
The hot tempered kunoichi quickly turned her attention to Kakashi who was standing as nonchalant as ever, both hands crammed into his pockets and simply watching the show with his lazy eye.
"You're a bad influence, Kakashi-sensei," she grumbled, crossing her arms furiously across her chest and glaring at him evilly. The copy nin just chuckled at her, like he had heard the insult a thousand times before. If all the little stories he had told Rin about the fiery medic were true then he probably had.
"Sakura-chan, calm down, they're here now," the man with the funny eyes peeped, waving a hand at her with a worried grimace pulling at his mouth.
"She's right though," Naruto called from behind the paper strewn table drawing the attention of all four attendees. "Time is ticking and I'm sure you're all eager to get away. Captain Yamato, Sakura-chan, you're both dismissed. The mission will be explained in more detail by Kakashi-sensei when you rendezvous at the main gate, I'll release them both as soon as possible."
The young man's voice had changed dramatically since the first time he spoke; his expression had lost its cheerful glow also. Rin didn't like it one bit and it caused a thick blob of discomfort to swill in her gut. If Sakura and the other guy - Captain Yamato, was it? - were on this mission as part of the team then why were they being dismissed from the briefing?
She watched with rapidly fraying nerves as both the candy haired medic and her tall counterpart left the room without uttering another word. As soon as the door was closed Rin switched her gaze back to Kakashi, still stood without a care before he slowly turned towards her and gave her a small shrug of his shoulders. He didn't know what was going on either. If only she had his nerves of steel...
"Rin-san?" Naruto's voice held a tremor of concern which irked her that little bit more, that and he was only addressing her ... not both of them. She shifted her eyes towards him, suddenly realising why he had sent that message to Kakashi and not her. He knew Kakashi wouldn't question the need to leave right away, he also knew that he would motivate her into committing to the mission before she even knew the details. It was a dirty trick in her book, but it had worked. Something was going on and she had a feeling that it wasn't good.
The young Hokage offered a hand to the chair directly opposite the desk, the very same one she had sat in when she had met this young man as he was now.
Rin was already aware that this boy was Minato-sensei's son; he looked so much like him it was hardly believable. He had this air about him that made him instantly likeable just like Minato-sensei. She was struck with an odd sense of longing as she studied the young man in front of her. She missed Sensei terribly. She felt the village had lost one of its most valuable treasures when he died.
She briefly recalled the first time she had laid eyes on Naruto as a baby, this screaming mass of limbs with the ugly black seal surrounding his plump belly ... and hated him ... loathed him for what the monster he contained had done to her, to her Sensei and her family. She found it impossible to hate him now, though she desperately wanted to. She wanted that hate to fuel her strength but it wouldn't come, it just wouldn't come.
"What's going on?" she heard herself mumble, not daring to move from the spot she currently stood. Naruto gave her a sympathetic smile before he spoke again in a voice that was too soft for the piercing blue of his eyes.
"I think you should sit down, Rin-san. I have some bad news..."

He could do nothing but stand and watch as he saw Rin turn to stone. She went completely rigid as she arched her back awkwardly, the only part of her body moving being the sporadic nervous flitting of her dark eyes and the clenching of her jaw. Kakashi had no idea what the bad news could possibly be, but if Naruto was asking her to seat herself then it had to be bad in every sense of the word.
"Bad news?" she quipped smiling as she spoke. The smile was a nervous reaction, one she used often to mask her fear. Kakashi had seen the expression more times than he could count and yet he found his body reacted to it the exact same way each time. It made him feel cold, like he was standing in a draft, he could feel his skin prickle against the fabric of his clothes and he hated it.
Naruto still offered his hand to the seat in front of the desk seeming unwilling to say any more until Rin had taken her place.
"Rin, the Hokage wants you to sit down. I recommend you take his advice," Kakashi said flatly.
She span her head towards him, her stare almost hateful before she slowly manoeuvred herself around the chair and warily parked herself in it. She cautiously wrapped her arms around her stomach and leaned into them with a quivering sigh. If there was one thing in the world Kakashi hated, it was seeing Rin so emotionally down. He could take all the physical torture in the world; the pain would feel like nothing compared to seeing her like this. He dreaded to think what the information she was about to be given was, he dreaded to think how she would react to it... how he would react to it.
"What's going on?" she asked again, her voice a mere vibration against the sound of the air-conditioning unit. She was clearly already upsetting herself before she even knew what the information was, already preparing herself for the worst.
Naruto blew out a sigh, uncertain of how he should word what he was about to tell her. He shifted uneasily through scrolls and paper work that littered his desk before he folded his hands over it keeping his eyes trained on the carpet in the space between them.
"Your team leader in Lightening country, Satoshi..." he started softly.
Rin's head jerked upwards at the mention of her old team mate's name.
"What? What about him? What's happened?" she questioned hurriedly.
"In your mission report you stated that he was diagnosed with the virus you were sent to investigate, well..."
"He's dead... isn't he?"
Naruto faltered before he lowered his eyes to the desk. "I'm so sorry, Rin-san," he whispered.
Kakashi felt her breathing stop, physically felt it almost to the point where he couldn't breathe himself. He didn't know the man, not personally anyway. He was a Jounin medic a few years older than he was but he couldn't help feeling rocked to know that he was dead.
Rin had told him little snippets of this Satoshi-san in passing. But by the way her eyes shone whenever he was mentioned it was obvious that she cared deeply for him. Kakashi recalled feeling quite jealous of the fact that this man had spent the past ten years doing what he felt he should have. Taking care of her, protecting her... it was his job, not some random medic's.
Rin didn't speak often of her team in Lightening, she didn't really speak of the place at all, but when she did her voice carried a hue of longing. She obviously missed them. She had spent the last ten years with them so he guessed it was only natural.
He saw Rin's eyes widen dramatically and her lips trembled before she bowed her head towards the floor with a soft quivering whimper.
"When did he die?" she muttered pulling her arms tighter around her midriff.
"I received a message this morning, according to that he passed away two days ago."
"Oh," she croaked as the life seemed to drain from her being. He could almost see her spirit ghosting through her pores and dissipating into the air like smoke. Kakashi wanted to say something, maybe that he was sorry for her loss? That everything was going to be alright? He didn't know what to do and it did nothing other than seal his mouth tighter and root him to the spot.
The thick silence began to expand; the only sounds making their way to Kakashi's ears were that of the air-conditioning unit and his own breaths. The atmosphere had become so dense it was stifling and all he could do was stand and watch it all unfold. There was nothing he could do or say to make any of this any better. He was completely helpless and to him there was no worse situation to be in.
Rin just sat there supposedly ingesting the information. It must have come as a shock but she showed very little sign of feeling any kind of emotion. She just sat there, staring through the wood of Naruto's desk. She was still in that awkward huddled position, arms wrapped securely around her stomach and her knees locked together.
He found himself willing her to say or do something, even cry. If she burst into tears right here and now at least it was something, that she was actually feeling something. But she didn't, she just sat there like her soul had been sucked out of her and only the husk of her body remained.
Habitually he glanced at the young jinchuuriki who was looking back at him with an apprehensive glint in his eye. Naruto always hated being the bearer of bad news, especially news as awful as this. But it was his duty as the village leader to take such things on the chin.
They regarded each other for a while, neither of them sure what to say, if anything at all. Eventually Kakashi shifted his gaze back to the dark haired medic. Her eyes were moving now and another minute or so trudged by as she lifted her head and faced Naruto dragging a shaky sigh into her lungs.
"You're sending me back… aren't you?" she quivered. It seemed that the thought of being sent back to Lightening bothered her a whole lot more than finding out her friend had passed away. Her reaction didn't come as a surprise; she reacted the exact same way when she was informed of her parent's deaths. She closed herself off to begin with, shutting all emotions down and suppressed them within herself until the pressure became too much. After which she exploded like a volcano…
He remembered the day vividly. He remembered her exiting the morgue with a thin smile simply stating she was ready to go home and that she felt fine. She was far from fine, she was upset and she was angry…
Kakashi swallowed hard at the memory of her smashing up her belongings in the tiny bedsit she rented in a blind frustrated rage when the information finally sank in. It was only physically restraining her that made her stop and actually think about what she was doing. That was when the tears came … and they never seemed to end.
He prayed she wouldn't go down that route again, it was so unhealthy and if he was honest with himself, Rin's anger was frightening. She was a lot stronger physically now than she was then, he hated to think of the mess she would make if she erupted like she did all those years ago. Not necessarily to the things around her but to him if he tried to get in her way. He knew he wouldn't stand a chance against her in full force.
Naruto proceeded to look at her with sympathetic eyes before he dropped his gaze shamefully and nodded his head slowly.
"No," she stated sharply with a harsh shake of her head. "No, I'm not going back. We had a contract, Naruto-sama!"
"I know we had an arrangement that you'd be stationed in the village for at least one year, Rin-san. But the hospital won't release Satoshi's body without your signature. You were the one that treated him for his condition so..."
"Send them a letter with my signature on then! Get them to send the release form here and I'll sign it! I'm not going back there!" she snapped flailing an arm as if the action would get her point across clearer.
The rage was building already…
"You know it doesn't work that way, Rin-san. I'm really sorry, if there was any other way…"
"What about Yumi-chan? She's still there! She can sign the release forms! Don't make me go back there! Please, Naruto-sama, please?" She was begging now, her voice getting higher in pitch as she spoke.
"She's not a kunoichi anymore… she gave up her licence years ago, don't you remember? She's just a nurse now so she doesn't have the authority like you do. I don't have a choice in this, I'm sorry."
Rin bowed her head again at that point emitting a noise that sounded like a choked sob. Kakashi saw then that it wasn't rage he could hear in her voice, it was fright. Something had happened in Lightening, something that scared her terribly, it was as clear as day now. He watched her drag her fingers through her long glossy hair in utter frustration as she drew long shaky breaths into her lungs in a desperate attempt to calm herself. She didn't want to go back, she was running out of arguments and she was starting to panic.
"Naruto," Kakashi called hoping to dominate the conversation in an attempt to ease, Rin's apprehension. "Why don't you explain what it is you want us to do? I'm assuming there's a reason you're sending a four man cell on a one man mission," he drawled genuinely interested as to what his role would be in all of this.
Rin sat up a little at that point, seeming that the sound of Kakashi's cool, controlled voice calmed her somehow. He hoped it did. He hoped she wouldn't turn into that monster he had seen all those years ago when she couldn't handle the truth.
He saw Naruto nod once before he picked up a large scroll and tossed it Kakashi's way.
The copy nin caught it with a single hand and unfurled the paper as Naruto chose to explain the situation anyway.
"The four of you will make your way to Machenich village, on the coast of Lightening…"
"It's pronounced masheesh; the 'N' is silent…" Rin interrupted irritably. Kakashi found himself sighing with what could only be relief. At least she was listening.
"Right, heh…" Naruto flushed a little at being put in his place. But that was okay he was more than used to it by now.
"So, the four of you will travel together as one cell. I'm not issuing a leader on this mission because I don't really think it needs one. You'll still be known as Team Kakashi though."
Kakashi saw him smile at the mention of the team title, causing him to grin a little under the mask as he eyed over the mission scroll. It was nice that the Hokage reminisced about his former team.
"Once you get there and you've sorted digs out and junk, you'll need to go to the hospital where you, Rin-san, will be asked to sign the release papers… and identify Satoshi's body."
Rin stiffened as soon as her name was mentioned and she swallowed audibly as she took the information in. She wouldn't be expected to enter the morgue alone, but Kakashi had a feeling that she would merely to save face in front of the others. She was far from weak but she honed a fear of appearing weak in front of other people, had done for a long time. He would try to convince her that someone accompany her, but he knew he would lose the argument. He guessed he would cross that bridge when he came to it.
"After that, Captain Yamato and Sakura-chan will arrange to bring him back home for the funeral. I'm not expecting either of you to have any part in those arrangements."
Rin lifted herself up from her crouch at that point. She sighed as if to gain back a little composure before she spoke in an unusually harsh tone, "And Kakashi? What's his role?"
The copy nin glanced towards her at that point. She was worried Naruto would have an ulterior motive for him and he felt his insides grow warm for her concern. He was being sent as part of the team regardless, Naruto had already confirmed this, but even he was interested to know exactly why he would be attending.
"Kakashi is being sent as your support. You're good friends right? Just seems like a perfect match to me," Naruto replied with that same toothy smile.
"What do you mean, support?" Rin pressed, not entirely satisfied with the Hokage's answer.
"I have sat and read your mission report, and the diary of events you gave to me when you came back. I read how distressing it was there and I can see that you're worried about going back. So I thought sending Kakashi-sensei with you would make the trip a little easier on you. That and I feel I owe you somethin' you know... for breaching the contract..." he trailed off and rubbed the back of his blonde head somewhat nervously obviously feeling a little guilty for going back on his supposed promise to the medic. These things happened though, and if the hospital where the corpse was being held demanded a signature from her then that was what they would have to do.
"That's alright with you, isn't it, Kakashi-sensei?" Naruto mused, shifting his blue eyes towards him. Kakashi noticed Rin do the same only with the craning of her neck a sorrowful hope etched into her pretty features. She was silently begging him now, pleading with him to accept his mission but she needn't have bothered. He had no intentions of turning it down.
"Of course, Hokage-sama," he confirmed giving them both a reassuring crease of his eye.
He watched Rin relax in her seat, the sigh she emitted grateful and relieving all at the same time. Were it up to him, Kakashi wouldn't have had it any other way. By the sounds of it she needed the support of a team mate and Naruto was probably right in assuming that the copy ninja was the best ninja for the job.
"So, the mission is relatively simple. Get to the village in Lightening, release the body and send it back. I'm issuing the team a week's leave when you return as policy states."
With details clear and understood, Kakashi rolled up the scroll in his hands and crammed it in his rear pouch and nodded towards the young Hokage.
Rin pushed herself to her feet and bowed towards the whiskered man, much to his surprise. "Thank you, Hokage-sama ... and ... apologies for our entrance earlier. It won't happen again," she croaked bashfully.
Naruto blinked at her momentarily before he laughed heartily which caused her to raise her head questioningly at him.
"It's fine, and don't let Sakura-chan get to you. You're not a true member of Team Kakashi until she's bawled you out for something!" he chortled as he sat back in his chair.
Rin straightened herself and regarded the information before she slowly turned to face Kakashi with a comical arch of her brow. He merely shrugged at her, not to signify that he didn't know the answer himself but mainly because it was partly true. Every single member of the team had been on the sticky end of Sakura's rage, it was an in-running joke between them that her anger was part of some deranged initiation into the group. Sakura was a nice girl and one hell of a medic, but her temper was vile, Kakashi would be the first one to point that out to anyone.
Rin smiled at his response, her eyes lighting up a little which was refreshing to see given the horrible news she had not long received before she turned her attention back to Naruto. She nodded her head slowly and bowed again before him.
"Thank you ... Hokage-sama," she replied softly her voice dripping with gratitude to all but be told that she was now a member of this special little team.
It seemed that Rin quite liked the idea of being a member of Team Kakashi.

Sakura and Tenzou were waiting by the gates as they were told to do, but it seemed more than clear they hadn't been informed of the ins and outs of the mission. There had been no sympathetic glances from either of them when they left the office which had been Kakashi's first clue.
They had no idea the dead shinobi they were tasked to collect had connections with a member of their team, at least he hoped not. Not that it really mattered, It was entirely up to Rin if she wanted the other two to know or not, and Kakashi had a feeling that she wouldn't be in much of a talking mood, not anytime soon anyway. It wasn't fair to try and coax her to talk about it, so he would let her be until she was good and ready. She would do the same if it were him.
She had regained a lot of the sunshine colour to her face and the bounce in her step was gradually returning, but her expression was still flat, like she was in a world of her own. That was until she spotted the others in the near distance.
"What's his name again?" Rin asked leaning towards the copy nin so she could almost whisper it at him seeming that she feared he would hear her at this distance.
"Yamato," he replied dully. Although Kakashi still liked to call him Tenzou it still didn't give anyone else the authority to do so. He was still under cover from the ANBU and Kakashi knew all too well how those rules worked.
Rin arched a brow at him before quickly looking away and thinking about his answer. "Naruto called him Captain, though," she muttered thoughtfully.
"Ah, yes. I was hospitalised when he first joined the team as team leader in my absence. He fills in for me every now and again when I'm not available."
"When you're in hospital?"
"Heh, yeah..."
"You should be more careful with that eye of yours. Obito didn't give it to you for you to hurt yourself with it."
The comment took Kakashi a little by surprise. He glanced towards her and saw she was now looking at the floor with a thoughtful expression etched into her face. Even though he was certain the comment was kindly meant it didn't stop him resenting it just a little bit. If he had the power to control the sharingan to its full potential he wouldn't hesitate to do so. It wasn't his fault he didn't descend from the Uchiha clan like Obito did. It wasn't his fault that it drained his chakra twice as fast as any of his other techniques. Though he guessed it was his own doing when he over used it. But still, he felt that she had been a bit callous with the remark and felt a need to at least try and defend himself.
"I don't enjoy being bedridden every time I come back from battle, you know. Liquid diets aren't exactly my cup of tea," he grumbled irritably turning back to the path.
"I'm just saying, Kakashi. It's just the damage you could do to yourself with that thing could one day be ... un-repairable," she warned before she waved a hand to dismiss what she'd just said.
"Look, forget I said anything. I'm sorry," she murmured her apology trailing off as she spoke.
Kakashi groaned inwardly at that, now he felt guilty. He didn't want her to apologise for something she meant. Why should she? She was just concerned for his well being, there was nothing wrong with that. But even after all this time the subject of his precious sharingan eye was still as sensitive as ever. It wasn't something he liked to talk about be that with Rin or anyone else, but he found he was a little shocked that the conversation hadn't really come up until now. He figured that maybe now wasn't the best time to inform her that the eye had once cost him his own life... that instance being one of the only times he had been given a second chance. How he would ever be able to repay Naruto for that debt he would never know...
He turned towards her again, opening his mouth to speak, to apologise himself and confirm that he understood what it was she meant to see her gazing blankly into the distance. She sighed deeply quite possibly unaware that he was looking at her. She didn't look like her usual bubbly self and it hurt him to see her look so down.
Satoshi's death was bothering her, but she wasn't willing to let the hurt come to the surface. It would seem strange to some that someone as emotionally open as Rin would hide such a thing. But since the death of Obito, she had always struggled to come to terms with losing people, and Rin had lost a fair few, as had he… But Kakashi would be there when she finally broke, and he would do his utmost to sit and piece her back together. That was his mission, he realised. Not just to offer her his support on the journey, it was to keep her from falling apart. And he was certain that she would do at some point.
Naruto confirmed he had read the events diary and the mission report she had handed to him. Kakashi found himself wishing he had read it too, just to see exactly what happened out there and why it affected her so much. He hoped that she would tell him herself, he would just have to wait and see. He wasn't going to ask her about it, if she wanted to talk she would, if she didn't, well, that was fine too. Rin didn't pry into his own rambled musings and he wasn't about to do the same to her.
He forced thoughts of what would happen in the near future to the rear of his mind when the two other members of the team both turned their heads and stood to attention as Rin and Kakashi approached them.
"Do you have the details for the mission, senpai?" Tenzou questioned holding out his hand presumably for the mission scroll.
"Exactly what did Naruto tell you?" Kakashi retorted, hoping the blonde jinchuuriki hadn't told him or Sakura about Satoshi's connection with Rin. He was almost certain he hadn't but Naruto was unpredictable at times and had a tendency to let his mouth do his thinking for him. Sakura's answer confirmed that Naruto had indeed kept that part of the mission for Kakashi to explain at some point.
"All we know is we're going to a tiny village in Lightening. Naruto said something about needing to talk to you guys privately before we were allowed to know anything else," she stated irritably. She seemed a little dejected that Naruto had dismissed her before the briefing had really begun.
Kakashi reached into his rear pouch and pulled the scroll from its depths and passed it to Tenzou who took it from him almost instantly.
"The details are all in there but to put it simply, we're on a retrieval mission," Kakashi drawled as he watched his teammate eye over the scripture in his hands.
"Satoshi? Is he a Konoha shinobi?" Tenzou asked quietly tapping his finger on the scroll supposedly where the dead ninja's name lay in ink.
"He was," Rin intercepted as she approached the team from behind Kakashi. "He was my team leader when I was stationed in the village. We're going there to retrieve his body and bring him home..." she trailed off turning her head slightly to one side before sighing and turning back to the team.
"I'll warn you now, the people there aren't too fond of ninja. So it may be best that we keep a low profile when we get there," she continued cynically.
Kakashi and the others nodded in agreement. This wouldn't be the first place they had gone to that didn't much like the presence of ninja. Ninja were a bad omen in many civilian settlements. They had a tendency to take famine, blood and war wherever they went, so it wasn't much of a surprise that they were shunned in the smaller, more remote villages of the world. It wasn't like they would be staying long; a couple of day's at most so keeping low to the ground wouldn't be too difficult.
"Anyway, where's Sasuke? Is there a reason he wasn't invited on this mission? He is part of the team right?" she mused planting a hand on her hip. She seemed mildly disappointed at the absence of the dark haired sharingan user.
"Sasuke-kun can't go on missions that take him outside the borders of Fire Country. He's still wanted in other countries for the crimes he committed. Naruto is still negotiating with them so it's just easier to keep him away from any trouble for now," Sakura responded coolly.
Rin knitted her brows together as Sakura spoke when Kakashi suddenly realised that he hadn't told her that Sasuke was an ex deserter. He was in fact still wanted for the attempted kidnapping of the Raikage's brother, so having Sasuke venturing through Lightening would be a very bad move.
"Crimes? Sasuke's a criminal?" she pressed just as Kakashi planted a hand on her shoulder to gain her attention. She turned her head and flicked her dark eyes up at him curiously possibly hoping he would give her the answers she wanted to such a pointless question.
"It's a very long story, one that we should probably save for another time. All you need to know is Sasuke had his reasons and he's still repaying his debt," he droned flatly.
Rin simply lowered her gaze as Kakashi took his hand from her shoulder and hutched the dark green pack on his back. He watched her motion her eyes towards Tenzou who seemed to straighten himself as her dark gaze settled on him.
"So instead we have...?" she clicked her fingers at him which caused Kakashi to groan inwardly and habitually roll his eyes. She had forgotten his name... again.
"Uh... Yamato, and you are?" Tenzou held out a hand to his new team mate and was greeted by one of her wonderful warm smiles as she grasped it and gave it a single shake.
"I'm Rin, pleased to meet you, Yamato." Rin almost slurred his name as she spoke.
The copy nin shook his head at her as he beckoned Sakura to follow before walking through the huge wooden gates towards the woodland, sure that the other two would follow which they did not too far behind.
"Ah, Rin-san. You were a member of Kakashi-senpai's team when you were both young, right?" Tenzou asked curiously, his question perking Kakashi's ears as they strolled along the dusty path.
He heard Rin giggle at the question before she answered, "Yeah, that's right. Do you and Kakashi know each other well then?"
"Well, I've worked with him a few times."
"Was he as much of a pain in the ass then as he is now?"
"Uhm ... no ... but he spoke about you a lot though, on our first mission together,"
"Really? Wow, all good things, I hope."
Kakashi intercepted the conversation before Tenzou could answer, hoping to gain a laugh or two out of the group. It felt like a shame to waste such a perfect opportunity to raise that blush on Rin's pretty face. That and she had just called him a pain in the ass so he owed her one.
"Of course, Rin, I only ever say good things about teammates. I also told him about the time you called Minato-Sensei papa when you couldn't tie up your own leg bindings," he called behind himself. It was a lie, he had never spoken of the event until now, purely because he had forgotten about it until that very moment. It didn't take long for him to get a reaction in the form of a startled gasp and he was sure he heard Sakura stifle a chuckle under the hand she now held to her face.
"What? You still remember that? I was like ten years old!" she wailed from the rear.
"Did that really happen, Rin-sensei, or is Kakashi-sensei making it up?" Sakura chortled as she craned her neck to take a good look at the two team members lingering behind.
"I don't want to talk about it..." she grumbled her voice sounding like she had a huge smile on her face which was the desired effect. The little memory was funny nonetheless, funny and insanely innocent. It was nice to remember things, sometimes.

The group trudged through the woodland one agonising step at a time, the night creating a strange atmosphere as the sounds from the distance sounded louder than they should have. Rin took another quick glance around herself to see that everything looked the same as it did an hour ago. If she didn't know any better she would have thought she was being led in circles.
It was unusual to travel at night if there was no particular need to, but the Hokage seemed quite adamant they get to Lightening as soon as possible. Surely that didn't mean they couldn't rest along the way, it took a good few days to get to Lightening country...
Rin couldn't understand the rush; it wasn't as if there was anyone back in Konoha that had any rights to the corpse they were tasked to collect. She sighed at the thought that the only thing Satoshi-san had that was even remotely close to family... was her. He had no parents, no wife, no children and as far as she knew most if not all of his friends had been killed in the last shinobi war. Even Yumi-chan had abandoned the team once she'd had her daughter. But he had remained optimistic. He had always been smiling and laughing, always in high spirits even despite the horror he was forced to witness everyday and the crippling illness that ate away at his insides.
She knew he was dying, she knew there was nothing more anyone could do for him, the infection was too far gone by the time a cure for the virus had been created, but she wasn't expecting the news so soon after leaving him behind. She certainly didn't expect it to upset her so much. Truth be told, it had broken her heart.
She wished she had tried harder to convince him to travel home with her. She wished he hadn't died in that disgusting little village. She wished she had thanked him just one more time for everything he had done for her, for keeping her sane. If it wasn't for him and his constant words of encouragement she feared she would have lost her mind years ago. It wasn't fair... it just wasn't fair.
She dived into her thoughts allowing the breeze to swallow her in its coolness absently keeping her eyes on the three members of her new team walking in front. It should, by rights, be her that was leading them to their destination but the sugary thought of simply turning and fleeing was beginning to get the better of her. Not that her exhausted legs would get her very far. They were being driven by will power alone and she prayed the team would be setting up camp soon.
Rin pulled her arms around her stomach, feeling that aching sickness bubbling away in her guts, just like it had done in the Hokage's office. This was the worst thing that could have happened since walking back through the village gates. With each step she took forwards she felt like she was reversing back into the nightmare she had left behind. She could almost feel it slithering over her form, consuming her.
Machenich Village wasn't a village at all, not in her eyes. It had been her prison for the past decade. She feared the streets, she feared the reprisal of their presence there, they all had. She had felt trapped in the small town, completely isolated from the outside world. It was more than clear they weren't welcome there. Simply shopping for groceries was a task and a half, only a select few shops dared to let them pass through their doors, a good thing too lest they resorted to stealing... or starve.
There was a fair few other ninja tasked with helping those who showed next to no gratitude, perhaps they knew they were there for their own gain, to stop the virus from spreading, from becoming a worldwide epidemic. But it was either that or burn the village to the ground so they endured it ... but which one was the lesser of two evils?
Rin had to wonder, she sometimes found herself wishing it had been the latter, maybe then there wouldn't be any suffering, maybe then she would never known of Machenich's existence. She never would have been sent there in the first place. It was a horrible thought, to want people dead, innocent people at that and she felt nothing but guilt for allowing herself to think it. But some days when the loneliness had begun catching up with her, it was all she could do to keep herself from going crazy.
She'd hated it there, the only things that got her through each day was the tiny steps closer she got to discovering a cure, to end the torment and allow her to go home and the calming words of her team leader who held her hand through the entire ordeal. That and the thought that a certain somebody would welcome her back to Konoha with open arms... how thankful she was to Kakashi that he did. She had lost count of how many times she had sat alone in her tiny room watching the lightening dancing across the sky and racing the rain drops as they cascaded down the window pane, just longing to leave. Longing for it all to end. But towards the end of the fifth year, no further forward with the research, coming across wall after wall, she had just started to accept the thought that she would never leave that place... that she would die there.
The thought of going back there made her stomach lurch, she seriously thought she had seen the last of that place... she thought she could finally put it all behind her or at least try to forget it, but life was never that simple.
How could she simply push ten years of her life to the back of her head? She couldn't. She had managed to force the horrific imagery to the bowels of her brain the moment she left but now she could feel it all coming back, frothing to the surface like the nightmare had never ended. The thoughts played in her mind like a dictaphone, playing, rewinding and repeating. She was too tired to stop it; she had no will to stop it.
Every time she closed her eyes all she could see was the blood on her hands, every time she shut out the outside world all she could hear were the screams, desperate pleas for help that she couldn't answer. She couldn't help them, all she could do was watch as the virus ate them from the inside out, watch as their flesh rotted and fell from them in clumps of matted gore. All she could do was clear it up from the floor with a fake smile and pretend nothing was wrong. All she could do was reassure them that everything was going to be fine when they were dying. The move to pathology had been a blessing... at least she couldn't watch them die anymore ... they were already dead.
"Rin-sensei? Rin-sensei are you alright?" came a sweet recognisable voice as something warm landed on her shoulder and stopped her in her tracks. She forced herself to focus, staring up at the concerned faces that looked back at her. Sakura was stood directly in front of her with a hand planted firmly on her shoulder, her eyes flitting about her face with her pink brow furrowed in a worried frown.
"Are you okay? You look really pale," the young girl soothed as she tried to place her free hand on Rin's forehead. She was checking for signs of a fever. She wasn't sick and she had no desire to allow her team to think otherwise.
Rin moved away sharply not wanting the attention she seemed to be drawing to herself. "I'm just tired, that's all. Is it possible to stop for the night as soon as we reach an inn or something? We've been travelling for hours," she complained.
Sakura turned around to look at the two men who were now regarding each other until they both nodded and turned back to Rin.
"We don't need an inn. We have Yamato," Kakashi drawled knowingly. "And you should have said something if you're tired," he scolded lightly.
"What do you mean, we have Yamato?" Before she had even finished her question the ground was shaking around her feet and a two story wooded structure sprouted from the ground not ten steps away from her. She just stood there, gawking at the beautiful house that was now standing proud in front of her.
"It grew... from the grass... like a tree..." she stuttered pointing a shaky finger at the building.
"You like it, Rin-san?" Yamato piped triumphantly, cocking his leg to one side and slapping a hand on the wall of the house closest to him.
She shifted her sights to the tall creepy eyed man and pointed more harshly towards the newly grown building. "You did that? You made that thing just... grow?" she squalled.
Yamato just grinned at her, a sweet grin that made him look far more attractive than that scowl he had given her back in Naruto's office. All thoughts about going to Lightening had vanished from her mind as the awe from what she had just witnessed began to take over. She gasped in wonder at the beautiful structure and stepped towards it.
"That's amazing! I've never met anyone that could perform wood techniques. I thought the blood-limit had died out with the second Hokage! It's amazing!"
She heard the wood user laugh somewhat nervously before she opened the perfectly formed door at the foot of the building and stepped through the threshold. Even the inside of the house was perfect. Perfect wooden beams ran across the ceiling, perfect floor boards seated at the base of the house and a perfect banister climbed upwards with the perfect set of stairs on each side of the expansive room she was currently standing. And there wasn't a single splinter in sight. She could get used to this.
She heard the others enter behind her while she just stood in her amazed stupor.
"You know, some people would think you've never seen a house before..." Kakashi remarked amusedly as he began to ascend the stairway to her right.
Rin rewarded him with an unimpressed glare. "Well I've never seen a house just grow out of the ground before..." she retorted before promptly sticking out her tongue as a gesture of triumph. He merely chuckled at her and continued to climb the wooded steps to the top floor, the others following closely behind.
"Oh and Rin?" the copy nin called from the viewing gallery directly above the spot Rin was still standing marvelling at Yamato's handiwork. She craned her neck to look at him, his arms dangling from the railing as he looked down at her. The other two were nowhere in sight, though she could hear them moving around, it seemed there was yet another room at the top of the stairs. Impressive to say the very least.
"When you come upstairs and you've unpacked your futon we all need to talk," he stated flatly.
She felt her stomach sink at that point. She didn't particularly want to talk about anything; she didn't particularly want to think either. She was still reeling from the news of Satoshi-san's death and she was hoping for a little more time to gather her bearings before she felt she could open up about it... she didn't pry into his personal musings... why was he doing this to her?
"Talk about what?" she responded coolly, lowering her sights to the wall opposite.
"About this virus that killed your team leader. I think it's your new teams' best interests that we know what to prepare ourselves for. Wouldn't you agree? I don't want to be sent on a simple mission to be told I have some horrible disease when I get back to Konoha."
She craned her neck back up at him again, feeling a little relieved that he didn't want to know anything personal. She wasn't ready for that yet. But that didn't mean she wanted to go into detail about the virus either. It was a horrible disease; she wouldn't wish it on her worst enemy... if she had one.
"Oh, well we managed to get it under control before I left. So there's really nothing to worry about. We should be given an inoculation before we enter the hospital anyway as a precaution."
"I still think we should know a little bit more about it, Rin."
She lowered her head back to the wall, knowing that he was right but wishing he wasn't. It was only fair that they were clued up about the illness; maybe it would make Kakashi understand a little as to why she didn't want to go back. Eventually she nodded looking back up at him slouched on the viewing gallery and gave him a weak smile.
"I'll be up in a minute," she said softly.
With that Kakashi gave her one of his trademark eye creases, pushed himself from the banister and sauntered into the other room at the top of the stairs.
Rin sighed dismally as she allowed her head to loll back on her shoulders. As long as the subject remained solely on the virus, then she figured she wouldn't have a problem. She just hoped no one asked her about Satoshi-san... she had no idea what she would say about him... or if Kakashi could look her in the face again if he found out the truth behind their so called professional relationship. She had a feeling that it would all come out in time but she didn't think she would ever be prepared for it.
After a few moments she stepped over to the stairs to her right and began to climb one step at a time figuring that she didn't have to tell Kakashi anything if she didn't want to. He didn't need to know anyway. Satoshi-san was dead and it wasn't like anything had really happened between them, not really. But she had a feeling that Kakashi wouldn't like that fact that Satoshi-san wanted to mean more to her than just her team leader...
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