Being a young genius was not always a walk in the park, nor was being expected to walk in his fathers footsteps…

A 14 year old Kakashi slipped on his ANBU uniform, he looked back into the mirror, trying to adjust it (they never thought to make a uniform his size, they never thought they would ever have someone his age to wear it, either). It always annoyed him, also, that they didn't have any with a mask, so he had to make do with wearing the face mask supplied with the uniform the whole time… no matter how hard it was to see out of.

As he looked at himself in the mirror, he caught sight of his left eye, the sharingan stared back at him, "Obito.." . It had been almost a year now since his disastrous first mission as team leader, almost a year since he lost his closes friend, almost a year since they became one… what he wouldn't give to have him back, just for a day… just to tell him how sorry he was, after all, he felt it his fault for the death of Obito Uchiha. He chose to obey the rules at the cost of his own team mates. He was stupid back then, he'd gotten his priorities straight now. No matter what it cost him, his team mates came first, always.

Just then a knock came on his door. He quickly put on the ANBU face mask and ran to open it. Gleaming back at him, though he had trouble seeing it, was Rin's smile. She had come to meet him before his big mission. The war against the kyuubi was nearing its end, (though they didn't know this) and his job now was to keep the kyuubi as far away from the village as possible. He knew, and so did Rin, that this was a very dangerous mission, one that he was not expected to return home from, nor where some of the most highly trained joinins he was accompanying. He assumed she had come to say goodbye, she may not say it was because she believes he would not return, but they both knew it.

"You off then?" she asked, keeping up her smile (though she strained to do so)

"Afraid so, we leave in about 30 minutes, why?" he asked back, trying not to sound worried himself, he shouldn't feel afraid, let alone show it.

"I just came to say good bye, that's all… I'll be all alone till you get back, the village is so boring when you're not around…" she was now looking at her feet, trying to avoid looking him straight in the face, or in this case, mask.

"You've got kurenai and Anko to hang around with! I've got a bunch of 40 year old perverts! Plus, if you think the village is boring, you can go instead of me, I'd gladly stay here." He managed to let out a little laugh, as fake as it was, to lift the mood. Rin didn't reply for a while, she just continually looked down to her feet. She really wasn't helping Kakashi's confidence in coming back alive. He really wanted to stay in the village, to let someone else go on this mission, he wouldn't admit it to anyone, but he was scared.

Rin continued to stare at her feet, so Kakashi decided it best to go now, or he could be there for hours waiting for a reply. He tapped her on the shoulder as he went by, and she looked up and managed a smile, before turning away from him. How babyish would she look crying right in front of him! She hated getting all emotional before missions… and she wasn't even going on this one!

As he walked down the street, he couldn't help but look back. He just wanted to catch her eye one last time before he left, he hadn't even managed to say goodbye to her. He didn't like to admit it, even to himself, but he and Rin had become close, they were more than friends now since Obito's death. He had promised to take care of her for Obito. The last thing he had said to him… He wasn't in luck, she still had her back facing him. He let out a little sigh, it was for the best. It would have just made it harder to leave.

He began to focus more on the mission at hand. He, and a few others, were to lead the kyuubi away from Konoha. He felt honoured to be chosen for such an important mission, although, he assumed the fourth had had a say in the matter. He believed in him, sometimes, just a little too much. The other members of Konoha's council would not have been very happy with the decision. After his fathers actions on an important mission, they had no trust in the clan, meaning that he had been affected just as much as his father had.

Then, suddenly he felt something brush his shoulder. As a natural instinct he turned around and attempted to punch his attacker, but stopped himself in time to avoid hitting his team mate. It was Rin… before he had time to ask her why the hell she had sneaked up behind him she had jumped forward and grabbed him… he wasn't sure what to do, he just hadn't had the time for girls with all his training hours and missions, and now, just before the most important mission he had ever been given, he was starting to regret this. After all, if he didn't get back alive, then he would have missed his chance to ever have someone close to his heart… the only love he would have shared would have been between him and his father, before that was torn to shreds a couple of years ago.

"Rin… are you ok??" he asked trying not to think about his little crisis anymore. He could tell she was crying, and that made him feel even worse… maybe if he didn't go, he could be with Rin, and have some joy in his heart again…

"Rin… I have to go now… can you let go of me…" that sentence, felt like the hardest thing he had ever had to say, period.

She slowly let go, wiping away a tear from her cheek.

"Sorry 'bout that… I guess I'm a bit more emotional than I expected to be…" she then turned her back to him again, "good bye Kakashi… see you soon" she yelled as she ran off in the opposite direction from Kakashi. He watched her until she disappeared among the rest of the crowd, and then, turned back to the direction of ANBU head quarters. It was going to be a long mission… one he simply wished he didn't have to go on.