Chapter 4
The next several days were calm and went by quickly.
There seemed to be something going on inside the Hokage's office. Sensei had called Rin for the past few mornings to tell her that he was going to be tied up in meetings all day and to meet up with Kakashi at the administrative offices for low-ranking mission assignments. Seemed like all the jounins were busy as well. The genins, without the supervisions of the jounins, couldn't complete the D-ranked missions alone. That left the chuunins or chuunin-supervised genin to pick up the "chores" usually left to fresh genins.
"Kakashi is a jounin," Rin had remarked, "but how come he hasn't been called away?"
"He's a lower-ranked jounin, Rin. He'll be seen as the one to take over all the jounins responsible for their chuunin and genin teams for now." Sensei paused. "Be there for him, Rin. Use your ability to gauge the chemistry of the group to keep things running smoothly."
Today, the entire group of second-year teams was assigned to the do the clean sweep of the nearby large stream. The area was practically litter-free, but because of the surrounding forest area, tree debris and mud often clogged the smaller creeks leading to the stream, causing backups that eroded the land. The group had to clear all the creeks by the late afternoon. Not a small task, as the larger steam itself was over 5 miles long, leading up to a large waterfall that emptied to the Village's reservoir.
Both Kakashi and Rin were thankful for the mundane assignments. It gave some routine to their lives...wake up, visit the Memorial, eat breakfast together, work, lunch, work, relax at Kakashi's, dinner at Rin's...
It was strange how the pattern of being around each other started. The day after Kakashi had come over to talk about his dream, they had breakfast at Rin's house. Since Rin's parents were often away, she had taught herself how to cook when she was much younger, and to cook well. He often came by for dinner now, and Rin started to prepare meals with two people in mind. She didn't mind the extra work - Kakashi was kind enough to pay for the groceries and he gave her his companionship.
Kakashi found that Rin's company was something he wished he had indulged himself with a long time ago. She was cheerful, easy-going, and fun to be around. He understood why Obito liked her so much.
Now, their peers started to notice the pair's inseparability. Kakashi and Rin had obviously walked together from the village, which was nothing new, but there was something different about them. Even though they were the most calm of all the teams in their class, the air between the two now seemed highly charged with their chemistry, bonding them tightly together. Presently they found a large rock by the stream and climbed up. Kakashi laid back, sunning himself, while Rin sat leaned back onto her elbows next to him, waiting for the rest of the group to arrive.
Anko watched them as she walked over to where Shizune was sitting in the grass, looking glad to have escaped some responsibility from her team for a while. Gai was nearby, doing a hundred pushups or something...she wasn't sure, and Hayate was over by the shade, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible.
"Ohayo." Anko drawled with telling intonation.
Shizune grinned, shielding her eyes from the sun with her hand. "Ohayo. What's up, Anko?"
Anko sat down next to her. "Look up at the rock there. They're here."
"Who?" Shizune turned to see. "Oh, Kakashi and Rin."
Shizune saw that Rin was looking in their direction, and she waved. Rin waved back.
Anko waved as well but with less enthusiasm. "Those two are always together."
"Oh?" Shizune was starting to understand what Anko was getting at. "They are on the same team..."
"I've seen them outside of training, Shizune, getting groceries and all that."
Nearby, Genma had wandered over to where the two girls were sitting. He noticed they were talking a bit too surreptitiously, and guessing at what the topic might be, decided to walk over and listen.
"Well, Rin's parents have been away for 2 weeks now," Shizune said, trying unsuccessfully to control the conversation. She didn't really enjoy gossiping. "They just like each other's company, Anko. I'm sure they're a bit lonely."
She snorted. "Lonely for sure! They seem to be playing house a lot, if you know what I mean - "
"Anko!"
Anko started, surprised by the sudden interruption. Shizune turned around sharply and her eyes widened when she realized who had called the girl out.
There stood Genma, arms folded, a senbon between his lips; usually they were fixed in a smirk, but now, his mouth was set in a thin line.
Anko jumped up and pushed Genma off his heels.
"Don't you know that interrupting a lady is rude!"
Her voice was loud enough to attract everyone's curiosity at her outburst. The usual chatter suddenly stopped. Rin had pulled herself to the edge of the rock while Kakashi sat up, suddenly alert.
"I don't know what lady you're talking about," Genma responded flatly. "I only see a girl who likes to gossip about other people's business."
Anko blanched.
By then, Rin had come over into the group. Shizune relaxed a little. Rin was somehow a powerful yet calming presence. Over time, she'd had alot of practice, considering the way Kakashi and Obito were always arguing.
"I don't see how eavesdropping on a private conversation is gentleman-like." Anko gritted her teeth.
"I wasn't eavesdropping." He removed the senbon from his mouth. "You were just as loud and annoying a moment ago, as you are right now. How could I not hear?"
"Alright, you two." Rin had come out of the gathering crowd and placed herself between Genma, who was holding his sandy hair out from his eyes, and Anko, whose pale gray eyes didn't seem to notice her.
Rin saw that Anko had ignored her, so she turned her back to Genma and stood toe to toe with her. This time, she addressed her loudly.
"I said, 'alright, you two!'"
Anko blinked, but gave her a small disdainful glance. It annoyed her to see that she had to look up at Rin, being she was older and a bit taller.
"Get out of my way, little miss Hatake."
Anko's hand rose, and the movement was so fast that Rin barely had time to move before she was struck.
Kakashi suddenly appeared among them and grabbed Anko's other arm, which had readied it to strike Rin again.
Rin came out of her shock and quickly gathered chakra into her left hand. As she saw Kakashi holding Anko in a vulnerable position, Rin leaned back and thrust her chakra-ladened palm into the girl's stomach. The motion was swift, and the gray-eyed kunoichi slumped in Kakashi's grasp.
Kakashi, seeing the danger had passed, took a moment to steal a glance at Rin.
Expecting a look of glee, he was surprised to see her expressionless face.
She must really have it together.
Instead of continuing the attack, she instead walked up to Anko and placed her hand on the girl's forehead. Anko merely stared at her; her gray eyes fixed on Rin and watched as she went through the motions of healing her.
When she was done, Kakashi released Anko as Asuma and Ibiki, looking humiliated, pushed their way through to their teammate.
Asuma looked at Rin. "I'm sorry about Anko's behavior..."
Rin responded with a small smile. "It's alright. I'm fine."
As the excitement died down, Rin took a roll of bandages out and began to wrap her hand. The amount of uncontrolled chakra she had palmed there in such a short span of time left it raw. Kakashi came up beside her and checked the ugly bruise that was already forming on her face.
Genma regarded the two silently. He watched as Kakashi touched the bruise gingerly, only to have Rin flinch and wince quietly. Kakashi's helpless look showed he was unsure of what to do.
Kurenai and Raidou finally ran up to stand beside Genma.
"What was that about?" Kurenai asked.
Shizune stood up, feeling terribly guilty from the chain of events that had just occurred. She turned questioningly to the older boy with the longish hair.
"Genma, is there something you know that we should know?" Shizune pressed.
Rin looked up then, locking her eyes with Genma. Kakashi preoccupied himself with retrieving something from her medic bag, but Genma knew he was listening closely.
The older boy knew Rin liked Kakashi back when they were still at the Academy. And now Genma realized that out of everyone that he knew, Rin was the most important person to Kakashi.
"No, there isn't," he replied in a tone that signaled the end of the conversation. He returned his trusted senbon to its rightful place among his lips and slowly walked away.
The cleanup mission went by fairly quickly. Once it was done, everyone gathered at the village square to submit their report.
Anko, displaced and brooding, had trailed everyone during the cleanup but afterwards, she apologized to Rin and then abruptly left. As everyone said their goodbyes, Kakashi took the time to bump into Genma.
"Thanks," he managed. Genma nodded in reply. Kakashi never had it in him to admit he appreciated help. Genma was too shocked to remind him that he owed him one. But he noticed that Rin was a more positive influence on the boy than anyone could see. It made Genma smile.
Rin waited until Kakashi came up to walk her home. They agreed to meet up later after a shower and a change of clothing.
"Rin, that bruise really looks painful. Are you sure you're not going to have it looked at?"
"I'm alright. I've already taken something for it to speed up the healing."
Kakashi looked down. "You're the most important person to me right now."
His admission touched Rin deeply. For a second, she was speechless.
"Kakashi, I'll be fine," she stammered. "I don't know what got into Anko, but - "
"She called you 'little miss Hatake.'"
Rin pursed her lips.
"I'm worried that our friendship is turning into someone else's gossip," Kakashi continued. "I just don't want to see you get hurt."
"Nothing's changed, Kakashi," Rin said firmly. "Anko's young and immature. She hasn't gone through what we've experienced. She also doesn't understand what it's like to be afraid to lose someone."
Kakashi said nothing. Instead, he brought out his hand and touched her injured cheek. This time, she didn't react to the pain it caused. At that moment, he understood just how much they needed each other.
Meanwhile, in the shadows of a nearby alley, Jiraiya heard everything. He grinned to himself satisfactorily, and disappeared.
Rin was walking in the direction of her rowhouse, thinking about what had just transpired in the village square, when she noticed a figure with long white hair leaning against the doorway.
She gasped.
"Jiraiya-oji!"
"Ah, Rin-chan! Come over here and give this old man a hug!"
Rin ran up and he tried to scoop her up in a bear hug only to catch himself midway.
"Gah, I've forgotten how much bigger you've gotten," he groaned as he put her down, rubbing his lower back ruefully.
"Great, the first thing you can say about me is how much fatter I've gotten?" She tried to sound hurt, but she had a genuine, wide toothy grin on her face.
Rin had known Jiraiya for as long as she could remember. He was introduced to her parents through Tsunade when she was a baby. The man had grown fond of Rin when she was growing up and had become sort of a godfather to her, bringing her toys and writing her silly letters when he was away. Rin adored him.
As she grew older and her parents were away more often, Jiraiya made it a point to stop by often to check up on her or to keep her company. He was glad to see that one of his own students was her sensei, and he often kept tabs on her through him.
Rin unlocked the door and invited him inside.
"What in the world is that on your cute face?" he almost screamed when he noticed the shiner Anko had given her.
"Oh, this? Hahaha!" Rin immediately tried to look away and hide the souvenir, attempting to laugh it off. "Oh, I...I was careless and hit the doorframe over there. So clumsy of me!"
The man with the long white mane shot her a piercing look. Rin cringed.
"Really, Jiraiya-ojisan, it's nothing!" Rin scratched the back of her head nervously. "Anko and I had a little disagreement."
Jiraiya's eyes flashed. "Anko? Orochimaru's Anko?"
Rin raised her eyebrows in surprise. "Orochi-sensei? No, Anko is in Ibiki and Asuma's team."
Jiraiya frowned. "Anko has since been Orochimaru's sole apprentice. No one has told you that yet?"
Rin thought for a moment. "Actually, she had said something about it, but I thought it was all a brag," she admitted. "It's kind of hard to take her seriously, you know."
"Well. It's true." He rubbed his chin absently. "I'd be careful of her if I were you."
Rin was about to ask why when there was a knock on her door.
When Kakashi walked in and saw Jiraiya, he balked, and the bag of groceries dangling on his arm swung wildly. The other arm was up by his face; it seemed that he had pulled down his mask a little too soon. His headband was absent, leaving his left eye painfully exposed.
He looked surprised to see another person in her house.
"Kakashi!" Rin came over and took the groceries from him. She quickly hugged him in gratitude, and took that he had already showered and gotten groceries while she had barely walked in the door to her house. "I haven't even gotten settled here yet. Have you met Jiraiya-sama? He was our Sensei's jounin leader."
Kakashi bowed respectfully. "Very nice to meet you, Jiraiya-sama."
Jiraiya stared at the silver-haired boy, who's voice had just started to crack. Sakumo's son...
He broke out into a wide grin.
"Ah, Kakashi-kun, I've heard so much about you! A jounin already, eh?"
Kakashi didn't move from his spot in front of the door. "Yes, Jiryaiya-sama."
Geez. He's so serious-looking. Do I look that old to him?
"Ah, I'm going to go and freshen up a bit, is that alright?" Rin pointed to the doorway to her bathroom. "You two make yourselves at home. I'll make it quick."
"Yes, Rin-chan, please! You know every minute away from you is such agony for your old uncle Jiraiya!"
Rin and the 'old man' laughed. Kakashi took the moment to move to the kitchen to start organizing for dinner.
Jiraiya eyed the boy carefully, noting the large scar on his left eye and the red Sharingan underneath.
The news that one of their teammates, the Uchiha boy, had died on their most recent mission in the Stone Country reached him by mail, and he immediately decided to come back to Konoha to check up on his godchild.
He remembered Uchiha Obito well. He was over at Rin's often, a happy-go-lucky kid who an above-average shinobi, and a chuunin no doubt, but from what he heard from his own student and now Sensei to these three, he was a complete opposite to this star pupil, now astonishingly a jounin.
Jiraiya had known Kakashi's father and the circumstances surrounding his death. From what his student had told him, and from the little bits he caught from Rin, Kakashi was a brilliant yet an aloof and exacting child as well as a source of a lot of tension in the team. He could see from Obito's warm nature how he would clash with Kakashi's coldness.
Rin unfortunately, was the medium in between, the glue that held the team together. Jiraiya wasn't blind to see that Obito had some feelings for Rin, but it was Kakashi that Rin spoke of in admiring terms. Obito was her best friend since toddler days, but it was Kakashi's attention she wanted.
So it was a surprise for Jiraiya to see Kakashi in Rin's kitchen, unmasked, and slowly cutting daikon for a soup.
Even more surprising was the fact that Obito had given Kakashi his Sharingan as a final gift, despite the heated disagreements between the two. He wondered if Obito's death had changed Kakashi to the pleasant fellow standing in front of him. It was a long time since he'd seen Hatake's son without that mask on.
He looks a lot like his father. Only...he inherited his mother's more refined features. No wonder Rin likes him. Not the brat that I imagined him to be.
Jiraiya sighed as he made himself comfortable at one of the kitchen bar stools and opened one of his data scrolls on the bar table directly across from the sink basin where Kakashi was preparing the soup. His "data" scroll was in fact notes for his first novel. He leaned heavily to the one side of his left arm, looking as frustrated as he could.
Curiously, Kakashi allowed his eyes to flit casually over to the paperwork scattered on the bar table.
Jiraiya could hardly suppress a smirk. He watched the teenager avert his glance abruptly when he saw what the man was writing about.
"Oooooooh," the older man teased, "want to see what I am writing about?"
Kakashi, realizing now that his Sharingan was able to quickly copy and interpret the smut Jiraiya was writing, blushed fiercely and moved the chopping board away, annoyed that the man had caught him sneaking a glance at his questionable storytelling.
This is what Rin's godfather writes about!
"Kakashi! Come on, it isn't as bad as you think it is." Jiraiya took something out of his back pocket. "Here, the second distributed copy of my book."
"Oi, Jiraiya-oji, already pushing for another customer?"
Kakashi found himself thankful for the interruption.
"Rin-chan, what makes you think that?" Jiraiya looked hurt.
"Actually, Kakashi, I read a rough draft. It's really...not that bad."
Kakashi started when he heard that. "What?"
"Ooooh, finally got a rise out of him, didn't you, Rin-chan?"
Rin laughed a bit, holding up Kakashi's copy. "Seriously, I just skip over the...dirty scenes. The other parts are actually quite good."
Jiraiya looked like he was going to choke. "How could you? But that's the best part of the book!"
Dinner was prepared in no time, and the three sat down to eat. Jiraiya finally decided to break some serious news to the two.
"So what brings you back to Konoha, Jiraiya-sama?" Kakashi asked politely.
"I wasn't on an official mission per se," the white-haired man began, in between chewing. "There may be some big changes happening around here."
Rin was finishing off her soup. "Sensei's been away with meetings in the Hokage's office. He hasn't told us anything..."
Jiraiya spoke around a mouthful of rice. "He has been elected to be the Yondaime."
Kakashi's chopsticks froze halfway to his mouth. Rin dropped her spoon into her soup bowl.
The old man laughed at his young audience. "What? Why do you look so surprised?"
"But the Third is still alive!" Rin exclaimed. "Why would he elect a new Hokage now?"
Kakashi carefully laid his chopsticks on top of his rice bowl.
"Something bad is going to happen," he said with finality.
Rin turned to him with surprise.
"What makes you think that?"
Jiraiya, by now, had lifted his teacup and kept his expression neutral.
He's certainly perceptive.
"No one can confirm this report," the old man started slowly, "but it seems that there's something out there that's decimating nearby villages. It's not war or anything like that, but it's not weather or natural phenomena either."
"Then what is it?" Rin felt a small pit of anxiety growing in her stomach.
"No one knows. It disappears after it destroys a place."
Kakashi resumed eating. "Is this what's pushing Sandaime to appoint for a new Hokage?"
"Yes. There was some contestation about who it would be. That's why it hasn't been talked about."
Rin finally nodded in understanding.
"Our Sensei, the Yondaime..."
Even Kakashi felt impressed by the announcement. For a while, no one said anything as they ate, contemplating the possibilities.
"You wouldn't happen to know who is dissenting?" Kakashi asked after he finished his meal.
Rin was pouring a cup of sake for Jiraiya. "If I could take a guess, I'd like to say it's Orochimaru-sama."
Jiraiya snapped his head over to face her.
"How did you know?" he demanded.
Rin shrugged. "I heard Anko talking about it with Kurenai the other day. I didn't think about it because it seemed stupid at the time. But now with the elections, and with Anko stating that Orochi-sensei was interested..."
"Orochimaru isn't very happy with the results of the election. Sandaime was his Sensei, afterall."
Still listening intently, Rin moved to the sink to clean the evening's dinnerware. Without being asked, and much to Jiraiya's amazement, Kakashi followed as if it was just something natural for him to do. He took up his place next to Rin as she washed the dishes while he waited for them to be given to him to be rinsed and dried.
The old man downed his shot of sake, savoring the burning, almost cleansing sensation it gave. He cleared his throat.
"Kakashi," Jiraiya said quietly, "how interested would you be if ANBU wanted to have you in their ranks?"
The boy paused, his hand caught in the middle of drying a bowl. Rin continued washing but stole surreptitious glance.
Kakashi had pursed his lips. He looked uncertain and doubtful about something.
ANBU was a tough and difficult life. It was a big step, especially since he was just made jounin a few weeks ago.
ANBU? Isn't this what I wanted?
He gripped the bowl in his hands tightly. Something was pulling at his heart.
Rin needs me. And I...
"Kakashi."
Kakashi opened his eyes. He hadn't realized they were even closed.
Rin had her hand on his, in an attempt to retrieve the shaking bowl from him.
Jiraiya saw the conflict in the boy's face. He shouldn't join ANBU if there was anything holding him back. Especially not at his age, no matter how exceptional he is.
"I don't need an answer right now, Kakashi," he reassured him. "Perhaps you need some more experience as a jounin first. Just think about it."
Kakashi resumed drying the dishes. "I will, Jiraiya-sama."
Jiraiya didn't miss the worried expression on Rin's face. If Kakashi chose to join, she would be left behind and most likely, alone.
He wasn't sure what had happened between the two in front of him. He never saw Kakashi in a casual until now, and had never seen him take any interest in any one else before. Now, he seemed to take Rin into consideration of his future. He was beginning to regret mentioning the ANBU proposition.
Does he love her?
Jiraiya sighed. The little moments he saw of the two interacting with each other were unexpected, and it affected him deeply.
They were still too young to really carry the full meaning of that fleeting emotion. And yet they have already experienced the death of a beloved companion. That in itself gave them a small feeling of desperation, that death was just around the corner and could take everything away. No one was immune.