Chapter 4

However they began to meet each other less and lesser when Rin decided to dedicate most of her time doing the research and experiment on the unknown disease. She even skipped meals and stayed up late at night in the lab for that.

"How long have you been staying in the lab?" Kakashi asked worriedly as he scrutinized Rin. And he was obviously not happy with what he saw. The glow in her eyes was no more but replaced by a pair of dull and reddish eyes with deepening dark circles instead.

"This isn't healthy. You need to go out and breathe some fresh air once in a while." He grasped her arm to drag her outside but she was too stubborn to listen and let alone obeyed to his words.

"The people were waiting for me. I am their only hope. And each passing day was a suffering for them. They could not wait for long. All haste is needed," with that, she wrenched it away.

Rin was like that. She always places herself last in her priority. She was too kind to others, sometimes to the point of being cruel to herself. Kakashi knew her too well. He hates it when she did that to herself. And he hates it even more when he could not help her.

One night, Rin was staying up late in the lab alone. Suddenly she yelled, "I've got it! I've got it!" She was overjoyed by her discovery on the root cause of the disease. It was an important breakthrough in order to produce the cure for it. She was about to run to tell the good news but she fainted on the corridor.

"Please wake up, Rin, please..." she heard a distant voice whispered. Her eyes fluttered open but she blinked a few times as they adjusted with the sudden blinding whiteness surrounded her before she realized she was lying on a bed in a white room.

"What happened? Where am I?" she asked fatiguely.

"You have fainted on the corridor two days ago. You are now in the ward of Konoha Hospital. How are you feeling now?"

She shifted her head to the side and saw a worried face of Kakashi's. Then she suddenly twitched as if she was struck by lighting bolt. Her breath misted over the oxygen mask as her lips moved to mutter some words. Kakashi helped her to remove the oxygen mask and leaned over to listen to her words.

She breathed heavily as she spoke, "Tell the Hokage that I've found the root cause of that disease..."

Kakashi nodded and said, "You have to rest. Let me handled the rest."

She closed her eyes and did what he said, knowing that she could always count on him.

The Hokage had called for Kakashi before he left Rin's ward.

"Kakashi, I have a good news and a bad news for you. The good news is Rin's discovery is a breakthrough to find the cure for the disease." Tsunadae paused for a while. Kakashi immediately had a bad feeling of what the Hokage was going to say. He could almost guess it and he was afraid that what he feared would become reality.

"And the bad news is... Rin got infected by the virus." She continued with a rather leveled voice despite knowing fully well that he would get it bad. She was a Hokage after all and although she felt sorry for them, she was expected to remain calm under all circumstances.

Damn... Kakashi shut his eyes tight for a moment. "Surely she can be cured soon, right?" he knew it was a lame question but he only wanted to hear the answer "yes" for his question even if it was a lie.

But all he heard was "We'll try our best," from the Hokage.