I have some news! Because the digital artist profession requires relatively high specs, Neither my own computer nor the better computer I borrow the use of from my mom are powerful enough to support me. My nan has kindly offered me a loan to pay for a new laptop though, and without going into detail it's 4x faster running than what I currently use. Not to mention the fact that it's a laptop, which means that I'll have plenty more opportunities to get writing done!

I've always wanted to try writing in a public setting, like a coffee shop, so this'll totally help me improve my productivity!

Blood seeped into the dirt; crimson rivulets flowing from the corpses Kamen left behind. His rampage left no opponent standing. His sword glimmered in the sunlight, too fast for Kakashi even to get a grasp on his technique.

He supposed he could have studied the movement with his Sharingan, but given the way his head spun from sheer exhaustion it certainly wouldn't be wise. It had been a risky move, using the Chidori so early in the fight.

When the last body fell, Kamen turned and began to walk back into the forest. Unnoticed behind him, two former friends were reunited.

Kakashi's eyes searched out the face he knew so well, despite the deep scars that lined the left half of his body. A single Sharingan, identical to his own, stared back at him with an intensity that set the back of his neck tingling.

The jounin's emotions burst forth in a crescendo of unspoken apologies jumbling together until he no longer knew what to say. His mouth opened and closed several times as he scrambled for the right words, but nothing came forth.

Eventually, he gave up, instead stumbling towards his friend with arms spread wide. The spinning sensation behind Kakashi's eyes tripled in intensity. His knees began to tremble, no longer willing to hold up the weight of his tired body. He crashed to the ground at Obito's feet, tears he'd tried so hard to push back finally flowing forth.

A hand reached into his vision and Kakashi grabbed it, looking up in gratitude as his teammate pulled him up to his knees-

Only to plant an unavoidable fist into his face, which sent him flying onto his back.

"You nearly killed her!", Obito cried out, falling to his knees so that he was straddled atop Kakashi's waist and throwing punch after punch at his defenseless body.

"You- made- a- promise- to- me!", he screamed into the jounin's bloody face. Every word was punctuated with yet another punch. "You- said- you- would- protect her!"

"Obito, stop it!"

Rin's voice, weak and timid, was enough cause for him to stop what he was doing. He glanced over his shoulder at her, his mouth slackening from its angry snarl. Kakashi took the opportunity he'd been given, quickly pushing Obito off of him and clambering to his feet as the Uchiha did the same.

He opened his left eye, wincing at the headache that was beginning to form, before settling into a combative stance. As exhausted as he was, Kakashi wasn't sure if he'd be able to fight Obito off.

In a blur of movement, they rushed forth, fists clashing several times before Kakashi finally managed to land a hit on his opponent's left shoulder. The boy stumbled back in agony.

Without giving Obito time to recover, the jounin landed several more hits to his left side, crippling him further with each success. As Kakashi backtracked several meters, his teammate doubled over. A splatter of blood hit the ground as he coughed weakly, only furthering Kakashi's theory. Obito's crushed side had still not fully healed, and provided the perfect Achilles' heel for him to push against.

A growl began to emanate from the Uchiha, growing in intensity until it turned into an outright scream of rage.

"You left me!"

In a sudden burst of chakra Obito began to sprint towards his former friend. His footfalls left small craters in the dirt as he rocketed forth, pulling out a gleaming kunai. Kakashi prepared himself, readying a blade of his own and using up the last of his chakra in a last ditch attempt to match the Uchiha's power.

The pair flew at one another, moving so fast that their bodies became little more than blurs. Chakra laced kunai sparked and hissed, carving bright slashes into the air as they sought out their target with determined precision. The jounin closed his eyes, accepting his fate as the gleaming metal approached.

Two blades carved into flesh with a sickening squelch. Bones resisted against the intrusion, but were soon shattered by the powerful chakra fuelling the metal. They dug deeper, paying no mind to the fragile tissue of a lung caught in their path.

The sound of metal clashing against metal filled Kakashi's overburdened mind, capturing his attention with its shrill ring.

There was no pain.

/\/\/

Trembling hands tried to stop the blood, but it slipped between his fingers. Not even his balled up shirt was enough to stem the crimson river. An agonized wail leapt from his throat, only adding to the cacophony of his racing heart.

His breath came in laboured gasps. The edges of his vision began to fade as his limbs grew heavy, falling bonelessly to the ground. The exhaustion finally took over, and Kakashi finally lost consciousness.

Beneath his slumped form, Rin Nohara took her final breath.

/\/\/

"It's okay, Kakashi. You're okay."

The soothing words cut through his panic, pulling him from the nightmare he was embroiled in. But they weren't enough.

"Calm down, please!"

This time Kakashi was able to put a name to the voice, and this new revelation inched him closer towards reality. His nose was the first to return - he could smell the fresh sheets surrounding him. The faintest trace of blood that would take days to get rid of.

The lingering scent of Rin.

"Aki!"

The jounin shot up from the bed, his head colliding with someone else's. Immediately there were hands on his chest, trying to push him back down onto the bed, but he resisted them as he searched for his teammate.

Aki sat on the floor, one hand pressed to his forehead as he peered from behind his cloth bindings.

"Where- where are they?"

The boy's gentle smile soon fell, replaced with a pitiful stare.

"I... I couldn't save her, Kakashi," he mumbled solemnly. "I'm so sorry, I tried to... I tried to get there in time, but it was-"

Aki's voice broke. He stared at the ground, not daring to look up at his grieving teammate.

"She's... gone," his voice was flat and cold, betraying no hint of the emotions that were clearly swirling through his mind. "What about Obito?"

Aki's blank stare was all Kakashi needed to see, to know what had happened. Obito had run away, just like the coward he was.

"Can you tell me what happened?" someone asked him. Her voice was gentle, but the jounin thought it was pretty forced.

"Don't you see he needs time to process this first?" Aki growled back at her before Kakashi could respond, releasing a hefty dose of killing intent upon her as he did. The boy shook his head at his teammate's outburst though, and looked up at the woman beside him.

"No, I'm okay. Lets get this over with."

/\/\/

Taking on the enemies had been easy enough. I was skilled enough in the basis of escape and evasion that it really didn't take a lot of time to set up a little ambush and lead them away from Kakashi.

The problem is, I had underestimated my abilities to actually get rid of them. I'm sure that there was at least one sensor within this group, and no matter how fast I ran they caught up to me. I was able to pick them off one by one, using simple tricks and explosive tags, but eventually three of them caught up to me and I was forced to fight.

They were... surprisingly easy to kill, actually. I should have figured as much from the fact that most were taken down by my obvious attacks, but still. I killed them easily enough with just a kunai and some earth jutsu, but one of them managed to land a blow to my head while I fought. I was confused, and when I was finally able to work out my position I realised that it was quite a long way away.

There was something in my head, telling me to get back to Kakashi as fast as I could. But I was unsteady, ya know. The closer I got, the more urgent I felt, and eventually the smell of blood hit me.

When I got into the field, all I could see was the bodies. There were so many of them, I didn't even know where to start counting. Most of the bodies had the same clothes, so it wasn't too hard to find Kakashi. Especially when I realised he wasn't wearing a shirt. I was so worried when he wasn't moving... I thought he might have died.

When I checked his pulse, it was a little fast. But it was strong. I knew just from my weak sensing abilities that Kakashi was unconscious from chakra exhaustion, and all the blood covering him wasn't from his own wounds.

It was... It was Rin's blood. She was already dead when I found her.

/\/\/

A crash could be heard nearby as Aki finished his report, and a familiar mop of blond hair appeared in the doorway. Minato had a stone cold expression plastered onto his face, but the unshed tears sparkling within his eyes betrayed the emotion within him.

"Is- is it true?" He asked, looking fearfully between his two students. "Is she...?"

Kakashi lowered his head, and that was all his sensei needed to know.

He fell to his knees... and cried.

/\/\/

Twenty-seven people stood side by side. The cloudy sky mirrored the darkness of their clothing, but the assembled mourners paid no mind to the pattering rain.

Minato knelt at the front of their procession, dressed in a simple suit and tie. Trembling hands set a framed photograph down among a bed of flowers. A simple headstone was set into the ground, engraved with a name Kakashi would never forget.

Here lies Rin Nohara.

"Rin..."

The lump within his throat refused to budge. There were so many things left unspoken between them, so many promises he couldn't keep. The idea of letting go of Rin was just too much to bear.

A hand touched Kakashi's shoulder, and he looked up instinctively. Aki stared down at him, mustering the ghost of a smile behind his mask, but the action only served to hurt him further.

Before he could realise what he was doing, Kakashi shrugged the hand off with far more force than needed, and disappeared into the fog.

/\/\/

Sorry, it's a pretty short chapter this time around but I figured it's best to keep it relevant. There's no real point in continuing to the next scene when it's totally contrasting with the contents of this chapter.

I've resolved myself to take part in at least one writing sprint per day from now on, so prepare yourselves for at least a little more consistency. But that will be split between my other fics too.

Special thanks to "Stars & Coffee", whose wonderful comment on my AO3 upload inspired me to start writing more. 3