I said you'll get your new chapter early, so you'll get your new chapter early.
Rin tiredly perches on her balcony, legs dangling down the railing as she hopelessly holds her head in both her hands.
"I actually said that?" She asks in heavy desperation. The hangover from last night's drinking is yet to leave her, so she can hope that what she is hearing is nothing more than a trick played by her drowsy brain. She desperately wishes it is so.
Unfortunately, Shizune has a different reply, one not to her liking at all.
"You did. You promised him another chance, fair and square." She quitely states, then biting her tongue, she adds "You said you were fine with him taking you on dates all week.", just as Kakashi had instructed her to. Lying is no easy business for her, but fortunately, her brunette friend is looking the other way and thus can't notice the discomfort lacing her face.
Rin lets out a cold sigh and proceeds to run her hands over her face. How can she possibly screw up like this? To think that she got so carried away in her empathy that she ended up agreeing to date him not once, but seven times? Why would she do that?!
"I can't believe myself." She heavily professes, stomach sinking at the very thought of the consequences. "I'm so stupid."
Shizune merely stands back, not sure if she should pretend console her or just agree with her.
"How can I do this to Obito?!" She almost shrieks, clenching her fists and looking up, scaring quite a few civilians in the street bellow.
In all honesty, she is more sorry for Obito than her own self. She can't believe that she just gave him more false hope. Is she only destinied to hurt her friends?
Given, her feelings for Kakashi were a big obstacle the last time he confessed, but it's not like things are much different now. Even though Rin has decided to progress from him, it still doesn't change the fact that she hasn't emotionally let go of him yet, or that she never might be able to. Even after all that she has professed, the thought of someone in her life, someone who isn't him still brings a pang to her heart.
And when that someone is her best friend since childhood, it just straight up feels weird, even down right nauseating.
She kicks the railing in exhaustion. Is this how she's repaying Obito for all that he has done for her? She's supposed to be his friend!
"I don't really see the problem here, if I'm being honest." The ravenette meekly tries. "You said you would do anything for his happiness, and if a couple of dates is what he wants—"
"It's not only the dates that he wants." Rin cheerlessly interrupts her roommate, finally turning her head back to graze at her with her desolate eyes. "He hopes that it will lead to me changing my mind about being his girlfriend, and truthfully, that cannot happen. Not now, not ever."
"I wouldn't be so sure if I were you." The alien voice startles them both, causing them to look up and discover Kakashi casually sitting on the roof of their apartment complex, just one floor above them. His eyes are in his book, but his ears are ever attentive to their conversation.
The sight of him causes Rin's heart to leap, but she strategically stifles the joy to keep herself from going down that road again.
"Well then you should be." She apathatically replies, eyes dragging back downwards. "There's no way seven days, or maybe even seven months are enough to change my perespective of Obito. I can't see him anything other than my best friend. Everything else just feels..." Cold sigh. "Wrong. You know the feeling, don't you?"
"I do." He gradually counters, voice somewhat heavy. Apparently he despises even the thought of himself and her together. Yet he expects it to work out differently for her and Obito. Huh.
"Although..." He strings the word, catching the helpless girl's attention. "You were always fixated on me at a time, and were convinced that I was the one, isn't that right?"
Rin conceals a hurtful sneer, along with her deep desire to tell him that even if she doesn't think of him as the one anymore doesn't mean that she isn't still fixated on him.
"It is." She nods, attempting to be more curious.
"Well, if you can go from thinking of me as lover to friend, don't you think that there's a chance the reverse might happen for Obito?"
Rin is genuinely let down by this. She was expecting something more concrete, and reasonable coming from Kakashi. This is mere hypotheses.
Her brow furrowed in tension, she irritantly says, "But what about the chance that it might not happen?! That my feelings won't change just like they didn't budge in all these years?! Isn't there a much higher possibility of this happening instead?!"
"It seems unlikely, I'm aware." He agrees. "But you don't have me on your mind anymore, do you?"
She is forced to say she doesn't.
"I think there's a decent probability that you might be able to see him in a new light now that you don't have anyone else."
"Plus." Kakashi finishes, now looking away from his book and down at her. "If it's for Obito's happiness, don't you think it's a chance worth taking?"
The question is left hanging for quite awhile, since Rin can't think of a possible reply to this. For Obito, she will willingly give up her life. His happiness matters the most to her. This is exactly what is scaring her, that he'll go down depressed just like she did, and it will all be her fault. That not only had she proven unable to provide him any more joy, she will also be snatching his pre existing one.
"What if I'm unable to return his affections by the end of the week despite all of that? That can happen as well, right?" She mumbles dishearteningly. "That will more or less be the end of his happiness for quite a while." She further adds.
Moved by her concern, Hatake's face softens at this. Closing his book, he jumps down to her balcony.
"Rin." He calls out sympathetically, standing right beside the girl who refuses to make any sort of eye contact, dejected sight focused on the street bellow. With a sigh, he decides to take a more unwaivering approach answering the question.
"He has always loved you, eversince he first saw you." Kakashi gently reminds her, the unpleasant memo causing Rin's stomach to flip.
"Just like you loved me. I wasn't able to grant you a chance, but you have the opportunity to do it for him. True, you may not feel the same by the end of the week, but even then you'll get to give him a gentler and well assessed closure. His heart will break, but he will feel less pain and rejection than you did. Think of it that way."
The part where he said that the heartbreak was imminent made her ears sting, but the rest of it...
As she silently wanders off into her own thoughts, pondering into his answer, Rin is forced to admit that he has a point. A pretty solid one. The situation she has mindlessly thrown herself into has made Obito's sad awakening pretty much evident. There's no way she can escape it now, but if she has a chance to make it less painful for him and give an answer which will make moving on easier, should she not take it?
But will it truly be better for him? To take her around the village brimming with hope, excited and happy for seven whole days only to have the rug snatched from underneath him on the final one. Is it truly better to give him a week's worth of false hope and then let him down easy, or to break it to him once and for all, crushing him but not letting him have his hopes high?
Nohara expectantly turns her head back to her roommate, who has been a mute spectator to to the esxchange up until now, and gloomily requests for her opinion on the suggestion.
Shizune snaps at the question, but she knows better than to disagree with Kakashi here.
"I think you should do it." The ravenette nods. "Atleast he won't be unsure and will move on much easily."
Rin knew that neither of the answers were to be truly ideal, but she doesn't hide her disappointment at this. She had no idea what to do, no clue on what path to take, and that is frustrating her.
Obito will be picking her up for their first date in a few hours, so she doesn't have all day to hammer the question around in her head and debate it multiple times.
Ultimately, she decides that she doesn't have the courage to break his heart just today.
Dejectedly, she hopps off the railing and enters her apartment, two sets of eyes trailing her. Kakashi takes the cue to slowly walk in behind her.
"I guess I better get ready then..." She mutters hopelessly, slowly stumbling to her room and missing the sparkle in her friends' eyes. Once she is in, Shizune and Kakashi share an excited glance and share a high ten.
—
Getting ready has never been this burdening for her. This glumness easily pars the one she felt while going for work the first time after Kakashi dropped the bomb on her.
She is in no mood to select a good dress, so she lets Shizune do the job for her. The one she picks out is one of Rin's favourite, strapless white sundress, accompanied with pink sleeveless waterfall jacket reaching around bust. Usually, Rin loves this attire, but today even that can't cheer her up.
Even putting on the dress seems nothing less of an S rank mission to her. Once Shizune is finished doing her hair and makeup (and coaxing her while doing so), she glumly raises her eyes to look into the mirror and face the utter failure of a human being looking back at her. On another occasion, she would be more than satisfied with the light yet effective touch up and the incurl of her loose, seemingly shoulder length hair. Today, she believes that no amount of prepping can truly cover up the ugly person she has proven herself to be.
She drags herself out of her room to meet with Kakashi, who has engrossed himself into his dirty book while waiting.
He inspects her up and down, and with an eye crinkle, he wholeheartedly compliments her.
"You look beautiful, Rin."
Her heart lifts momentarily hearing him admit that, but then he proceeds to add "Obito is going to be stunned.", effectively slapping her back to reality of her situation.
He gets up and proceeds back to the balcony. Once he is on the ledge, he turns his head back.
"I'm going to tell Obito you're ready and that he can pick you up." He informs and Rin barely stops herself from pleading him to not do so.
Reading her face, Kakashi kindly say, "I know you're worried that you might end up breaking his heart. But we can't really say that it's an absolute possibility now, can we?"
Rin stares at him, and some emotion breaks onto her blank face.
"It might happen that he may actually succeed, so keep yourself worrying, atleast until you have to give him an answer. I'm saying this as a friend to both of you, please try to enjoy yourself while you're out with him, just for your own sake."
She notices a small smile form behind his mask, but the next moment, he's gone. No sooner than she realises it, Rin stoops onto the poofy armchair sitting adjacent to her, tiredly massaging her forehead.
If what Kakashi says is true, then she sends her prayers that she ends up falling hard for Obito, because if there's one thing Rin can't bear, it's an Obito who doesn't smile.
This is the shortest chapter yet, probably pretty boring as well, but the next part is just as huge and has to have a separate chapter altogether. I'll try to post it soon enough as well. Peace out 3