Author's Note: Hello everyone! Yes, yes, I am well aware that I should be working on the next chapter of Living Arrangements, but this idea persistently popped into my head and thus, I had to write it. It's got a little bit of Gai too, so I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
"Is that Rin-san?"
"Huh? Oh, hello Gai."
"What are you doing here?" he motioned to the training grounds.
"I was looking for someone to train with, what else?"
"I will train with you, my youthful Rin-san!"
She smiled warmly up at him, nodding her head in agreement.
The two sparred for around an hour, before Rin fell to the ground, utterly exhausted.
"You're getting much better!" Gai complimented her.
"Yeah," she muttered distractedly.
He seemed to sense this change in demeanour and inquired as to what was causing it, though already knowing what the most probable answer was.
"It's Kakashi," she responded after a few moments.
"What about Kakashi-kun?"
"I don't know; he's just becoming paranoid. Like last week he tried to stop me from going on my mission because he felt that 'I wasn't ready for something of that rank'. He almost went to sensei to demand that I be taken off." She sighed exasperatedly, putting her head in her hands.
"And this bothered you?" Gai asked, presuming he already knew her response from the tone of her voice.
"Of course it bothered me! Ever since Obito died he's been…well…interfering would be my word of choice except that's too harsh…maybe stalking is more appropriate of a term; yeah, he's been stalking me everywhere. And it's very irksome, what he's doing. I'm sure he means well but going around saying 'I will protect you'," she imitated his deep voice, "isn't going to do anything. He knows better than anyone the risks a shinobi life entails and he's conscious of the fact that these risks may have even greater chances of occurring because we're in a war, but sometimes, you'd swear he doesn't know. Thinking about pulling me out of a mission? Me, a medic? Yeah right, like anyone's going to let that happen, and still he tries to fight against it. He doesn't want me out there; he doesn't understand why I can't be like regular medics and just work in the hospital or as he puts it, 'the safe hospital'."
"So you're upset because he cares?" Gai questioned thoughtfully, changing the words she'd said into the clearer message, the bigger picture.
Rin's frustration seemed to dissipate as she realized that what Gai had said was right. Boy, did she feel guilty now. It was easy to think of Kakashi as a bother when he was constantly fussing over her, but when the underlying motives were brought to her attention, she realized all too abruptly that perhaps she wasn't being very fair. After all, she knew how much Obito's death had affected him and she knew of the guilt and regret he felt for both of his teammates (her and Obito) and she knew of the added burden he had now that he was in ANBU. It wasn't just that he wanted her to be safe, it was that he wanted to be able to rest assured that nothing would happen to her while he was gone, that he wouldn't have to live through the death of another team-mate. When Rin had been ranting, Kakashi's worries and actions had seemed ridiculous to her, but now she understood a little better what he was feeling and why he did the things he did. Still, it didn't give him the right to go around treating her like that.
"Well no, it sounds silly when you put it that way," she concurred, "and I suppose I understand where he's coming from, but he should know…he should understand that no matter what promise he made to Obito about keeping me safe from harm, he's not going to be able to carry it out and it's not his fault! I just…I'm sick of him treating me that way; treating me like glass, like something fragile that's going to break any second! It's not right! I'm not as breakable as he thinks; I'm a lot stronger than he gives me credit for." Rin finished with a huff, crossing her arms. She then added quickly, "I'm sorry Gai. I'm sure you have better things to do right now than listen to me rant."
He laughed merrily, and his eyes sparkled as he looked back at her, engaged in one of his rare moments of serious thoughtfulness. "Not at all! If I had the choice, I'd listen to your melodic voice rant youthfully all day!"
Rin giggled at him, smiling. Though most mistook him for a pushover and a nutcase, Rin was one of the few who were privy to his real self; the respectable, thoughtful, kind persona that didn't seem to shine through too often when he was in the presence of others. Whenever she was in need of a good chat or an epiphany that wouldn't have otherwise occurred, she always managed to track him down and he always dropped everything to help her and spend time with her. That was what she liked about Gai; it didn't matter whether he was in a good mood or not. If she needed his advice or a listening ear, he was always open and he never ceased to find innovative customs to cheer her up.
"So what do you think I should do?" she wondered out loud, more to herself than to Gai.
"If I were you," he suggested, "I'd confront Kakashi and tell him exactly what you told me. I'm sure he'd understand; if he cares as much as I believe he does, then he'll at least listen to what you have to say."
"Yeah," Rin breathed, mulling the idea over in her head, "yeah, that doesn't sound like a bad idea." She got up and began to walk away. "Thanks Gai," she called over her shoulder, "for both training and listening to me!"
--
Rin now sprinted through the streets of Konoha, looking into back alleys and around corners, desperate to find her ex-teammate before she lost the mustered up courage to tell him exactly what she thought about him and his overprotective self. Weaving in between people in a market space, she surveyed all the heads until she saw a silver-haired one she recognized. Picking up her pace, yet still careful to avoid the unsuspecting civilians around her, she focused on that head and that head only, tracking it tirelessly through the busy streets. Finally out of the crowd, she saw him depart down a side street and sped up even more to catch up to him. As if sensing her presence, he turned around, a bag of groceries in his arms falling as she failed to notice he'd turned around and knocked him to the ground.
"What are you doing knocking me over like that?" he started angrily, but turned to face her with a smile. "Didn't know you missed me that much."
She rolled her eyes at his childish behaviour. Honestly, how could she miss him? He'd only been gone a couple of days; she hadn't had the time to even think about missing him. "I didn't," she assured him dryly, "I need to talk to you."
Apparently Kakashi had known what the coming conversation was going to pertain to as he suddenly became very uncomfortable and fidgety. "Uh you see…I'm late, need to hand in a mission report."
"I need to talk to you," she persisted stubbornly.
"I really don't have the time-"
"Kakashi, if you care about me as much as you claim you do, you'll listen to me," she told him, her stance and voice calm yet firm, rooted.
He looked on at her with an indifferent expression and stood silently, not even bothering to point out that he had never claimed to care about her at all. From experience, he knew that she could not be moved from her position when her voice took on that firm tone, the one that commanded and demanded respect and attention from her peers.
"I don't like the way you're treating me," she stated, her voice still firm yet surprisingly kind, in a way that only she could pull off.
He stared at her incredulously. "What do you mean?"
"I think you know."
"Is this about the mission last week? I thought I already apologized for that, Rin-"
"It's not just about that!" she snapped, something that scared him and made him wonder what the big problem was; she never got angry with him. "You're always doing the same thing…always treating me like that…!" She pointed an accusing finger at him.
He focused his gaze on the index finger in front of him. "Treating you like that…?" he repeated.
"Like I exist!" She nearly shouted at him, glaring.
He arched a silver eyebrow and a smirk tugged at his lips. "Would you rather I treat you as if you didn't exist?"
She shook her head and sighed. "You know that's not what I meant! I meant treating me like porcelain doll or something! You pay too much attention to my existence; it can become positively infuriating at times!"
Kakashi's smirk abruptly turned to a frown on his generally neutral features and his eyes seemed to be clouded with confusion. "But it's my job to protect you," he countered, "I promised."
"It is not your job to protect me! Being ANBU is your job, ok?" She rapidly cut him off as she noticed he was about to retort again. "And I don't need saving or protecting all the time! It's ridiculous! I'm not a damsel in distress," she poked herself in the chest with her finger, "and you," she poked him in the chest, stepping closer, "sure as hell aren't prince charming! Our life isn't a fairytale, as surreal as it may seem, and you won't always be able to save or protect me from an evil villain. I think that's something you need to come to terms with."
"I…But…Uh…"
"Don't interrupt," she silenced him with her tone of voice and a glare, "I'm not finished. You need to stop treating me like something that's fragile and going to break any second." Rin huffed, crossing her arms. "Quite frankly, it's becoming insulting to me. I'm not as weak or helpless as you think, or would like to think."
Rin walked past Kakashi, dropping her aggressive stance and bent over to pick up his grocery bag, which lay forgotten on the asphalt. She lifted it gingerly off the ground, then turned towards him and smiled warmly, placing the brown paper bag in his arms. "I'm a lot stronger than you give me credit for, Kakashi," she insisted, still smiling.
"I know…I just feel…" he trailed off, not having the perfect word to describe his thoughts.
"Obligated? Guilty? Obligated because of guilt?" she supplied a few ideas, and he nodded in assent. "That's the other thing I wanted to talk to you about. I…you can try and protect me or whatever, but please don't pretend like you're really doing this for me, for my sake. If it helps you cope with the guilt you feel surrounding Obito, then that's fine, but don't act because there's no need; I know the real reason, ok?"
She smiled up at him once more, albeit a little weakly, and began to walk away. He wasn't going to let her go off on that note. Sharply and suddenly, he grabbed hold of her wrist, pulling her back to her previous spot. She looked up at him confusedly and noticed that his face was completely stoic now, his eyes void of any traces of amusement. "It's not just Obito…I feel guilty and responsible, yes, for what happened to him –"
"Even though it wasn't your fault," she cut in, but he pretended as though he hadn't heard her.
"- But I also feel guilty about what I did to you."
"What you did to me? What did you do?"
"Obito told me something on the day he died…and I think he was right when he said it. He told me, 'Those in the ninja world who break the rules and regulations are called trash…but those who don't care about their companions are even worse trash.' I treated you all like garbage when I was the only actual trash. I don't just protect you and stay around you for the sake of keeping my promise to Obito…I also do those things to apologize to you and make things right."
Rin was so in shock at the sincerity of what he'd said and the momentary lapse in pride that she almost didn't believe the conversation was actually happening. She pinched herself lightly on the arm to assure herself that what she was witnessing was indeed reality, before reaching up and putting one shockingly cold hand on Kakashi's forehead. "Are you feeling okay?" she asked in a semi-joking manner.
He looked quizzically at her before processing what she was probably thinking. He shoved her hand off his forehead and sighed heavily. "Come on, I'm being serious here Rin."
"You're always serious," she heaved a sigh to match his, "sometimes I wish you were joking."
"Well I'm not."
Rin shook her head, face calm and eyes focused on the ground. "You don't have to apologize or ask for forgiveness or anything; there's nothing to forgive. We'll call it even since I abandoned you right after he died. Start a clean slate. How does that sound?"
"It sounds…good," he admitted.
"Good. Now to apologize, I'll allow you to treat me to lunch."
"Apologize? I thought I was forgiven, I thought I was starting on a clean slate."
"You are," she assented, grinning, "after lunch of course."
"I thought you weren't in need of help, I thought you weren't a damsel in distress."
"I'm not. I'm simply a damsel, not in distress."
"So if you're a damsel not in distress and I'm not prince charming, then what am I?"
"My friend."
He scoffed mockingly, smirking; his eyes alight with amusement as he looked at her. "I think I can live with that."
Author's Note: Well, that's all folks! Hope that everyone enjoyed this oneshot. Please read and review. :) Special Thank You to snappa for betaing this and providing the ending line. :)