Hi everyone. Thank you to the people who reassured me that my last chapter wasn't as bad as I thought (gives big hugs), your reviews really made me happy.

Well on with the show, I don't own Naruto.

Kakashi woke up suddenly. It was dark, the only light was a single ray from the moon peeking through the closed curtains of his bedroom window. Shifting slightly he looked at the clock on his bedside table. It was three in the morning and there was someone in his house.

Mentally cursing himself for not locking his front door, he got up quickly and moved silently towards the door of his room, which he had left open, pulling a kunai out of the pile of clothes he had left on the floor when he had gotten changed.

In the dark he spotted the outline of the intruder, they were standing by the front door, seemingly hesitant about coming in any further. They hadn't seen him yet, it looked like they had their back to him, like they were thinking about leaving again, but in the gloom he couldn't tell who it was.

Making the decision to attack first and ask questions later, he moved quietly out into the open, careful not to make a sound, and advanced on the intruder. He was about to attack when her heard his name.

"Hatake-san," Gin's voice said from the shadows.

"Gin-san?" he replied, dropping the kunai on the ground and walking out to meet her, thankful that she had spoken up before he had wounded her. If he had tackled her he could have crushed her injured ribs. "What are you doing here?"

He turned the light on as he made his way towards her. As the room was flooded with light Gin let out a small cry and dropped to the ground, covering her face with her hands. She stayed like that for a few seconds while he eyes adjusted to the light.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry, I forgot about your eyes," Kakashi apologised, he hoped he hadn't done any damage. He hadn't realised that the artificial light would affect her so much and cursed himself for being so stupid. Turning on a light suddenly after being in a pitch black room for so long even hurt his eyes.

"It's all right Hatake-san," the young woman replied picking herself up off the floor. She moved her hands away from her face and he could now see that she was crying. Her eyes were red and puffy and she was shaking.

"Gin-san what's wrong?" Kakashi asked, moving closer to her and grabbing her shoulders. "Did the light hurt you that much?" Oh shit, he thought, furious with himself. Tsunade's going to kill me if she finds out.

"No, Hatake-san," Gin said, her voice shaking so badly he could hardly understand her. Tears were running steadily from her large eyes. "They won't go away," she sobbed, closing her eyes and turning away from him. "Whenever I close my eyes they're there...asking me why...blaming me...my mother...father...all of them. They won't leave me alone. I'm afraid to go to sleep. I'm afraid to close my eyes."

Kakashi sighed and pulled her towards him, encircling her in his arms. Her whole body shook as he held her and he could feel the tension in her thin frame. He stroked her hair as she berried her face in his shirt, sobbing gently until his shirt was wet with her tears.

"I'm sorry," Gin whispered, her voice muffled. "I woke you up..."

"Don't worry about it," Kakashi said smiling and squeezing her gently. She was trembling so much she could hardly stand. Now he knew why she hadn't been getting much sleep lately. "I told you to come over if you needed anything."

She didn't reply but her erratic breathing slowed as he held her closer, the warmth from his body and his steady heartbeat calming her. Now that she was no longer alone her fears seemed stupid and she was embarrassed that she had come running to Kakashi for no reason.

"Come on," Kakashi said softly into the girls ear, hoping that she wasn't about to collapse. He could feel her heart beating rapidly as she took deep, shuddering breaths, trying to calm herself down. "You can stay here tonight."

She didn't say anything as he led her to his room and directed her to the bed, where she lay down and he covered her with the blankets. He could tell that she was really tired but she was fighting sleep. He moved away from the bed, hoping that the lounge would be comfortable, as he also hadn't been getting much sleep lately.

"Hatake-san?" he heard Gin call. He turned to see her sitting up in bed, her large eyes fixed on him. She really is beautiful, he thought as he watched her struggle with what she was about to say.

"What is it Gin-san?" he asked gently.

She blushed deeply, not wanting to tell him that she was still so afraid of her dreams, and that she didn't want him to leave her alone. She felt that if someone wasn't there than her dreams would swallow her. She opened her mouth to ask him to stay, but nothing came out.

Kakashi watched the young woman's tortured face. He knew what she wanted and he was only too happy to give it to her, but he was worried about being so close to her. Hugging was one thing, completely innocent and with clear boundaries, but sleeping in the same bed was different. He worried about what his unconscious body would do with her so close for so long.

But he was meant to be looking after her, he thought, and she was obviously exhausted. If the only way to get her to sleep was to be close to her all night, well then he would have to do it. For the mission.

He tried to convince himself that that was the real reason he he mad his way back over to the bed, Gin watching him intently. He was attempting to ignore the part of him screaming that he was a pervert.

"I'll stay with you if you want," he said softly, sitting down on the bed next to her. She looked up at him, haunted eyes filling with silent gratitude. She blushed slightly and nodded, her heart beat speeding up again.

He smiled and slipped into bed next to her. She lay down and moved closer to him and he encircled her in his arms again. The warmth from his body and the firm, gentle feeling of his arms around her, calming her instantly.

Gin sighed, finally feeling safe from the nightmares that haunted her.

Kakashi sighed also, hoping that he would be able to get some sleep with a beautiful young woman pressed against his chest all night.

-

When Kakashi woke the next morning the first thing he saw was Gin lying next to him. Her eyes were closed and she was sleeping peacefully. Her back was pressed against his chest and he had one arm around her waist, keeping her pinned to him. Her left arm was resting on his and she was gripping his hand lightly.

He smiled as he felt her gentle heartbeat against his chest and felt the warmth of her body against his. Breathing in deeply, he took in the sent of her shampoo. Vanilla, he thought sleepily. I wonder if she tastes as good as she smells.

She sighed and rolled over in her sleep. Now she was facing him, she was so close he could feel her breath on his neck, sending shivers down his spine. Her lips were centimetres away from his and he only had to lean forward to find out the answer to his question.

He managed to stop himself before he went too far. He really wanted to press his mouth against hers, to feel her soft lips on his, but he reminded himself that he hardly even knew her, and a not so long ago had thought she was a mass murderer. It now seemed strange to him that such a sweet girl could ever have been considered a criminal.

In the days he had spent with her at the hospital, Kakashi had begun to get small glimpses into her real personality and had started to realise that, underneath her cold, emotionless exterior, was a shy sweet girl that feared the world and the people in it. The life she had lived had broken her, making her suspicious of everything, teaching her to never show what she was feeling, in case those feelings were used against her. She was broken, and for all her strength and skill in battle, she was utterly helpless.

Gin sighed again and snuggled her face into his chest, her hands gripping his shirt softly. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer. In sleep she looked peaceful, as if the horrors of her life couldn't touch her, but he knew that she would need him when she woke up, and maybe would never stop needing someone to be there whilst she slept.

Kakashi found he wanted to look after her, he wanted her to need him. It confused him that they seemed to fit so well together, that she was so comfortable around him when she was so suspicious of everyone else, and that he was so comfortable around her when he had always preferred his own company than the companionship of others.

Kakashi sighed and pulled away from the sleeping girl, getting up as carefully as he could so he didn't wake her, thinking that she probably needed all the sleep she could get. Now he knew what was bothering her and it worried him, he had no idea what to do about it.

As he made his way into the kitchen, pulling his Hitai-ate as he went, he heard a light knock on his front door and went to open it. Genma stood there, his fist raised to continue knocking and a look of surprise on his face.

"Yo," Kakashi said sleepily as he let the other jonin into his apartment. He was thinking about Gin in the other room, remembering her sensitive eyes and wondering how he was supposed to get her around during the day. Well at the very least, he thought, I can make the apartment darker.

"Wow Kakashi," Genma chuckled lightly as he stepped inside. "I didn't think you would be up so early, are you sick or something?"

"Is there a reason you're here or did you just come over to annoy me," as Kakashi said this he moved around the apartment and pulled down all the blinds on the windows, blocking out the majority of sunlight.

Genma gave the younger man a strange look/ "Actually I'm here to tell you that the Hokage has called an emergency meeting. All jonin and ANBU not on missions have to report to headquarters. The meeting starts at ten and you can't be late."

Kakashi's eyes narrowed. "Do you know what this is about?" he asked. He thought he knew why the Hokage had called this meeting, but he wanted confirmation before he let anything slip. After all, no-one was meant to know about Gin's existence in Konoha until the Hokage announced it.

"Well I don't know for sure, but I heard something about a dispute with Nikkogakure. It's just a rumour bit I heard that the Hokage refused a request from the Hikarikage or that we have something they want and now they are threatening to change our enemy ally status."

Frowning Kakashi made his way into the dark kitchen, closely followed by Genma. "You seem to know a lot about this for it just being a rumour," he said as he pulled open the fridge, he knew there was nothing worth eating in there but he looked anyway.

"Well everyone at headquarters is talking about it," Genma replied. "No-one knows anything for sure yet, but I suppose we'll know what's going on later today. Anyway the Hokage gave me this scroll to..."

He trailed off as the bedroom door opened and Gin walked out into the kitchen. For a moment no-one moved or spoke. Gin's blank eyes were fixed on Genma, who looked confused. Kakashi was about to speak when his friend stood up quickly, eyes studying Gin closely.

"Genma this is..." Kakashi began, but stopped when he saw the look in the other man's eyes. They were burning with anger. It was almost as if Kakashi could feel the heat radiating from them.

"I know who she is Kakashi," Genma said darkly. "Kurayami Gin, the S-class criminal, the one imprisoned in Nikkogakure for the mass murder of Yorugakure. The only question I want answered is, what the hell is she doing here?"

Genma's hands were shaking as they hovered dangerously close to his shuiken holster. Kakashi wondered how he knew who Gin was by sight alone, there weren't many people who had seen her since she had been imprisoned. He was also curious as to his friends reaction, he had never seen Genma loose control like this before.

"Calm down Genma, it's not what you think," Kakashi said, moving between Gin and his friend.

"Calm down? Calm down!" Genma was practically yelling now. Gin just watched him calmly, her eyes fixed on his face. "You have an S-class criminal in your house! Wearing your clothes! Do you know what she did Kakashi? What the hell do you think you're doing, harbouring a convicted criminal? Does the Hokage know about this?"

"It was Tsunade-sama's idea," Kakashi replied calmly. "She told me to help Gin-san settle in. I'm not harbouring a criminal. She escaped the prison at Nikko and my team and I found her just over the Konoha border. She was almost dead so we brought her here. I can't tell you any more, you'll find out anyway in a couple of hours, but you can't tell anyone about this, the Hokage has ordered me to keep her a secret."

Genma looked shocked again, but anger soon overcame surprise. "You're the reason aren't you," he said to Gin. "One of the worlds most dangerous criminals turns up in our village and suddenly we're having problems with our allies. You escaped from there prison! How?! How many Nikko ninja did you kill to get away? Did you even care? You didn't seem to care when you killed all of those other people. The whole of Yorugakure. I had friends there, I..." he trailed off, looking up at Kakashi before continuing. "I'll keep this secret for now Kakashi, but only because the Hokage had ordered it. Here's your scroll," he threw the scroll at Kakashi, shot Gin one last dark look and stormed out, slamming the door behind him.

Kakashi turned to look at Gin, she hadn't moved or said a word the whole time Genma had been speaking. Her face remained blank, she looked cold and composed, just as she had done the day she was sentenced. It was only after the door had closed and Genma was gone that she did anything at all.

Her hands began to shake, so slightly that it was almost unnoticeable. Her eyes were wide and he could see the beginnings of tears. He didn't know what to do. He could understand his friends reaction, having found an S-class criminal being hidden in a fellow jonin's home. Kakashi hadn't known that he had had friends in Yoru. He could imagine how the other man was feeling.

But right now he couldn't do anything about that, Gin was his mission, his top priority. He took her hand and led her to a chair. Sitting her down, he knelt on the floor in front of her. "Are you all right Gin-san?" he asked the girl, who continued to shake and didn't respond. "I know it's hard but there will be a lot of people out there who won't believe you. Who will still think you're a criminal even after the Hokage's announcement."

"It's not that Hatake-san," Gin replied, tears falling from her cold eyes, the emotion she was feeling never making it that far. "I have never met someone who has lost people because of what I did. I never thought I would..."

Kakashi gripped her hands gently. "It wasn't your fault Gin-san, and after today everyone will know that. What Pein made you do would have affected a lot of other people as well. Some of them are here in Konoha, but you must understand that there is nothing you can do for them and you don't owe them anything. It wasn't you who did those things."

Gin was in shock. Genma had scared her more than she had ever been scared before. She had been the reason the people he knew and cared about had died. She had never thought she could feel worse than she had in the cell, but the jonin's words had torn through her like a knife. Kakashi kept telling her that it wasn't her fault, he had said that she had already paid for whatever mistakes she had made, but she knew that she was still responsible. She needed to make up for what she had done. When she had made her vow to kill Pein she had only wanted revenge for herself, for what he had done to her and her village, but now she knew that she had to kill him for all the people who had lost their family and friends in the destruction of Yorugakure. It was the only way she could truly make up for her actions.

When she looked him in the eye, Kakashi could see that the fire he had witnessed in the hospital room had returned. For once her eyes matched her face. "I will kill him for them Hatake-san. For all the people we hurt, for their friends and their families."

Kakashi sighed, let go of her hands and stood up. He wondered if Gin would ever really understand that what had happened wasn't her fault and he knew that she would never live a proper life if she only lived to kill someone else. She reminded him of Sasuke, living only to kill his older brother, but for Gin it wasn't power she needed to accomplish her goal. Power she had, s what did she need to kill Pein?

Kakashi shuddered when he realised the answer. Nothing but opportunity.

Finally he remembered the scroll Genma had thrown at him before he had left, it had hit the kitchen wall and rolled to a stop some distance away. Picking it up he unrolled it, noticing that it seemed rather lumpy. A pear of dark glasses fell out and he managed to catch them before they hit the ground. He placed them on the table before reading what the Hokage had written. It was very short.

Kakashi, I am holding a meeting at the jonin headquarters at 10.00 am today to inform everyone of our situation with Nikkogakure and also of the change in Gin's status. Be there on time and bring the girl with you.

The bottom was signed by Tsunade.

Sighing, Kakashi hoped they wouldn't get another reaction like Genma's.

I'm sorry if Genma's OOC but I needed a character and I didn't feel like making up a new one.

Thanks for reading everyone,

Kwin