Damn.
Whether it was due to his elite reputation or simply his aloof personality, people rarely bothered Hatake Kakashi. He was free to wander the streets of Konoha all day, unanswerable to the normal social pretences placed upon people. Each day he melted through the crowds, nose in book, feeling completely and blissfully invisible to them all; except one.
Since the day Haruno Sakura had met her new sensei, she had been able to spot him a hundred metres away on a busy street. His lazy afternoons dozing in trees had been periodically interrupted for nearly a decade with the frustratingly cheerful greeting of "Hello Sensei!" And even though she was the merciless destroyer of his anti-social realm, she was also his old teammate. And so every time his peace was rained on by the pinkette's sunny smile, the only decent thing he could do was to respond tiredly with "Hello, Sakura-chan."
For years it had gone like this, even after the end of their professional association. At first he had taken to quietly slipping away before she had a chance to notice him, but eventually he gave in to what had become something of a ritual; a short addition to his normal routine. He never tried to make actual conversation when he did see her, and she understood him enough to respect that. But she still went out of her way for him, just to make the lone scarecrow feel noticed.
And so it was only half-heartedly that he cursed under his breath at the sight of the signature pink hair through the mass of blacks and browns on the path that day. He closed his book and drew a deep exasperated breath, lips already forming the standard reply.
But then she passed him by. Her eyes seemed different as they stared down at the path before her; the usually intense colour had faded to a dull grey-green. She hugged a stack of files to her chest like a child might hold a soft toy for comfort, and there was no trace of her usual confident smile. Kakashi noticed all these things and more about the girl whose entire body was tensed as though for battle. But the girl seemed to notice nothing but the ground at her feet as she trudged toward Hokage Tower. Not even him.
He exhaled slowly, watching Sakura as she disappeared out of his day once more. She seemed changed from the sweet little kid he had known; and even though technically they were no longer teammates, Kakashi still felt guilty for not knowing why. All those times she had extended the hand of friendship, he had never once accepted. And now it seemed all his chances had been used up, and Sakura-chan was now just another stranger in the crowd.
He had never felt so invisible.