Summary: They begged him to help her heal, but he knew that he was just as broken as she was. KakaRin. Slight AU.
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"Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather, the triumph over it."
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"Excuse me, Lord Hokage," the young kunoichi began, her long brown hair swaying slightly behind her as she took a step towards the Hokage's desk. She folded her arms behind her back respectfully, looking into the wrinkled eyes of the aged man that sat silently before her. She continued, despite the light flush that flared on her cheeks and the rapid palpitations of her heart, "I believe you must have confused me with another person," she paused, her bangs tickling her tattooed cheeks by the breeze of the slow moving fan over head, "I'm not even qualified to accept a mission of this rank-"
"Rin," the Sandaime began, cutting the newly appointed Tokubetsu Jonin off, "when you were appointed, you essentially took on the title of a Jonin. May I remind you that, Jonins are of the rank to accept every mission offered to them, including S-ranked missions." He paused, looking Rin square in her brown eyes. "With that said, I was the one who chose who will be assigned this mission. I'm taking your reluctance as a sign that you don't...trust in my ability to do so."
"No, sir," she responded definitively, "However-"
"Very well then. What exactly is the problem?" Hiruzen asked as he rose his wooden pipe to his lips, lighting it with a simple snap of his fingers.
Rin took a moment, sorting out all of the reasons why she she more than believed that she was the wrong person for this job. Reasons that she thought were more than evident.
Her mind settled on the one that stood out to her the most; the one that caused her to have the most hesitation.
"I don't have confidence in my own ability," she confessed, managing to keep her stand and voice steady. "I was only appointed as a Tokubetsu Jonin because of my extensive knowledge in medical ninjutsu and explosives. And considering the context of the mission, I don't think either of those skills will be needed."
A wave of silence fell over the five people that found themselves in the Hokage's round room. Hiruzen let out a plum of smoke as he looked up at her. Taking another breath of the addicting fumes, he placed the wooden pipe down before lacing his winkled fingers together before his face, his elbows resting on the table.
"Do you know what the purpose of a team is, Nohara-san?" He asked rhetorically. "A team is there to become one operating unit – each member has a part to play and is supported by their fellow teammates in what they fall short in," he paused raising from his seat.
Rin's eyes slid shut as she concentrated on the sound of his footsteps bouncing off of the rounded walls as he made his way to the front of the desk, standing before the four shinobi that stood silently before him.
He once again looked Rin directly in her eyes. "By you using that as a reason to decline this mission, you are, in effect, saying that you don't have confidence in the abilities of the teammates that stand behind you now."
Rin's eyes shot open, locking onto the man that stood before her, a cloud of smoke surrounding him. It was only then that Rin could feel the steady gazes from the masked eyes of the three ANBU members that stood behind her.
Thankfully, one of the stares was oddly comforting; a gaze that she had grown used to. One that she worked so hard to gain.
"Do you not have confidence in us, Nohara-san?" a deep, unfamiliar voice called from behind her. Rin turned towards her assigned team, facing the three masked men. Her eyes flashed over the familiar silver hair that stood on the crown of the man adorned with the Hound mask before shifting back to the man who questioned her.
Her lips parted slightly as she struggled to form a response, her lithe fingers tensing slightly into the palms of her hands.
She was so nervous. She knew she should trust the judgment of the Sandaime. But what if...what if she just got in the way, again? Her stomach flopped into itself sending a nauseous, uncomfortable feeling to surge through Rin's body.
"Nohara-san?" the voice called, bringing her from out herself. She identified that the deep, almost comforting voice came from behind the panther mask.
"Of course I do, ANBU-san," she finally replied before turning back to the Sandaime. "I have confidence in my team," she expounded confidently.
Who was she to turn down a mission given to her by the Hokage. She was simply a part of a large machine operated by the ANBU. A machine that would surely operate just fine if she didn't.
And maybe, things will be different this time.
Hiruzen's face cracked into a small, proud smile. "Very well then. Your teammates will be Hyou-san and Haundo-san with Tori-san being the captain of this mission. You will be referred to as Raion, make sure that you never reveal your true identity, Rin."
She watched as Hiruzen went to his desk and picked up the mask that sat there previously unnoticed. He held the porcelain mask out to her, releasing it once she took a step forward and accepted it with both hands.
Rin took in the simply painted mask, the red depiction of a lion contrasting greatly with its smooth white background.
"That is your temporary mask. This does not make you an official member of the ANBU," Tori advised her, his voice low and baritone. " I have already sent for someone to leave your issued uniform in your home, you are to wear that during the mission. We are leaving no later than six in the morning, two days from now. Come any later and you will be left behind. Understood?"
Rin turned to face her captain properly. The tone of his voice gave her the hint that all he was saying was not to be taken lightly. He definitely didn't become an ANBU leader by taking things the easy way.
She bowed, holding her arms to her side, as her brown hair fell to curtain around her face. "Yes, sir."
She rose back to her full height as Tori bowed towards the Hokage before disappearing, leaving nothing but a thin cloud of smoke in his wake.
"We will see you tomorrow, Raion," Hyou bid to her before also disappearing from their presence.
Rin turned to face Hiruzen, once again bowing respectfully. "Thank you, Lord Hokage," she uttered before raising and turning to face the last ANBU member in the room. The one that she was more than comfortable with. She bowed slightly towards him before weaving the simple signs that would teleport herself into the comforts of her own home.
The final ANBU member that wore the Hound mask lingered for just a few minutes more before following the suit of his three teammates. He soon vanished in a cloud of smoke that was just a few shades darker than his silk like silver hair.
x x x
Rin carefully placed the lion mask onto her dresser, pairing it with the metal, ANBU uniform that was left on her bed.
She tried hard to not think of how they managed to place the outfit. After all, the ANBU can do nearly every and anything.
Her ear twitched at the light tapping that came from her large bedroom window. A smiled graced her face as the image of the hound mask registered in her mind.
"Kakashi," she began, unlocking the latch before swinging a pane of her window open.
The uniformed ANBU climbed into her bedroom, as he has many times before. He closed the distance between them, the light breeze ruffling his hair from behind as it flowed in through the open window. His right hand rose to slip his make off, revealing the navy blue fabric mask that laid beneath.
"Rin," he greeted, his lips pulling back into a smile that was easily seen behind the fabric barrier. He took her into an endearing hug, his keen nose picking up on the light scent of strawberries that stuck to her hair. "Are you alright?" he asked her, pulling away but keeping his arms around her waist.
She let out a light, airy laugh. "I'm terrified," she admitted, looking down between them. "I don't want to get into anyone's way, again," she added, her voice drifting off with every word.
"Lord Hokage wouldn't assign you to this mission if he didn't believe you would complete it. Nor would Tori-san accept you as a teammate. You'll be doing everything but getting in the way," he reassured, lifting her chin with his index finger and thumb. He examined her subtle features with his single steel colored eye. "And I'll be there to protect you."
Just like I promised.
Rin gazed up at Kakashi's masked face, her fingers raising slowly to the mask that covered it. She ghosted her thumbs along his asked lips, a light smile gracing her own. She hooked her fingers gently into the edge of his mask, looking into his eye for any signs of protest. Not finding any, she slowly pealed his mask down, revealing the lower half of his face and eventually uncovering his lips that had a healthy shade of pink to them.
Leaving the edge of his mask, she traced along the scar that ran down the center of his left eyelid that he cautiously kept closed to shield his given Sharingan. She lifted herself slightly onto her toes, guiding his lips towards her own as she planted a chaste kiss on his warm lips.
Satisfying herself with a few more light pecks, she traced her hands down the length of his arms.
"I trust you," she finally responded, looking up at him.
Kakashi's lips pulled back into a smile that was only recognizable by Rin. He nodded his head lightly before pulling her into another embrace.
I'll never let anything happen to you. He promised to himself, drawing her warm body as close as he could to his own.
Why would he fail her now?
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I feel like Kaka and Rin would be insanely close (And in my ideal world, be an item) after the death of Obito and Minato – if she was still alive, of course. Teams are kinda like families, and when you lose half of them, you have no other choice than to depend on each other, right? Then again, I just love KakaRin. c:
Reviews would be greatly appreciated, especially if they contain constructive criticism.
Thank you for reading, 皆さん。:)