Author's Note: I am so sorry that it took me this long to update but in my defense, I was recovering from a cold. So hopefully, everyone reading won't mind and will continue to read this lovingly crafted chapter. As always, please read and review; let me know your thoughts, feelings, and especially all your constructive criticisms!

I also want to take this time to thank those who have continued to review, you guys have really kept me going: Sakra-chan, snappa, catgirl9696, Joiz.D, catwomanswrath, and greenday.love! Thank you all so much!

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

There was only one time when Rin and Kakashi would share the bathroom space; that was when they brushed their teeth.

However, for Rin that time was not spent just brushing her teeth, it was also spent dancing. She would take her music player, which had been lovingly given to her by her father, and place it in her pocket, turning up the volume and singing along with the songs.

Now normally Kakashi hated any karaoke type activity but he had decided that it was nice to have the dull apartment seem animated once in a while, even though Rin's voice was not exactly that of a celebrity singer and gargling toothpaste at the same time didn't help either. What never ceased to amaze him though was that it seemed like she had a song for every situation, for every mood and she always reflected that through her singing/dancing.

Only a few times had he regretted letting her bring the music player into the washroom. One of those times had been after a particularly sunny and cheerful day when Rin had supervised those with only minor injuries at the hospital. She had arrived at the apartment in a happy mood, greeting Kakashi with a nice dinner and a warm smile, and when it came time to brush her teeth, she had put on a song to fit her bright mood. Kakashi had heard the bass/club beat of the music and even he had to admit that it was slightly catchy.

Even though his back was turned to her because he didn't want her to see him without his mask, he could tell that she had started dancing because of the way her feet shuffled and the tiles beneath them gave a small creak. He had expected her to start dancing and swaying, for it was what she always did, but he had definitely not expected her hip to make contact with his. Thus, when it did, he had tensed and turned around to splutter, "Rin! What was that for?!"

Rin, if she hadn't been aware of the seriousness in Kakashi's voice would have laughed at the boy who was now lecturing her with a mouth full of foamy toothpaste. "Oh lighten up Kakashi," she told him, "and if you're going to lecture me, do it when you're not foaming at the mouth. Honestly," she huffed, upset that he had ruined her good mood moment, "you look rather like a rabid animal."

He shot her a look but complied with her request, spitting out the toothpaste in the sink. "Now," he was ready to lecture her again but was stopped when he noticed her mouth was opening and closing quite mechanically.

"Oh my god…" she whispered but Kakashi's ears seemed to have picked up on the sound.

"What?"

"Y-you-your face," she managed to stutter out, still wide-eyed.

Misinterpreting what she had meant, Kakashi turned away, suddenly self-conscious. Rin caught on to the boy's misinterpretation and shook her head at him. "No, that's what I meant. Turn back."

He did as he was told, keeping his eyes glued to the floor and a hand rubbing against his neck out of nervous habit. She reached her hand up, it long having left the click wheel of her music player, and gently ran her fingers near his cheek. He jumped back as if she had burned him. This allowed Rin to get a better look at the would be famous face of Hatake Kakashi. "Wow…I can see why you have to wear that mask; if you didn't, the whole female population would be after you!"

"Seriously though," she added as an afterthought, "why do you wear the mask?"

He looked reluctant to answer her and seemed as if he was almost begging to be let out of the room, the only thing between the doorway and him was Rin. She sensed his discomfort and explained to him that he didn't have to tell her if it made him uncomfortable.

He paused, sighed and nodded. "It's ok," he said heavily, "I'll tell you." He looked back down at the tiled floor. There was a quality to Rin that had become even more apparent to him after Obito's death, which he couldn't quite put his finger on or properly describe. The closest he got to describe it in his mind was that when you were in Rin's presence, she made you feel like spilling all your secrets and that, if you did, she'd be able to help you through anything.

Maybe it stemmed from the fact that even though she had seen so much blood and death and destruction in her relatively short lifespan, she still smiled one of the brightest smiles he'd ever seen and she was still kind and optimistic. He made a mental note to ask her about it later.

"You don't have to if you don't want to."

"It's ok, the reason isn't that personal."

She nodded in understanding and patiently waited for him to start, knowing that whatever he was going to tell her, he told her in utmost confidence and secrecy, which made her feel warm inside. It was nice to know that he trusted her.

"Well, first off, I wear it because I have a ridiculously good sense of smell. It makes any normal smell magnify to about 50 times its intensity, which, without the mask, would make me sick. The other reason…well…let's just say that they didn't call my father Konoha's White Fang for nothing."

She gave him a look of confusion. After Obito's death, they'd had quite a few long talks about things and Kakashi had let her know about his father and the tragic past he held. Rin of course, felt nothing short of sadness for the boy and the life he'd had to live but even with all the information he'd given her, she still couldn't make the link between his past and what he was now telling her.

He sighed upon looked at her face. Of course she wouldn't have gotten it. "Look," he commanded, pulling up his top lip.

She obeyed and was met with Kakashi's pearly white teeth, two of which seemed longer than the others. Almost like…fangs. Oh! Her face donned a look of understanding as she put two and two together. Pushing her gently aside, Kakashi decided that he had spent enough time mask-less; the scent of her perfume was threatening to give him a migraine and a week's worth of nausea.

"Alright," he said as he came back into the washroom, mask on his face, "you asked a question so I'll ask a question."

"Ok," she agreed. It seemed fair enough.

"How can you still smile so damn much after everything? How can you still think that somewhere there's good?"

"I really don't know," she laughed, shaking her head. "I guess that I believe that we're all generally good and we've only been altered by bad things that have happened to us. To me, it just doesn't make sense to spend my life moping around, half-dead when I was given this life to live it. And well, I guess that it's because I don't make the same mistake that a lot of people do; I don't rely on others really for my happiness because heck, if I did then I'd never be happy! So yeah, not sure if that answered your question but that about sums it up."

He stood completely still, as if lost in thought about what she had answered.

"But, there's also questions you have to ask yourself. What are your values? How do you want the world to see you, to remember you? Possibly, the most difficult and yet important question you need to ask yourself is: Are you who you want to be? Of course from that question, there are loads of others that you need to ask yourself before being able to answer it, such as: Who do you want to be?

I mean, they're difficult questions to ask yourself and even more difficult to answer, but I think they're a key part. You've also got to remember that this is your life. No one else can live it for you and only you have control of how it goes. Things like Obito's death are things you didn't, don't have control over but you can control how you react and develop from events like that. Ok, now you've got me rambling. I'll stop."

Kakashi blinked, trying to absorb all the information from her explanation. "I hadn't even thought about that," he told her truthfully.

"Well, that's why you have people like me," she grinned, "Now come on, we need to get some sleep. You start your job at the academy tomorrow."

Rin walked out of the bathroom, heading towards her bed. Kakashi stood in the doorway for a few moments watching her, contemplating what she had said. Finally, for the first time since he could remember, he agreed with Obito; there was something definitely admirable about this girl.

Author's Note: Well, there was chapter 3. I'm sure that you can all tell (or at least guess) what chapter 4 will be about. As always, I encourage you all to leave constructive crits in your reviews, which means basically telling me if you thought someone was out of character or if I had any spelling/grammar errors or if you didn't like something in particular.