Yeah, no idea where this came from.

But I do love my darling Kakashi.

So, this one's for him.

Kakashi stared up at his ceiling, the full moon illuminating the room. His hands were tucked behind his flyaway silver hair, his lone eye was half closed. He was the picture of relaxation, of cool, calm, and collected. Yet, his mind whirled at the speed of life, jumping from thought to thought almost instantaneously.

He sighed, and thought of Naruto. His Naruto, all grown up and strong and protective and fierce and well on his way to becoming Hokage. After, apparently he – as in Kakashi – was Hokage. Shikaku had come by and informed him of his decision that he was to begin campaigning for the Scarecrow himself to be the next Hokage.

Kakashi shook his head and rolled onto his side, curling up. "It wouldn't be right," he said, aloud, to himself. "I can't be Hokage. Not without Rin, not without knowing where she is or if she's alive or dead."

The voice of reason, which had grown quiet these past few days, finally whispered in his ear, reminded him that Rin had been gone for sixteen years now. There was no way she was still alive. Rin was loyal, she'd have returned to Konoha as soon as she knew of trouble. She would have come back.

But she hadn't.

Now, Kakashi knew, he'd never be able to sleep. As soon as Rin's name passed his lips, he pictured her. Rin, with her auburn hair, that sweet smile, and those purple marks on her cheeks. Those cheeks which, he remembered, had turned a light pink when a drunk Izumo had bellowed to the entire bar that Rin was the sexiest kunoichi to have ever lived in Konoha.

That had been two weeks before she left, and two years after Naruto had been born.

With a groan, Kakashi threw back the covers and got out of bed. A summer breeze drifted through his open window and, for a moment, he imagined the scent of strawberries and kiwis on the wind, the scent that Rin's hair once smelled like. He recalled when that aroma had filled his nose, when he had awoken with her curled against his chest, when she breathed lightly at his side.

It had happened more than once. They had been drunk the first time, and the second. But after that…they weren't. It had happened again and again and it was perfect and Kakashi had been happy, and then it stopped.

Because she had a mission.

And she left.

Shaking his head, Kakashi donned a plain t-shirt and left his apartment. Konoha was quiet at this time of night, leaving the gray-haired Jounin alone with his thoughts. Thoughts that always revolved around the same things: Obito, Rin, his sensei, Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke.

In his mind, in his opinion, Kakashi had failed them all.

So, without a second thought – or a first one really – Kakashi's feet carried him towards the memorial stone. His heart ached as he thought of his old Genin days, of Obito's laugh, Rin's smile, and Minato's fatherly gaze. But mostly, Rin's smile…

Why couldn't he stop thinking about her?

It had been fourteen years since she left.

He'd been with other women, he'd dated some, and even—

Someone was standing at the memorial stone.

In the shadows of the trees and faint light of the moon, he couldn't quite make out who it was. All he knew was that it was a girl, with long hair that fell down to her waist. It was a kunoichi, judging by the shuriken pouch at her hip and kunai sheath latched to her thigh.

Kakashi stepped forward, just as she turned around.

"…Rin?"

The young woman that had once been his Genin teammate simply stared at him. Chestnut eyes set beneath a Konoha headband swam with tears and one drop escaped, slipping down to touch her one of her purple stripes. Her auburn hair was straight still, though it fluttered behind her like a cape. She wore boots and a bandage around her right arm, a cut off jacket graced her shoulders and black shorts beneath a white skirt completed her look. As she stared at him, she bit in one of her lips, a habit she had possessed when they were younger. She used to bite that lip every time he and Obito fought.

"Rin…is that you?" he whispered. "Or…am I dreaming?"

A dry chuckle slipped between her lips, and she smiled at him.

"No dream, you silly scarecrow," she whispered, and suddenly Kakashi was walking, stumbling, tripping, sprinting towards her and she was laughing and crying and he was crying and she was in his arms – she was real – and he was spinning her around, inhaling her scent and squeezing her tight and just hold her existence in his arms again.

And it was perfect.

Kakashi pulled back and just looked at her. He drank in the sight of her, at long last quenching a thirst that had parched him for fifteen years. She gazed back at him, eyes warm and caring, and lightly touched the side of his face.

And finally, finally, Kakashi got to say the two things that had burned themselves into his brain since she left.

"Rin…" he whispered.

"Mhm?" she asked, burying herself into his chest and curling into his arms.

"I love you."

He could ask where she had gone, where she'd been, later that night.

Or maybe even tomorrow.

He knew they had forever now.

Finite.

Meh, ending kinda sucks. But whatevs, I like this one.

I'm so on a roll here!

Though no promises about another Notebook chapter...

P.S. if anyone hasn't read stories by ohwhatsherface or the blanket, I recommend for you to do so now!

They're, like, really good authors.

Anyhoo, is anyone else SUPER EXCITED FOR NO MORE FILLER CRAP IN THE SHIPPUUDEN?

Cause I am.