He was out of breath, outnumbered, and running low on chakra. The air smelled of blood and sweat. He was all alone and there were too many foreign shinobis around him. Where was Minato-sensei? Of course he was on some other mission miles and miles away from them. Why was Kakashi the only one left standing on the rescue mission for Rin. Rin. Where was she?

Kakashi twirled around looking for her with his sharingan. He had no time to sweep the landscape when three nin were attacking him from all sides. A quick dodge, his legs jumping upwards, his body wrapping around one of the nin so that the nins back was in Kakashi's stomach, with a kunai slicing through his carotid artery. The mist of blood blocked the other two's field of vision, as they began to strike again. Kakashi used the dying man as a shield, then jumping over him and his attacker, who took a kunai to the spine, paralyzing him.

The last opponent charged, throwing punches and well timed kicks. Kakashi engaged in the battle of taijutsu, ultimately managing to wrap his legs around his assailant, squeezing them hard, and twisting his hips until he heard the familiar sound of a neck snapping.

Kakashi tried to catch his breath as more nin came out of nowhere. He had no choice. The original lightening jutsu glowed in his hand, and the air filled with the death cry of a thousands birds.

He was quick, barely noticeable as he switched from body to body, plunging a hole through their chest, and continuing on to the next nin.

Suddenly, a familiar face stopped his momentum and a warm gentle hand cupped his face. The birds stopped chirping. The nins stopped attacking. The world stopped turning.

"Thank you-" the soft feminine voice trailed off. Rin.

Oh, Kami no, Rin. Rin! Fuck what had he done? Obito. Obito told him to take care of Rin. Obito died to save Rin and yet, why was his fucking hand through her chest? Rin! Rin!

"Rin!" Kakashi screamed as he sat up in bed, covered in sweat. He was panting, shaking. He looked down at his hand and all he could see was it covered in blood. Rin's blood.

Then a soft hand slid into his. He stared at it in amazement. He followed the hand to an arm, to a neck, to a face, to two gray eyes. The eyes looked at him sadly, but with understanding. She didn't smile, she didn't say a word. She just gave him knowing eyes that knew too much, and interlocked her fingers with his.

Her hand was warm, and safe. Kakashi let the fingers wrap around his. He let his hand lay there limp on the bed. He let his mind be blank, if only for a minute. To forget this hellish world and all the death, blood, and tragedy he had seen.

Slowly, gently, before he even realized it, the moisture was being lifted off of his skin. Emi had bended his sweat off of his body and stood up and left the room to deposit it down the bathroom sink.

A shiver went through his body when he realized how cold he was. He left Emi's bed for his room. After throwing on his jounin shirt and jacket, he looked around for Emi.

He found her in the kitchen, starting to make dinner. Right, it was just turning into evening.

Down on the couch, he closed his eyes and let his head fall back. He let the smell of Emi's cooking reach his nose. She wasn't very good, but she was learning.

He had only realized he had dozed off when he heard the soft clink of a bowl hitting a table. He slid one eye open to see Emi biting her lip and looking as if she had just killed a puppy. He smiled under his mask and sat up, nodded his head in appreciation for the meal.

She sat quietly across from him. Kakashi smiled to himself. She was eating three square meals a day now. It was only a matter of time before she was back to full capacity.

Kakashi shuddered to himself. Full capacity? If he hadn't gotten her to break down during the fight, he would have been dead within the next two or three jutsus. He could only imagine her strength at full capacity.

The girl sitting in front of him looked so innocent, but he was actually frightening by how truly strong she could be. No hand seals? Master of all five elements? What seemed like an infinite amount of chakra, since she was so in tune with nature? Just what were the limits of her power?

Kakashi stored these questions in the back of his head to ask later.

…

After a silent meal, finishing his last slurp of soup, she asked her question, "Who's Rin?"

Kakashi froze, then gently placed his spoon in the bowl. He looked up to meet her eyes. Serious, gray, unmoving. This wasn't a question out of pity.

Kakashi sighed. He tried to wrap his head around everything that was Rin. Maybe there's some way out of this question. His eyes flickered wide for a minute, as a sly smile spread across his face. "Rin used to be one of my teammates on Team Seven." That was it, he had answered the questioned.

"But why were you screaming her name in your sleep? Who is she to you?"

"Uh-uh-uh," Kakashi teased, waggling one finger back and forth. "I answered your question, now it's my turn to ask."

"Hmph." Emi crossed her arms and pouted. She knew she had just been out played. She stood up quickly, grabbed Kakashi's bowl and her own before turning and going to wash the dishes.

As she was washing, she looked down and noticed her left hand was still pink with hints of raw skin, while her right was badly bruised and swollen. She sighed and began to multitask. While she washed the dishes, she let her hands soak in the water that began to glow a blueish-green. Her hands tingled at the sensation.

Kakashi had not let the air of the moment to keep him from noticing. He had saw how bad her hands were still, and then a thought sparked across his mind. It was a little risky but…

In less than a second it was over. Not many could rival the speed of the copy-cat nin.

Blood splattered to the floor.

Kakashi stood behind the 19-year-old with a bloody kunai. He watched as blood from her shoulder dripped onto the floor.

"What are you doing?" Emi asked nonchalantly, continuing to wash the dishes and healing her hands.

When she didn't get an answer, she turned around to see the wide-eyed ninja pulling up his sharingan to examine the girl. "Are you feeling alright?" she asked as she reached for his head to feel if he had a fever. She shook her head and eyed him suspiciously. She followed his gaze to her arm, where she saw blood spilling out freely.

It wasn't a shallow cut. Kakashi had cut deep, close to the bone. He figured she could heal it anyways, but he just had to know. The brain that rivaled a Nara's had to figure out the puzzle that stood in front of him.

"Did you… feel that?" he asked cautiously.

She glanced down at the bleeding arm. She frowned that the blood was making a mess all over the floor. She gathered some water in her opposite hand to start the healing and stop the blood from dripping, while the other got a wash cloth and started to wipe up the mess.

He stopped the girl with two hands on her shoulders. "Emi, look at me." The girl stopped her wiping to meet his gaze, eyes nonchalant. "This is my question. Do you feel pain?"

She looked confused at the question. Of course she felt pain. What a silly question. She knew exactly what pain was and several different ways to inflict pain on others.

"Of course I do dumby. Who doesn't feel pain?"

"You're lying." His eyes narrowed and his face was more serious than Emi had seen before.

"I'm not."

He started to raise his voice now, "I just cut you deep with a kunai and you didn't even flinch. You didn't even react! Any normal person would have at least reacted or done something. You didn't even try to stop me! You didn't yell at me or ask me why! You didn't do anything!"

He seethed. His heart was pumping fast and he had no idea why he was so damn furious. He started to calm down when he realized he was overdoing it. And waited patiently for Emi's response.

She sighed. She didn't know what to tell him. Honest. What was the honest answer? "I felt it but I guess… it just.. didn't bother me?" She ended with a question because she wasn't sure.

Kakashi was eyeing her for more of an answer. She sighed, "I knew something had happened to my arm. It felt warm and wet. But I was washing the dishes and busy, so I didn't really care. I don't really know how to put this." She sighed again, "I'm sure it hurt but I didn't really notice."

"I see," Kakashi said with a soft sad tone. He finally realized why she never hesitated in battle when she could have gotten hurt. Why she didn't let go of his hand, even as it was burning her skin. She wasn't just tough or stubborn. The years of torture had desensitized her to pain.

He watched silently as she repaired the cut on her arm. Another question to stow away for later.

"So," she began choosing her words carefully, "what is the full story regarding the death of Rin?"

…