It had been two days since Naruto left and Shanan didn't leave her apartment so that she could just be sad about it. Sad about him, sad about Sasuke. All she did was lay in bed and cry. She removed the picture of the three of them from her locket and replaced it with one of just Naruto so she could see both of their faces anytime she needed to no matter where she was.

She read Sasuke's note a lot and stared at any pictures she had of them and wondered if they missed her as much as she missed them, but thought that they probably didn't or they wouldn't have left in the first place.

Nobody bothered her until the third day when there was finally a knock at her door. No doubt someone coming to tell her to report for a mission.

"What?!" she yelled shakily as she answered the door.

"Still mad at me, huh?" Kakashi said half playfully, half seriously.

Shanan was surprised to see him as it had been about six months since they'd been able to say more than two words to one another. But she wasn't mad at him. She felt horrible for ever making him think that.

She ran out and wrapped her arms around his torso as she buried her face into his chest. She didn't care if he didn't like hugs right now. They were friends and she was sad and she had really missed him. She was surprised when he hugged her back and didn't push her away after five seconds. He just held her and let her cry for several minutes, which she really needed.

She finally let him go and backed away as she wiped her face.

"I'm sorry I told you to go away. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," she finally told him.

He smiled at her as he laughed a little, "I know you were upset and you had every right to be. It's alright." He paused for a moment. "You should get ready. We'll get something to eat."

Shanan raised an eyebrow at him and laughed. "I need a shower before I go anywhere."

"That's alright. I'll wait out here for you, take your time."

Shanan shrugged. She could use something other than toast. "I'll hurry."

Her version of hurrying still took about a half hour, but she got ready and put her locket on before heading out.

They went to their usual spot that they used to go to after training her Chidori and her Storm Cloud Jutsu, which she was really excited to tell him about.

She was already feeling less sad just being around him. He always seemed to understand her and knew how to talk to her. He was good at calming her down and he was patient if he ever needed to teach her anything and he always had been.

They sat in their usual booth and ordered their food.

"Oh, and I'll have a bottle of sake," Shanan had tried to tell the waitress.

"No she won't," Kakashi said without looking up.

"Yes I will. I'm very sad," she said to the waitress again.

"She's not sixteen yet," he said as he continued to browse his own menu.

"Close enough," she mouthed as she gave the waitress a thumbs up.

Kakashi closed his menu. "Just water for the both of us."

Shanan made a pouty face at him as the waitress walked away. "See? So sad," she said as they both laughed.

"So I heard you finally perfected your Storm Cloud Jutsu."

"What?! Guy Sensei..." she said as she narrowed her eyes.

"Yes. We do talk about you. You know you're on his team per my suggestion, right?"

"I am?" she asked, surprised. "I always kinda wondered whose idea that was."

"I wasn't ready for my own squad just yet, otherwise you'd have been on my team. But I made the suggestion to put you with someone I trusted and that I knew you'd work well with."

"Always looking out for me," she said as she nodded. "Is that how you ended up with the boys on your team?"

"Partially. I also felt a duty to them specifically," he said thoughtfully.

"Why?" she asked as their food and water arrived. "I asked for sake."

"You're not sixteen," the waitress said with a chuckle.

"Anyway, why?" she looked back at Kakashi.

"I'll probably tell you someday," he said nervously.

"Is it because you knew the Fourth Hokage, Naruto's dad?"

"How did...?"

"I call it the Kurushimi Sharingan. It's the only one I've unlocked so far."

"Kurushimi, huh? How does it work?" he asked, interestedly.

"We watch the saddest moments of your life and then we talk in darkness," she said as she shrugged.

She couldn't tell if he was impressed or horrified.

"Well… I've certainly never heard of a technique like that."

"I can also read emotions and know if you're telling the truth or not," she said smiling.

Kakashi thought for a moment. "The Fourth Hokage was my Sensei, but that's all I really want to say about it at the moment. Does Naruto know?"

"Yes. He saw both of his parents. He watched them say goodbye as they... Well, he got their final message and saw their faces. But I'm not sure if he put it together that his dad was the Fourth."

"That's probably for the best right now," he said thoughtfully. "Anyway, what are your goals for the near future?"

Shanan shrugged. She hadn't really thought about the future as much as she'd been thinking about the past lately.

"You might want to try to come up with new Sharingan techniques. You'll catch a lot of people off guard just by having Sharingan. But you want it to be as useful as possible and having more than one technique is always a good idea," he suggested.

"I was actually gonna ask if you would help me with that. You helped me perfect the Chidori so fast and I could really use some guidance."

Kakashi sighed as he looked out the window. "That's... actually something I need to talk to you about." He moved his food off to the side as he leaned forward.

Shanan immediately got a hollow feeling in her stomach as she swallowed hard.

He sat quietly for a few minutes, not wanting to say the words, but he finally spoke. "I really hate to do this to you, Shanan," he looked more guilty than she had ever seen him and she hated it.

Shanan wiped all emotion and expression from her face as she watched him and listened.

"I'm being sent out on a top priority Anbu mission. It could take awhile, maybe even a couple of years, but I already have a trusting relationship established with the people we're infiltrating. We have to get information on the Akatsuki as soon as possible, so I leave in the morning," he finally told her.

A smile had slowly spread over Shanan's face as he spoke and Kakashi would've thought she was genuinely happy, if it hadn't been for the tears in her eyes.

"I'm so sorry, but I have to do this," he said regrettably.

Shanan continued to smile as she scooted out of the booth and stood up. She tried to make her face expressionless again as she turned back around and looked at him, tears running down her face.

"You know, I really don't care anymore," she said as coldly as she possibly could.

And with that, she turned around and left him sitting there alone. She didn't even wipe her tears as she walked away.

She had wanted to look back and say goodbye. But she was more hurt and angry than she had ever remembered feeling.

Kakashi sank into his seat and leaned his head back as he pulled his mask up. He knew she'd be upset and he knew that she obviously did care, but the words still stung. He sat and waited for an hour in case she decided to come back, but she didn't.