Tobi wanted to break the silence somehow. Kakashi hasn't been like this since Rin died. She was their best friend, and one of their former teammates. The silver haired ninja was silent for weeks when it happened, and he barely ate at all for a month or so. He blamed himself for her death. If she were still alive, would they both be different?

"Hey, Kakashi….?" Tobi started, ditching his silly voice for a while. It wouldn't help, and he knew it. "It's not your fault. You didn't know if he was with these guys or not." He held up the two bodies as he mentioned them

Kakashi looked at Tobi briefly, and a fake smile crept up under his mask.

"I'm not upset. I'm just trying to think of how to tell the girl."

The masked man sighed in relief, glad his friend wasn't dwelling on what he did today. Morning eventually came and they made their way back to the village together. They arrived at Tsunande's office after bringing Inoue to the hospital for treatment. The doctors said it was a decent concussion and possible PTSD in the future after hearing what happened from the two friends.

"Good work you two." Tsunande said smiling. She motioned for one of the Anbu guards by the door to come in, and had him take the bodies of the perps out. "Your payment for this mission will come in the mail by this afternoon. You're dismissed."

"Yes Ma'am!" they chirped to the Hokage, before poofing out of the room. When Kakashi arrived to his home, he decided he had enough time for a shower and something to eat before going to see the rest of Team 7. He ended up passing out for the day in his bed instead of meeting his students for training.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"WHERE THE HELL IS HE!?" a pink haired kunoichi bellowed, scaring the birds. "He's always late!" She turned to the two other ninja, who were just as irritated as she was. They knew by now Kakashi would be late for just about everything. Especially when it concerned their squad. But rthis was ridiculous! It was almost sundown!

"Maybe we should head home." The blonde boy next to her suggested. "It's later than usual, and we might not have time to train today once he does come."

"Do you think….?" The pink haired girl started. The raven haired boy was sitting on the railing of the bridge, teetering back and forth between jumping down and falling into the river. He looked up at his companions, with no emotions on his face. "Do you think something happened to him?"She looked to the sunset, her anger ebbing and being replaced by panic. "What if Kakashi-sensei is hurt?"

"You guys are crazy!" The blond blurted with a frown. "He's one of the best ninja there is! There's no way he would be hurt!"

"You never know, Naruto. It could be anything." The raven haired boy said. "But now that you mentioned it, he could've just slept late or something and forgot all about us."

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Inoue's head throbbed with the worst migraine she's ever had. It hurt to turn her head at all, and it even hurt to think about moving her head. After a few minutes, she managed to open her eyes to a dark, empty room. A cool breeze brushed her cheeks and she took a minute to look up to the source. There was an open window to the left of her, cracked just enough to let her see a few stars in the night sky.

A slight creaking was heard to her right, and a bit of light filtered in. But when she turned to look at what made the noise, the light had vanished and the noise had stopped. Listening carefully, she heard a rhythmic and dull blooping noise coming from outside in what she guessed was a hallway next to her room. Closing her eyes, she tried her best to understand the world around her. She knew it was dark. It must be night time. She knew there was a window cracked open, and she was on a bed. She must be inside. The blooping was familiar. It reminded her of a heart monitor. If that was the case, she was in a hospital.

She drifted off into oblivion before she could let it sink in properly. She would just have to deal with that fact later, when she wasn't in so much pain.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Arriving at the bridge where Kakashi and his students normally met, Tobi was unsure of what to tell said students. He had gone to the silver haired ninja's house to clean up after the mission and asked if he could use his shower. Of course, his best friend said yes. He was still a little spaced out, and he looked physically and emotionally exhausted. When his shower was finished and he had gotten dressed and put his orange mask back on, he thought suggesting a hot shower would be a good idea. It would help relieve the stress his friend was experiencing.

He marched into the bedroom, rather pleased with himself, but found the copy ninja fast asleep on his bed, snoring softly. Rather than wake him, Tobi decided to let him continue resting. He would let his students know there was no training today. But what to tell them?

"Tobi-san?" The pink haired girl asked. "Where's Kakashi-sensei?"

"Well, he hasn't had a very good couple of days. He fell asleep a few hours ago and I didn't have the heart to wake him up."

"So he's fine?"

"He should be back in action tomorrow, yes~!" The three genin nodded and thanked him, and they all left in different directions. Only one was still worried about Kakashi.