"I had an interesting conversation the other day," Rin said, smiling as she sat down across from him in the dining hall.

"I'm sure you have lots of interesting conversations Rin," Kakashi hummed, pen still dangling between his lips. His friend huffed, she looked like she had just come from the lab where she spent most of her free time.

"Hmm, but don't you want to know who it was with?" She teased, brown eyes shining at him and Kakashi sighed, closing his notebook and looking at her expectantly. "It was with this guy, blonde hair, blue eyes, said he lives on your floor."

"Doesn't ring a bell," he lied, choosing to pull out Icha Icha because he knew how much Rin hated it when he read that when she was trying to have a conversation.

"Uh huh," she hummed dismissively, "He was asking a lot of questions about you," she plowed on. "I guess you don't care what I told him then either." Kakashi knew she was goading him, they had been friends for a while now, she knew just as much about him as Obito and knew exactly which buttons to press. But why would Naruto be asking others about him? "Well, I guess I'll just keep it to myself," she sighed, turning her attention back to her lunch.

"You didn't tell him anything," he gave in, closing his book again and leaning back in his seat.

"You're right, I was on my way to class. He walked with me, it was cute," she giggled. "He wanted to know who I was, how long I've known you, things like that." Kakashi hummed, now that he thought about it, he had seen the blonde lurking this week, ducking around corners or pretending to check something on his phone when Kakashi spotted him, it was obvious that he was trying to spy on him. But why? He thought about their last few encounters to see if he could figure out what might have set this off. Other than a mumbled apology after crashing into each other in the bathroom, they really hadn't talked since the Uchiha's. Was it something I said then? He thought about the look on the Naruto's face, the way those odd scars pulled down as he frowned, as he mentioned taking a break from the family parties. Kakashi knew the look behind his eyes, it was the same sadness and loneliness that he himself saw in the mirror on occasion. He realized he still didn't know anything about him other than what he saw on the outside, all the brightness and loudness that seemed to accompany Naruto. But he had definitely seen something else that night…

"What's that face Kakashi?" He blinked, looking back at her.

"Maa you should be used to my face by now Rin," he shot back, shaking his head slightly. "I don't know why Naruto would talk to you."

"Wait, is he the one Obito caught you with at the Uchiha's?" Rin grinned triumphantly at him. "Why were you in a closet?" Dammit Obito, he was always over-exaggerating something for the story of it. He'd have to mess with him somehow for making their conversation more sordid than it was.

"It was a party, we were talking," Kakashi shrugged it off, looking around the large room as if expecting Naruto or Obito to magically appear. "And it wasn't in a closet. What?" He asked as her smile grew, that smile usually meant that she knew something he didn't.

"Nothing," it was her turn to shake her head. "Just thinking about something Obito said. Do you like this Naruto?"

"You need to stop listening to that idiot," he stated, packing up his things. "Focus on becoming a doctor instead of silly things like a love life, especially mine."

"Hmm, maybe you should listen to him more Kakashi, he is your best friend for some reason," she shrugged.

"But see, Obito told me to leave the kid alone," he pushed the chair back and stood, hooking his mask up over his nose.

"And are you going to?" She asked, eyes still shining as she grinned. He should say yes because he should leave the kid alone and saying otherwise could encourage whatever was going on in his friend's head, but he had a feeling that Rin would know that he was lying. "At least tell me you'll be nice to him."

"I'm always nice," Kakashi pretended to be offended. "It's not my fault he riles up so easily."

"Uh-huh, just don't mess with him for too long, otherwise you'll get an earful."

"From you or Obito?" He asked.

"Who do you think?" She laughed. Great, he thought as he threw a wave over his shoulder, he needed new friends. But something was niggling at the back of his mind.

"Do you like this Naruto?"


"You have a shadow," Asuma said and Kakashi looked up, following his line of sight and just catching the flash of yellow and orange as it ducked behind the brick wall. "Stalker?" He raised a dark eyebrow, taking a drag of his cigarette.

"Something like that," Kakashi sighed, it seemed like he didn't have to wait long at all, his conversation with Rin from just a few hours ago playing in his mind.

"Who'd you piss off this time?" He asked with a chuckle.

"He lives on my floor. I'll deal with it." He ducked around the side of the building. The teen didn't seem to notice him as he quietly walked up behind him crouching again as he looked around the corner towards where he had been standing with Asuma, head swiveling when he realized that Kakashi was no longer there. "Hey."

"Holy fu-," he whirled around, arms flailing as he landed on his ass. "Ah, hey Kakashi! How's it going?" His voice was high and Kakashi could see the panic in his eyes as he tried to think of something to say.

"It's going. What are you doing Naruto?" He asked, watching as he floundered for a moment before sticking out his hand. Naruto stared at it suspiciously before taking it and he hauled him to his feet. He let out another yelp when Kakashi pushed him against the wall with a hand to his chest, feeling the heart pounding away under his palm.

"W-What are you doing?" He stammered, eyes wide as a flush appeared on his scarred cheeks. Kakashi noticed how uneven the three lines on each cheek really were. One side looking deeper than the other, he wondered how he got them.

"Have you been following me Naruto?" He asked, voice low as he leaned in closer. "I swear I keep seeing you around."

"Um." The gulp was audible as he swallowed "I don't know what you're talking about," Naruto mumbled, looking away as he scratched at the back of his head. "I'm just, I got a bit turned around y'know?" His eyes flicked back to his as he lied.

"You're lost?" He played along, letting his hand drop as he took a step back.

"Yeah!" Blue eyes lit up, and some of the tension left his shoulders as he fell for it. "You know how it is, this campus is so damn big!" Kakashi hummed, nodding his head as an idea came to mind.

"What's your next class I'll walk you."

"What, no!" The blonde blurted out, sucking in a quick breath. "I mean, I'm sure you have class or you're busy or something. You can just point me in the right direction maybe?"

"Nonsense," he smiled broadly, flinging his arm around his shoulders. "What kind of resident assistant would I be if I left my little freshmen wandering around lost, even after nearly four months of classes hmm? Now, where to?" He asked, ignoring the increasing noises of protest coming from the other.

"Well, um, the science building?" He said weakly, shoulders sagging even further.

"Ah yeah, no wonder you're lost! You're on the wrong side of campus," Kakashi said cheerily, keeping a firm grip on his shoulder, he had a feeling Naruto would bolt if he saw the opportunity.

"You really don't have to walk me," the teen tried again. "You probably have something better to do?"

"Nope," he grinned as they trekked across campus and into the science building. "What's the room number?" He asked, he knew he was probably going too far as Naruto blanched.

"It's this one," he said quickly, gesturing to the first lecture hall that had students going in. "Thanks, Kakashi."

"Should I wait? Will you be able to find your way back?" Kakashi teased, and those blue eyes narrowed.

"No, I'll be fine," Naruto grumbled and ducked into the room that, judging by the placard on the wall, definitely wasn't a class that he'd be taking. Kakashi rocked on his heels, tempted to stick around and see how long it'd take for him to come back out and admit what he was doing. But he decided that he had tortured the blonde enough for one day, hopefully this would put a stop to his snooping.

"Do you like this Naruto?"

Rin's words came back to him as he turned to leave. He was sure the answer was no that he was just indifferent towards the teen. But he had to admit that there was something about him that made him hard for Kakashi to ignore. It didn't help that he always seemed to be wherever he looked. But he was sure the novelty would wear off, for both him and for Naruto, and then things would go back to normal. He was sure of it.


Oops, I took an extra week. This story was kinda a practice at trying to keep a schedule/update every week but I might not be able to keep that up, unfortunately. It kind of forces all my attention away from my other stories. I might have to reevaluate a schedule.