Naruto


How do you apologize to your audience for a 2 year long wait? Yeah, I'm not even going to try.


No ordinary boy


Chapter 7

Rin walked through the village, a smile plastered across her face. The afternoon heat had been replaced by a cool evening breeze flowing through her hair. It was the perfect day for her…well, almost perfect. She had slept side by side with Kakashi the previous night and the ever returning thought of it made her giggle to herself. Even better, she had woken up on top of him and he didn't seem as unhappy with it as she expected. All that was great, but the highlight of it all was the fact that the princess had now been taken out of the village. There was now no one to get in her way and prevent her making progress with her love. "I feel like we've become a lot closer", she thought to herself now skipping through the streets.

Kakashi stared at the bright blue sparks emanating from his hand. He frowned, slamming his other fist on the side of his backyard tree. "Why can't I get the chakra level right?", he asked himself, irritated at his own lack of ability. His clothes were soaked with sweat and his muscles ached from hours of training. "It shouldn't take me this damn long to learn this stupid jutsu". The fact that he had been training for so long wasn't helping his situation. He hardly had any chakra left and he knew this himself. Yet, he had set such high standards for himself that he expected to reach even under the most abject of conditions.

He kicked open his glass sliding door with the fullness of his anger causing the glass to rattle violently. The wild chakra at his hand had begun to fade as he walked inside leaving the glass door agape. He began to strip as he mumbled to himself, making his way to the bathroom while leaving a trail of clothes behind him.

Fresh out of the shower, his hair laid lifeless, sprawled across his face in all directions obscuring his vision. "I really need a haircut", he thought to himself while pushing his hair back with both his hands, leaving water droplets dripping onto his back. He strolled to his closet, put on a shirt and pants, and then slumped himself on his living room couch. He located the latest version of Icha Icha he had obtained from Jiraiya, kicked up his feet and proceeded to read.

As he opened up the first page, he heard a knock on his door. He wrapped his scarf around his neck and awaited a second knock before getting up and committing to walk the distance. "Great. just when I was getting comfortable. Who could that even be?", he thought to himself as he pushed open the door. A face with purple paint and a wide grin peered up at him.

"Hi Kakashi", Rin said ever so cheerfully. "Hey", he responded back, holding the door halfway open with his head sticking out. "You've been around here a lot lately", he added a few seconds later. Rin didn't know how to respond to this. It wasn't a question but it seemed like he wanted an answer. "y-yeah…", she uttered out in an attempt to shrug off the statement. "Can we talk?", she asked right after with a slightly worried look on her face. "I don't see why not". He responded almost instantly.

Rin waited in silence, expecting an invite indoors which never came. "uh, can I come in?", she finally blurted out. Just then Kakashi remembered the trail of sweaty clothes he had left leading up to his bathroom, along with the Icha Icha novel that laid face-up on his sofa. "I can't have her seeing all that", he thought to himself while trying to formulate a reasonable response. "No… I mean, I was just about to go get something to eat. We'll talk over lunch". Rin couldn't help but notice the slight fluster in his voice. He shut his door behind him and gestured to her to start walking. "What was he hiding?", she thought to herself as they walked side by side down the street.

Kakashi walked with his head down, leaving the occasional drop of water to trickle down his still slightly damp hair. The journey was quiet as expected. Rin had the urge to speak but remained silent as she knew her efforts to start a conversation would probably not lead to anything. Kakashi's hand suddenly shot out, pointing to a store a few meters away. "Let's eat here". Rin followed closely as he lead the way inside, attracting a waiter at first sight. They soon made their respective orders and were seated in a dimly lit corner of the restaurant.

Rin looked around numerous times, till her eyes finally landed on her thighs. She had made sure to skip Kakashi's face with every glance but could feel him staring straight at her. She wasn't sure if she should instigate the conversation now or wait till the food arrived. Luckily, Kakashi made the decision for her.

"So, what did you want to talk about?", he asked, slapping a limp strand of hair out of his field of vision.

"I like your hair long", Rin replied, distracted by the more relaxed look the length gave him. "It actually makes you look like you care about something", she added with a light chuckle. "I care about a lot of thi-wait-you wanted to talk to me about my hair?", Kakashi inquired, pulling a strand to see just how long it was. The food arrived before Rin could reply leaving a moment of silence.

"I wanted to apologize", she managed to blurt out, taking a sip of water immediately afterwards. "Fo-For this morning. I must have caused you a lot of trouble with the rest of the guys… And for Anko as well. I know she can be-".

As Kakashi reminisced the events that took place that morning, he reddened, interrupting Rin before she finished. "Nothing happened. It's not a big deal", he said, chugging down his glass in an attempt to hide the embarrassment in his voice. This did not go unnoticed by Rin. She furrowed her brow, glaring suspiciously at him. "I'm not going to keep ignoring it Kakashi. You've been acting so different since you left my house". Kakashi swallowed. For the first time he felt like he'd been trapped in a corner and had no way of getting out. "It feels like you're hiding something from me. Did anything happen that you want to tell me about?".

With those words, he could have sworn she was on to him. "Is it possible that she already knows about it? And is just waiting to see if I'm man enough to come clean myself?". Kakashi's heart raced, as he slowly began to entertain the possibility that this was actually a game of shogi, and he was playing right into her hands. "No. There's absolutely no way. I'm quite certain she was asleep. She was definitely just as surprised with the situation as I was despite not knowing its full extent".

Kakashi's eyes flashed around the restaurant as he downed the remainder of his drink, an effective excuse for not replying her immediately. Rin continued staring, trying to figure out the answers to her own questions; her face eagerly awaiting a response. As Kakashi's eyes scanned around the room searching for a viable answer, his mind began to wonder and he couldn't help his eyes getting fixated on Rin's lips. "Kakashi? Kakashi. Kakashi!" As her voice snapped him back to reality, he realized what he was staring at and almost choked on his drink for a second time.

"Uh, can we leave? I don't think I'm feeling too good". He stood up, and proceeded to leave without awaiting a response. "Sure", Rin said with a sigh while fully knowing he was alright and it was just his escape mechanism. "What the hell could he be hiding from me?", she thought taking one more bite of her food before leaving.

The sun was going down and all the village children had retreated back to their respective homes, leaving the once chaotic streets in a state of tranquility. The shade being cast by the dusk split the village streets in half, leaving them separated by a dark shadow in which Kakashi elected to stay in. As they walked down the street, the orange light from the fleeing sun focused on Rin's face made her annoyance clear as day to Kakashi. He knew she wasn't one to outwardly express it and so that feeling of guilt that he so dreaded had become present in him.

"I apologize for my disgraceful manners at the restaurant", Kakashi said, looking out of the corner of his eye. There was no way he was going to risk looking at her again. Who knew where his eyes might end up this time. "I don't care about that Kakashi", she said turning her head to him. With that, Kakashi's eyes immediately shot forward to his house, now visible at the end of the street.

"See, this is what I'm talking about. Look at me when I'm talking to you Kakashi". Rin couldn't help raising her voice. Her hands were now balled in fists at her side and the look on her face, even Kakashi found intimidating. "Why are you acting so weird? You apologize but you can't even look at me. Why even bother apologizing then? It's clear you're hiding something from me and I know I'm not usually like this but you're really making me upset with all this secrecy. It's obviously made you uncomfortable so just go ahead and tell me already".

A moment of silence ensued as they stared at each other in the middle of the street. "…Well? Are you going to tell m-"

"I ki-I kissed you Rin... while you were asleep".

"Did he just stutter?", Rin thought to herself questioning the integrity of her own ears. The reality of his words hit her just then. "Wait, what did you just say?"

"You heard me the first time Rin". He couldn't stand the embarrassment of having to repeat himself. He wanted to explain the events that lead up to it, but he couldn't help his voice getting caught in his throat each time he tried. They had now resumed their walk towards Kakashi's house in a state of absolute silence, both staring at anything but each other.

"I know why it happened so why am I finding it so difficult to explain it to her? Maybe I shouldn't have even caved in to her persistence in the first place. Damn. Having second thoughts… It's so unlike me". Kakashi increased his pace till he had a few inches of a lead on Rin. As he approached his door he stuck a hand in the air, giving a slight wave before disappearing into his home.

Rin stood still in front of his door. Her heart was still beating from what she perceived to be his confession to her. A smile spread across her reddened face as she made her way back down the street. "I didn't know Kakashi could get so shy", she said giggling to herself. "He looked so cute that way". She clasped her hands together lost in her thoughts, like a primary school girl excited for the first day of school.

"You're looking awfully happy today Rin". Rin jumped at the sudden contact of a hand on her shoulder, spinning round only to see a red haired woman with a sly grin on her face. "L-lady Kushina, what are you doing here?"

"No, no, no. You answer my questions first". Her face inched even closer to Rin as her smile grew wider. "What's got you so cheerful?" "Kakash- I-I mean I… It's nothing". Kushina raised an eyebrow as her smile seemed to get even wider. "Don't give me that. I wasn't born yesterday. A smile like that is one of love, so tell me who the lucky guy is". Rin's heart raced as she began to contemplate ways of escape. "How would Kakashi get out of a situation like this? Well, he probably wouldn't ever be in a situation like this. Obito. How would Obito get out of a situation like this?".

"Well?...", Kushina urged, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

Unable to come up with anything, Rin accepted defeat and proceeded to tell her. "K-Kakashi conf-". "Kakashi!?", Kushina interrupted; her eyes now wide with shock. "You confessed to him? How did he take it? Did he accept? Wait… Of course he did. Why else would you be smiling this much?".

"A-actually he confessed to me", Rin replied twiddling her thumbs and looking slightly to the floor. Kushina's mouth dropped open in disbelief. "Kakashi? Are you sure we're talking about the same one?". Rin simply nodded, the wide smile still plastered across her face. Kushina took a second to think. "It can't be. It's only been 10 minutes since I just saw him and he didn't seem any different. Knowing him, something like this should faze him… or at least have him acting differently, even if just slightly". Her eyes turned to Rin's face. She had her doubts, but the pure joy she saw, alongside Rin's natural aura of innocence was able to convince her that it wasn't a false story just fabricated in the moment. "How could you not tell me something like this Kakashi?"

"Now that I've answered your questions Lady Kushina, what are you doing out here?... if you don't mind me asking". "Well, I'm actually here to see you. Minato was busy, so I'm helping him inform you of an emergency mission that your team would be assigned tomorrow. I've already informed Kakashi and Obito, so ensure you're prepared. You'll be leaving around midday. It'll be Kakashi's first mission as a jonin, so make sure both you and Obito give it your all".

"Thank you for the information Lady Kushina. Would you like me to accompany you home?".

"Why not. I could use the company. Plus you could fill me in on the details of Kakashi's so called confession. Was he weird about it?", Kushina asked jokingly. Rin gave a light chuckle, proceeding to follow Kushina down the street. "No, he was sweet"


Thanks so much for the continuous reviews people. Actually had planned on dropping this but all the reviews really encouraged me to continue. Crazy to me how there were still people reviewing this in 2018. Those email updates really get to you lol

Cheers.