A Sense of Perspective

Related to the Shot in Chapter 6. Slight change in some bits of timeline. I still don't own Naruto. Soon, though, I shall still not own Naruto, as to try would take more effort than I'd care to bother with.

She was a terribly shy girl. She couldn't even bring herself to approaching him without blushing and fainting when they used to meet with one another by accident. She'd shadow him all the time when she could, and yet he never noticed his dark haired stalker unless they ran into each other when he was headed anywhere.

She had become a kunoichi because it seemed like a good idea, and she remembered him mentioning that he had planned to be one some time ago, so she had joined the class, still as shy as she had been before meeting him. Weeks passed, and she still hadn't seen her light haired crush, though she'd search for him everywhere she went. Eventually, however, she just dove deeper into her studies, trying to perfect her abilities so she'd feel confident in herself. She'd had very negative complications, but she was clever and she adapted.

When the teams were assigned, she heard his name called for Team Seven. His presence was a surprise to everyone present, but she still couldn't see him anywhere she looked. To her dismay, he was also assigned with the one's she thought of as The Uchiha and The Fangirl, with a spiky haired man the Hokage thought highly of as their mentor. While she was certain her opinion might have been a bit off, she did feel a bit bad for thinking such things about the pair for some reason.

Nevertheless, she was assigned to her team despite her... issues, and she was certain the looks of fear the spiky haired boy was giving her whenever she'd grin at the pair of them would eventually go away. If not, she would make them in her own time. The brunette in the big coat seemed unperturbed by her presence, and she decided he would be the one she would keep alive .

It wasn't until their black haired sensei had sent them to the ramen stand after the trio had passed the bell test using the ideas that the one in the bulky coat had brought together into a single, perfectly thought out plan that the girl had finally found some people who weren't afraid to deal with her. The long haired girl and the lazy genius were part of the graduating class, but the dark haired girl had never actually met with them, or their third member.

Observing the trio, she simply walked up to them, standing behind the third member of that team as she asked, "M-may I sit with you?"

"Sure!" the long haired girl said with a smile, gesturing at the seat beside her, "I could always use someone to talk to, especially with Lazy and Peppy over there not being much to talk to."

"Th-Thank you," the dark haired girl said, taking a seat, "It's hard to believe that we're g-genin, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but we're tough," the girl responded, "And it's not like we can't defend those close to us."

"R-right," the short haired girl said.

Suddenly a loud voice from a seat directly at the counter said, "Can I have some miso ramen?"

"Quiet down," a feminine voice that came from a bit behind the first voice commanded, "We're in a public place."

Then, a noticeably muffled voice that the girl still knew well thanks to memories of her time before the Academy was heard to calmly say, "Obito, I thought the Uchiha were supposed to be much more well mannered than that. Please refrain from shouting again."

With that, Anko Mitarashi's eyes went wide as a blush formed on her face while she turned to look at him. She hadn't seen her crush in a while, since she had gone to the Academy, to be honest, and no one present had ever seen him, let alone his face before then. Much to no one's surprise, he was wearing a mask that covered the lower half of his face.

The other girl at the table, Kurenai, smiled at her new friend, realizing now would be the perfect time to begin matchmaking for the shy girl. Before she could tell the girl to turn around and talk to him, Gai, in a voice that caused Asuma, who had foolishly decided to sit beside him, wake up, shouted, "Why do you wear a mask?"

"Are you incapable of speaking at a decibel that ordinary people would see as practical?" Kakashi responded, "For it seems that you are less capable of expressing yourself quietly than my... I suppose I can call him friend, in a way, Obito."

Anko giggled silently at that insult, much to Kurenai's amusement. Kurenai was taken completely by surprise, however when Kakashi went up to the table.

"You have proven yourself very clever with your youthful insults," the green-clad boy said with a grin, "Therefore, I declare you my Eternal Rival! I challenge you!"

"Hm?" Kakashi responded as if he hadn't heard the loud boy, "Did you say something?"

"Curse your hip behavior!" Gai shouted as Obito was being given a lesson in etiquette from Rin, who had the books handy for this exact occasion, "I will run around the village 19 times before I challenge you again!"

When Gai left, Kakashi turned to the boy's team and Anko and said, "I apologize if you needed him for anything. I did not want to have to deal with him at the moment."

If Anko's face was red before, then the color it was at this moment with him so close to her would put blood to shame.

"Are you okay?" Kakashi asked, removing one of his gloves and placing the back of his hand on her forehead, "You seem flushed. Perhaps you should get to the hospital. I could aid you if you'd like."

Much to Kurenai's further amusement, Anko got even redder and fainted, causing a shocked Kakashi to rush to Rin and shout, "Rin! There's a girl in here who fainted! I think she needs help!"

"Has anyone ever told you that you're hopeless?" Rin asked, amused yet feeling territorial at the same time. Kakashi was HER teammate.

"Yes," the boy replied, "Several girls in my graduating class told me that for some reason. Why do you ask?"

"No reason," she replied. It was for the best that she wasn't the one to tell him these things. Who knew how badly he would be scarred by the birds and the bees.

It was a subdued Kakashi who was waiting at the psychiatrist's office. He couldn't believe it. His best friend was dead. Minato-sensei had convinced him that he and Rin needed to go to therapy, and so he did. He kept Obito's Sharingan (he still couldn't think of it as anything but Obito's, even if it had been over a year) covered in order to prevent him from having his chakra drained and in order to not have to look at it. Rin was in there at the moment, and he was supposed to go in after her.

Anko was entering the therapist's building. She was told by her sensei that she would be going there everyday until she stopped trying to kill her spiky haired teammate, whose name was slipping her mind at the moment. Ibiki, meanwhile, was trying to console him over the attempt to murder him in cold blood with a rusted spoon.

She was surprised to see her crush in there. She was still very shy, despite Kurenai's attempts to embolden her, and she wasn't sure if she could approach him. Then, much to her surprise, he looked up at her, his left eye covered by his forehead protector. Strangely enough, she felt braver than she ever had, even with Kurenai's tutoring.

"Hello, Anko," Kakashi said in a quite voice, "What brings you here?"

She didn't say a word, too intent on her objective as she moved in on him. Kakashi had no idea what was going on, as he'd never understood girls as it was. Nevertheless, he was certain that the expression on her face meant something. He found himself wishing that he had learned more facial expressions, as such lessons would presumably have paid off at the moment.

As a result, Kakashi was surprised when Anko grabbed him and dragged him with her as she left the therapist's office. Rin could only watch in shock as the shyest girl in the village dragged off her teammate. Her choices amounted to either telling Minato-sensei, which she felt would not go well for some reason, or telling Kurenai, who would spread the word around the village, which meant that Minato-sensei would find out about it eventually without Rin having to deal with having to tell Minato-sensei herself. Deciding on the best course of action, she headed out to talk to Kurenai. She would likely be with Asuma, thus making her easy to find.

With that in mind, Rin was off. That would teach Kakashi to leave her at the therapist's for the twelfth time.