For: Kagome207889, aka Jaci

Anime: Naruto

Pairing: KakashixOC

Spoilers: Some of Kakashi's past, nothing incredibly important.

"Look at the names carved on this stone, these ninjas are recognized as heroes of our village." Kakashi said solemnly, as the three genin hopefuls watched. He took a breath and was about to continue when he was cut off by the loud one.

"Hey, I'm gonna get my name carved on that too! Hero, yeah!" Naruto interrupted, legs thrashing about excitedly. Even tied up, enthusiasm was radiating off the boy and Kakashi felt compelled to slouch his shoulders further to make up for it.

"These people aren't just normal heroes." He continued, glancing back at them. The girl looked confused, the Uchiha tried to look indifferent but was quite obviously curious. The blond was grinning dopily, mood untouched by Kakashi's tone. Kakashi sighed heavily. These three were pathetic, to say the least; worst display of teamwork he'd seen in quite a while. Maybe this would convince them that being a ninja wasn't just a game.

"Why not? What, what kind are they?" Naruto demanded.

"They're all dead." Kakashi replied bluntly. He observed the blonde's face fall and turned back to face the memorial. Countless names set in stone to be preserved for all time. Some meant nothing to him, others meant everything. The names were all the same size, but some always jumped out at him none the less.

Yondaime… Obito… and Jaci.

"What are you reading?"

Kakashi looked up from his newest volume of Makeout Paradise to take in the girl before him. She had long brown hair that went down to the middle of her back, her blue eyes were lit with curiosity. He recognized her as part of his new team; Jaci. Kakashi turned the book so that she could see the cover; she looked at it a second before grimacing.

"You're into those kind of books?" She asked, distaste clear in her voice. Kakashi shrugged, looking back at it.

"I guess so." He responded, scanning the page for where he'd left off. "It's something to do." He heard her take a seat next to him and ignored her until she spoke again.

"We're supposed to get our fist B ranked mission tomorrow, right?" She asked. Kakashi nodded, eyes not leaving the page.

"Are you worried?" She prompted. He looked up at her a moment, locking their gazes before returning to the page. Jaci waited a few moments before realizing that that was the only response she was going to get. She sighed, standing up.

"See you tomorrow then."

Kakashi nodded, though he doubted she saw it. She was already out the door.

"Duck!" Someone yelled. Smoke swirled around her as Jaci moved to the side just in time to avoid a shuriken racing past her; she quickly pulled out one of her own. This was a B ranked mission? She didn't want to know what an A mission was like. Three ninja stars came whirling towards her; she blocked two with her shuriken, only to have the last one graze her shoulder.

"Damn it!" She cursed, wincing at the pain in her arm. She had officially developed a newfound hatred of rogue ninja and smoke bombs. Concentrating on which direction they'd come from, she threw her shuriken into the darkness, smirking triumphantly when she heard a yelp of pain. She dove towards the noise and soon had her attacker pinned to the ground, the shuriken had caught him in the leg. He gritted his teeth in pain, glaring at her.

"Feel like telling us who employed you now?" She asked smugly. Like his counterparts, he wore no headband. He remained silent and she ripped the shuriken out of his leg, holding it to his throat. "Come on, this many rogue ninja don't just gather together unless someone's paying them, tell me who that person is." She pressed the edge of the blade against his neck harder, biting into his skin. He continued to glare, but remained silent. She sighed and was about to finish him when something exploded near her, sending her flying off of him and crashing into the ground a few feet away. She moaned slightly and was just pulling herself to her feet when something collided with her. The something turned out to be an unconscious ninja, she noted as she struggled to get him off her.

"Sorry!" Jaci heard one of her teammates call. 'Kito' she thought darkly, glimpsing a blond head not far away. She was going to get him for that. Finally managing to disentangle her limbs, she got to her feet and ran back into the fray.

"Thanks for helping me up." She said accusingly, glaring at him. He smiled sheepishly.

"Little busy, I did say sorry." He reminded her. He didn't notice the metal gears flying towards him until they were less than an inch away. Jaci opened her mouth to warn him before Kakashi appeared behind him, blocking the attack.

"Less chit-chat." He said shortly, causing them to blush a bit with shame. Jaci frowned and jumped back into the cloud of smoke where the remaining enemies were hidden, eager to redeem herself. The fighting continued for a few minutes, the rogue ninja were less skilled but had them outnumbered 4 to 1. Eventually they had the survivors rounded up, only 3 out of the original 20 were left standing.

"Are you alright?" She asked Kito. She had escaped with a few more scratches and a bruised rib, but his head was bleeding profusely and he looked like he was about to pass out.

"Little dizzy." He muttered, sitting down. She smiled at him before walking away to reclaim her weapons. She turned her back to a presumably dead ninja to pick up a kunai knife and was just straightening up when she heard Kito scream.

"Jaci, behind you!" She turned to see the wounded ninja bearing down on her; he was too close, there was no way she'd-

Suddenly her view of her attacker was cut off by a green jacket. She saw the outline of blue sparks from around the figure and breathed a sigh of relief, grimacing slightly at the gurgling sound the dying man made before falling to the ground.

"Thanks." She said shakily. She heard Kakashi grunt in pain as he turned to face her and saw blood soaking the front of his shirt.

She felt awkward, taking him flowers of all things as she visited him in the hospital. She and her other teammates had been released immediately after being bandaged up; only Kakashi was told to stay overnight. Jaci kept her gaze resolutely towards the ground as she entered his room, closing the door behind her before unwillingly looking up at him. He looked a lot better cleaned up and seemed content, reading the same book she'd turned her nose up at two days ago. He finished the page he was on before looking at her.

"These are, ah, for you." She muttered, setting the flowers on the table beside the hospital bed. "I don't really know what you would want with them, but I wasn't sure what else to bring." Kakashi looked at the flowers before returning to his book.

"Food's not that great here." He mused. "If you're looking for ideas." She nodded, counting the tiles on the floor. Eventually she looked back up at him.

"Why did you protect me?" She asked. "You protected Kito too, but why did you protect me if you knew you were going to get hurt? We barely know each other."

"I never leave a teammate behind." He replied simply, turning the page.

Jaci thought that was probably when she'd fallen for him. A year later, it was hard to tell anymore. She knew only two things for sure: one, she was hopelessly in love with Kakashi. Two, he was not in love with her. Their team had grown closer over the past year, going on countless missions together and risking their lives for each other again and again. She'd gotten to know Kakashi a lot better, but sometimes still felt like she knew nothing. She thought that he would probably call her a friend at this point, but nothing more. She was afraid to ask for anything more, the indifferent eyes she'd come to admire so didn't seem capable of looking at her with love. Or anyone else, she noted smugly as Kakashi ignored a group of giggling kunoichi. No, ignoring was an active activity, he just didn't notice them. Even if he didn't love her back, when she sat next to him he noticed her, a fact that made her happier than she'd ever admit.

"Hey Kakashi." Jaci greeted, brushing past the star-struck girls watching him. She tried not to grin when he looked up at her almost immediately; the other girls had been trying to get him to do that for the last fifteen minutes (and so what if she'd been watching to see if he would?).

"Jaci." He returned with a nod as she assumed her customary spot sitting next to him. She tried to contain her excitement, not just from the way he said her name but for other reasons. She didn't want to be lumped together with the other hyper-active girls her age, but found herself thumping her legs restlessly against the wall she sat on anyway. Kakashi raised an eyebrow at her.

"Happy?" He stated. Jeci nodded, grinning. Kakashi watched her a moment, puzzled, before it clicked. "Tomorrow's our- your first A ranked mission, isn't it?" He realized, having been on several himself already. Her grin broadened.

"Yeah, no big deal." She said with a shrug, her smile easily foiling her attempt at nonchalance. Kakashi rolled his eyes (or the one that was visible anyway), but she was pretty sure he was smiling under his mask.

"Try to remember that people die on these missions all the time and that it's not a game." He reminded her. Jeci frowned at him.

"I'm pretty sure they gave me that lecture when I was seven." She informed him. He shrugged.

"Looks like you weren't paying attention, just a reminder."

"Hmph."

Her first A mission, her first failed mission, wasn't one Jaci would soon forget. The parts she was conscious for, anyway. She woke up two days later, blinking and looking around the bright room in confusion. With memories came pain, and she groaned as both came flooding back. They'd failed; she'd failed. Her first big mission. She didn't notice someone standing up across the room as she wallowed in self-loathing.

"Finally awake?" Someone asked. She knew who it was and attempted to prop herself up on one arm for a better look, but found this both quite painful and impossible due to the plaster encasing her arm. "I wouldn't do that." Hands were forcing her back onto the bed, she gave in without a fight.

"Kakashi?" She asked, looking up to see him peering over her. He nodded. She noted that he'd gotten away with a sling, though there may have been more bandages under his clothes. At least they were letting him walk around, she thought with a sigh.

"Damage report?" She asked.

"You have a broken arm, sprained ankle, two bruised ribs and a major concussion." He answered. "And you've been out for two days, in case you were wondering. But that could probably have had more to do with the drugs than concussion."

She winced as he rattled off the list. She could certainly feel the concussion, which might explain why certain parts of the mission were so shady. But she remembered enough.

"We failed." Jaci said bluntly. Kakashi nodded. Her brow creased.

"You don't seem that upset." She observed. How was this not tearing him up as much as it was her? He had a better reputation than her, he should be more upset. Her eyes widened. Would he blame her for it?

He simply shrugged.

"Failure happens. We had no fatalities, it could have been much worse. Breath." He reminded her, noting the horrified look on her face, before continuing. "It won't be my first failed mission; it probably won't be your last. Just concentrate on healing so you can make up for it." He advised. She calmed down a bit at that and they descended into silence for a while.

"Is everyone else alright?" She asked eventually.

"Better than you, for the most part. Only Kito's still in bed, he got a few burns." He replied. She nodded.

"And you?"

"Fracture." He replied, motioning to his arm. "Few scrapes and bruises."

"Why are you in here then?" She asked curiously. He rolled his eyes at her as if this should be obvious.

"Because you are."

Jaci opened her mouth to respond, but closed it again. She wasn't sure how to respond to that. She decided to drop the topic and take advantage of the alone time to ask something she'd been wondering for a while.

"Mind if I ask you a random question then, while you're here?" She asked, averting her eyes nervously. He would probably think she was weird for asking, but didn't anyone else find it odd? What if it had some deep, personal meaning?

"Ask away." He replied, wondering what she wanted to know. She took a deep breath before continuing.

"Why do you always wear that mask?" She managed to stutter out, glancing at his face to gauge his reaction. He blinked.

"Because, it looks cool." He responded. She looked at him incredulously.

"Are you serious?" She asked, searching the small portion of his face that was visible for any traces of sarcasm. He considered this for a moment.

"My dad gave it to me; people say we look a lot alike. He's dead, but I still get mistaken for him sometimes. I guess I wear it for a lot of reasons, maybe it's mostly just out of habit now." He mused. Jaci started at the mention of his father, she'd certainly heard of the White Fang of Konoha. She didn't think Kakashi looked upset, but asking was definitely a mistake.

"Sorry." She muttered, looking away. He smiled at her.

"Don't be, I guess I don't really have a good answer. My face is just something I like to hide from people. Stealth is a big part of being a ninja, right?" She nodded.

"So you'd only show it to someone you really trusted?" She asked, stealing a glance at him. Kakashi thought about that for a moment.

"I guess you could say that."

Time traveled, wounds healed, and after two weeks Jeci was released from the hospital.

"We really need to get some better medics." Jaci complained. "Two weeks? I thought I was going to die in there!"

"It would have taken a lot longer without them." Kakashi pointed out, walking alongside her. "I do seem to recall faster treatments though, too bad Lady Tsunade disappeared." Jaci nodded her agreement. She shifted her sling uncomfortably.

"Can't believe I still have to wear this thing." She grumbled.

"It'll be off in another week." Kakashi reminded her.

"I guess so. So what do you have planned to celebrate my escape from the hospital?" She asked teasingly.

"Nothing." He said, leading her towards a building she recognized as the new restaurant that had just opened up. "I have to go meet the Hokage. Your other team mates, however, may have put together a little something." He opened the door as he said this, revealing a brightly lit room filled with streamers and people that shouted excited greetings upon seeing her. "Have fun." He whispered. He was gone before she had time to turn around. She felt her heart sink a bit, wishing that he could stay, but found it impossible to remain melancholy once they pulled her inside.

It seemed like she had just fallen asleep when she was woken up by something tapping at her window. Jeci sighed unhappily, it was still late. A tree must have scraped the window she thought, looking over to see a silhouette outlined against the moonlight. She scrambled up, heart beating franticly before recognizing it.

"Kakashi." She hissed, heart starting to quiet in relief. He smiled and waved; she continued to glare. It looked like he was saying something, but she couldn't hear him and certainly wasn't going to have much luck reading his lips.

"What?" She asked, shrugging her arms to display her confusion. Kakashi cocked his head to one side before appearing in her room. She was fairly certain she'd locked that window.

"I was asking if it was alright if I came in." He explained. "You really should brush up on your lip reading."

"What are you doing here?!" She demanded, struggling to keep her voice low.

"I felt bad for skipping your party, so I came to make up for it." He answered, walking closer to her bed. Jeci drew the covers back around her neck tightly, hoping that he hadn't seen the particularly ratty nightshirt she was wearing.

"You didn't have to do that, you were there at the hospital with me almost everyday." She reminded him. "And you could have warned me, this is breaking and entering." He smiled.

"I wanted to surprise you."

"Congratulations, you did. You also gave me a heart attack." He shrugged her accusation off and she felt herself relaxing despite herself. "So then, where's my present?" She asked with a grin.

"Present?" He asked, brow creasing. She feigned shock.

"I don't get a present? The others got me presents." She informed him.

"Well, of course I thought about getting you one, but I wasn't sure what you would like. What do you want?" he asked. She put a finger to her lips, pretending to think about it.

"Hm… how about you take off your mask?" She suggested in an offhanded way, feeling butterflies in her stomach at the request. He blinked in surprise.

"That's it?" he asked. She nodded. He shrugged and hooked his finger under the fabric, pulling it down around his neck. Jeci stared at him in shock.

"Wow.." She muttered.

"What?" Kakashi asked, a bit self-consciously she thought.

"You look really different; I'm so used to the mask that it's weird seeing you without it. Good weird." She added hastily. "Why on earth do you wear that?"

"I think we already went over that. Is there any reason I shouldn't?"

"Well," she paused a moment before blurting out "because you're absolutely gorgeous?", cheeks reddening slightly as she said it. He looked a bit taken aback before laughing, causing her to blush more.

"Thanks, I guess." He said, struggling to control his laughter as he pulled his mask back on. She scowled at him.

"You asked."

"Yes, I just wasn't expecting that answer." He chuckled. Jeci sighed.

"So what did the Hokage want anyway?" She asked, trying to change the subject.

"I have a mission to go on tomorrow." He answered.

"'I' as in singular?" She asked, frowning at the prospect. He nodded.

"You think you'd be much use with that? Or without it, as the case may be." He amended, motioning to the sling that lay on her bed stand. She averted her eyes.

"What, I was supposed to sleep with it on? It's uncomfortable! And no, but what about the rest of the team?" She asked.

"We're splitting up, I'll be tagging along with some Anbu agents." He explained. "I'll probably be back in a week or two, your arm should be better by then."

"Two weeks?" Jeci demanded, her frown deepening.

"Going to miss me?" He asked mockingly.

"Yes." She admitted grudgingly. Kakashi smiled at that.

"Well then, I'll miss you too." He returned, leaning in and grazing her cheek. "Two weeks." He repeated, leaning back. Jeci snapped out of her momentary shock to give him an annoyed look.

"That doesn't count when you're wearing the mask." She informed him, crossing her arms (to his great amusement).

"Well then, I guess you'll just have to repay me when I get back." He replied, heading for the window. "'Night."

Jeci sighed, lying back down once he was gone. Great, two weeks without seeing him after he did that. Still, it was hard to be entirely disappointed; it had been a very good day. And then there was the matter of getting him back. She grinned, eventually falling asleep as she thought of ways of getting 'revenge'.

'I should have kissed her.'

It was ridiculous that that was the first thought that went through Kakashi's mind when he returned, twelve days later, and received the news that Jaci was gone. She had left on a mission with the rest of their team four days ago; the others had returned yesterday. She was reported MIA. After the battle they'd searched the surrounding area for hours, branching out for miles, she just wasn't there.

Kakashi refused to believe this, they must not have looked hard enough. It was easy to get lost in the commotion of battle, she was probably still there wondering where everyone had gone. Several days and pleading conversations with the Hokage later Kakashi found himself where the battle had been fought. He looked for three days, even employing the sharingan, before admitting defeat and trudging back to the Hidden Leaf village. She was gone.

There was no body, but once her name was carved into stone along side his other friends, it felt the same as if he'd sat through her funeral. It was sort of funny, in the most morbid way possible. All of his friends seemed to end up in the same place. His father, his best friend, and now Jeci. He wondered if he was some sort of plague. He'd sworn to protect all of his teammates, yet here he was again; leaving flowers at a grave.

Sometimes it seemed worse; she was just gone. It made it harder to accept, with Obito Kakashi had been there to see the life leave his friends eyes. It was worse because sometimes he caught himself wondering where she was, what she was doing. But when he tried to imagine her body lying broken the way he'd found Obito, he was sure this was better. This way he could dream, and even though he knew it would only hurt him, he could hope.

Kakashi was a bit shocked when Naruto asked him why he never took his mask off.

"Because it looks cool." He answered automatically. Sakura asked if he was serious, Naruto said that was lame, and Sasuke tried to figure out if his teacher was seriously that thick or if he was joking, all while acting like he wasn't paying attention. Kakashi barely noticed, his mind was elsewhere. He was thinking about Jeci, and about why he'd never take off his mask agian.

--

AN: Happy birthday Jaci, hope you enjoyed this! Sorry for the angst. Future request-ers: Tell me the genere you want, least you wind up with a giant ball of angst!

Yes, I have paired Kakashi up with an OC. Hope that doesn't make anyone attack me, but honestly, I think he'd rather have that than the fangirls pairing him with Sakura or Iruka (wrong! It's so, so wrong!). Also, about the mask thing: I'm not very big on Naruto and certainly don't profess to knowing much about Kakashi's past. I scouted the internet for any additional information I could get on the subject, and I hope that the vague allusions in here aren't totally far fetched.

For information on how to get your own birthday fic, check out How To.

As with any fic, please let me know if you spot any typos or other cases of mutilating the English language. Thanks for reading!