Flaming Heart

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO.

Author's Note: I am deeply touched and thrilled by how many people have read this and enjoyed so far.

By the way, Kakashi is 18 years old and Sakura and Rin are one year younger.

Thanks for your attention,

Please Enjoy.

"You're late," Kakashi bluntly said.

Rin smiled vanished and she quickly mumbled an apology.

Sakura rolled her eyes and forced herself to stare at the young Kakashi, "Yeh, you know… on the way here, Rin and I had to show the way to an old woman and help her to carry her luggage…"

At that very moment everyone froze.

Rin gasped.

Kakashi looked quite taken back. His uncovered eye widened and was staring at her as if she had said something from another world.

Minato attempted to smile but failed miserably.

Sakura felt a knot on her throat even though she had no idea what she had said wrong. After all, Kakashi sensei often gave them lame excuses of the sort.

Sensing that things weren't going as planned; Minato coughed lightly managing to catch the teenagers' attention.

"What matters is that you're finally here," said Minato as he glared at Kakashi and then smiled at both girls. Minato moved to the pink-haired girl side and placed a hand on her shoulder, "This is an easy mission. You are to leave to the Water country and find a man named Masaru. He is one of our spies and he was supposed to report to us two weeks ago. We haven't heard from him ever since. You are to find out what happened and immediately report to me. Understood?"

Sakura nodded slowly as the Hokage wide grin caused small shivers go up and down her spine.

"Hai," Rin said as she smiled at her mentor and at the pink-haired girl.

"When are we leaving?" asked Kakashi as he walked past Sakura bumping against her shoulder on purpose.

Sakura turned to stare at the back of the silver-haired ninja. Her head screamed for his blood.

"Today," Minato answered and watched as Kakashi stopped abruptly, "prepare your things, you're leaving in one hour," he then stared at the other girls who nodded.

Sakura nodded absently as she was still occupied glaring at the silver-haired teenager who seemed oblivious to her dangerous staring.

"Kakashi, you're on charge of the team."

Kakashi turned around and stared at the three of them. Minato-sensei looked as calm and serene as ever. Rin looked slightly nervous and the pink-haired girl seemed quite surprised to hear that he was in charge.

He smirked and his dark eye beamed as he stared directly to her green challenging eyes.

Sakura watched as he marched a head. He kept walking and walking through the masses of trees and simply looked forward. He looked SO confident and had this MASSIVE superior expression that it ANNOYED the hell out of her.

Rin glanced nervously at the quiet pink-haired girl as she walked right behind Kakashi. She noticed the furious glances that Sakura would occasionally throw at the masked boy whenever he gave them some directions or commented that they were too slow.

The brunette shook her head slightly as she jumped from a tree branch and landed with a soft thump next to the pink-haired girl. Slowly, she looked at Sakura who stared back at her with a soft smile.

It was a rather awkward feeling. The animosity between Kakashi and Sakura… and the earlier excuse that Sakura had handed out… it somehow brought back unwanted memories. They were unwanted, not because they were bad memories but because they were the painful kind of ones.

Suddenly Sakura stopped and smirked. Rin stopped to stare at the other girl and arched a curious eyebrow.

"What is it, Sakura-chan?" Rin asked as she tried to focus on their surroundings. She couldn't feel or sense anyone besides Kakashi and Sakura.

Sakura remained in silence as she finally noticed that Kakashi had too stopped and was now walking towards them.

"What?" he asked as he stared at both girls.

Rin shook her head and shrugged her shoulders. Kakashi eye fell on Sakura expectantly.

"We're lost aren't we?" Sakura asked with a knowing smirk embellishing her pale features.

His eye stared at her indifferently, "And why would you think that?" he questioned. His voice was calm.

Sakura placed a hand on her hip, "Oh… let us see… because we've been here before?" she added sarcastically as she pointed her index finger at a dying tree.

Rin giggled quietly, "You're right. Here I've brought a map," the brunette placed her backpack on the floor and started to search for the map when a strong grip held her arm.

"We won't require a map. We're not lost," said Kakashi as he pulled Rin up.

"Yeah we are," Sakura retorted as she frowned. Her face twisted in confusion as she stared at the silver-haired nin. This boy couldn't possible be the Kakashi she knew.

"We're not," Kakashi said as he stepped towards the pink kunoichi.

Rin quickly placed her backpack on her back and laughed nervously, "Ha ha… well maybe we should just g-get going. It's getting dark and we n-need to camp,"

"Face it. We're lost," Sakura said as she watched him step closer. If she was supposed to feel intimidated it was not working.

Kakashi had a glare fit to freeze the blood, capable of sobering the most frivolous spirit, and yet Sakura was unabashed. She grinned and she too stepped forward. She was now facing him, "So? We're lost, aren't we?"

"No."

"That sounds quite defensive." Sakura said with a small glint of victory in her green eyes.

"Well if you're so sure I got us lost why you don't show us the way?" Kakashi said obviously irritated.

"Because I, like you don't know the way," Kakashi snorted obviously expecting that from her. Sakura forced a smile, "So If I don't know the way… you don't either and Rin owns a map, I say she'll lead us,"

Rin brown eyes almost popped out at the pink-haired girl suggestion.

"I… er… n-not so s-sure-"

"Fine," Kakashi said as a small smirk formed underneath his mask.

"Good," Sakura said as she walked past him, "Shall we go?"

Rin sighed and nodded. The brunette had a feeling that this mission was doomed to fail. There was one thing that she never managed to get a hold of and that would be directions.

Sakura and Kakashi both stared at Rin who was now burying her nose on the strange map. The map looked rather old and worn out of much usage. Kakashi folded his arms across his chest and spared a discrete look at the pink-haired kunoichi who was staring at Rin impatiently.

A small smirk formed underneath his dark mask as he too darted his eyes back to the brunette girl. He knew that she was completely helpless when it came to directions. Rin had always trusted him and Obito to lead the way for her. She was after all the medic-nin. She was supposed to be a follower not the one who people followed.

Rin could feel their eyes on her and that was not making it any better. She stared at the map and could see some old scribbling at what seemed to be small and badly sketched mountains. She poked the small mountains and ran her finger to what seemed to be a river. Her eyes widened at the sight of a capital W on the circled area by water.

This has to be it, Rin thought as her own heart beat increased.

"Alright, we're heading north," The brunette announced and both Kakashi and Sakura turned their heads to their new direction.

"So north it is!" Sakura exclaimed as she dragged Rin along leaving a pouting Kakashi behind.

The sun must have shivered when it descended slowly over the horizon. The atmosphere was chill and the sky was mottled with lumps of cold dark gray vapor, and through all the air was a serene feeling that dazzled his heart.

Leaning a shoulder against the frame of the large egg-shaped window, Minato Namikaze appreciated the view while sipping merrily from a mug of hot coffee. Finally, he heard the knock on the door. An intense blue eye turned to the door, the corner of his lips quirked upwards in a wide smile.

"Enter," Minato said as he placed his now empty mug on his well-organized desk.

The door was quickly opened with a bang, the loud noise echoing through the wide corridor. There, stood a big white-haired man with his arms wide opened and a smile ear to ear.

"Hokage!" the man almost shouted as he stepped in the office without any ceremony.

Minato shook his head as he smiled warmly at the man in front of him.

"Jiraiya," Minato almost whispered as he closed the space between them and hugged the white-haired man patting the man's back as he did so.

It had been two long years since he had last seen his mentor who had left the village under the pretext to study for his latest novels.

Jiraiya gently let go of the embrace and eyed his student with pride clearly beaming in his big eyes.

"So I've heard that you got caught peeking again." Minato said as he tried to maintain a serious face.

Jiraiya merely waved a hand in dismissal, "The boys. Those two boys practically forced me to,"

Minato rolled his eyes but a smile graced his young features as he stared at his old sensei. He had missed him.

"So I've heard about this… new girl," Jiraiya said as he started to walk through the office, inspecting, memorizing every bit of it. Minato arched an eyebrow.

"You're late though," Minato said as he sat on his desk watching as Jiraiya moved around and peeked through the bookshelves, "I wanted you to have a look at her,"

"I'm late?" Jiraiya asked as he stopped to look at the blond, "Where is she?"

"She went along with Kakashi and Rin," Minato said and watched the other man face intently.

For a few seconds, Jiraiya merely stared ahead at his ex-pupil. No emotion or expression could be read in the man's face.

"You sent her on a mission," It was not a question and yet Minato nodded.

"Yes," Minato said as he held his hand up stopping the white-haired man to speak further, "I had this conversation with Sarutobi earlier today. I have no reasons to believe that this girl is a spy. However, she is definitely hiding something,"

Jiraiya sighed, "You've always trusted your brains more than you're heart. What happened to your brain this time? You know that spies are highly skilled in the art of deceiving."

Minato nodded and smiled.

"My parents are dead, sir,"

"I… I was living with my grandmother; she has a small house in Grass Country. S-she just passed away recently and so I decided to return to Konoha,"

There was no way that that girl was a spy.

"Well then, I think I can arrange to stay for a while, just to have a good look at this girl," Jiraiya said as he smiled at his ex-student, "Now, tell me… how old is she again?"

Minato sighed and shook his head, "How about we go get us some Ramen?"

Jiraiya interest perked as he smiled broadly, "Your treat! Now tell me… how are you and that red-haired girl coming along?"

Minato grabbed his long blue coat and smiled, "Kushina and I? We couldn't be better,"

Jiraiya narrowed his eyes, "No progresses?"

Sighing Minato bowed his head in defeat, "Nop,"

"Tsttt… you need to read my book,"

"I did," Minato answered as they walked down the corridor.

The white-haired man almost jumped in delight, "Well?"

"Two broken ribs," was Minato only reply.

The three of them stared at the perfect spot to rest. The area was not too far and not too close to the main road and the trees were tall enough to hide if something happened. Rin asked if they should put up a tent, earning a glare from Kakashi who mumbled something about incompetence and Sakura narrowed her eyes at the silver-haired nin controlling herself not to strangle the stupid brat that hadn't yet stopped complaining or making rude remarks at everything that the brunette girl did or said.

Sakura knew that he was only acting like that because of her. He knew that it annoyed her immensely when he did that only because he wanted her to defend the brunette and then start a verbal assault with him which was exactly what they had been doing for the past hours.

Rin on the other hand seemed quite used to his rude comments so she simply ignored them and tried to calm down the pink-haired girl.

"Is he always like this?" Sakura asked as they sat next to each other, while Kakashi had gone to collect some wood to make a fire.

Rin looked up at the pink-haired girl and smiled. Sakura heart thumped harder against her chest as she noticed the deepness of sadness within the brunette's eyes.

"It's… it's a long story," Rin mumbled as she fixed her chocolate eyes on the green grass.

Sakura nodded in understanding, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to-"

"No, it's quite alright… it's something that happened years ago b-but it's still so… so carved in our hearts," Sakura felt herself misplaced as tears started to fall freely down Rin's face, "We were on a mission… and Minato-sensei… h-he gave Kakashi full control of the t-team. It was supposed to be a happy day you know? Kakashi had just made jounin at thirteen and we were all thrilled about it,"

Sakura heart started to beat faster. She wanted to say something, something to stop the crying girl from talking since it was so painful. And the pain, those painful words, it was so damn contagious.

"And Obito… well he was late as always," Sakura repeated the boy name in her head and suddenly everything fell in place.

She was so stupid. She was usually quick to gather the pieces and form the puzzle but this time… everything just passed right through her eyes. The lack of one member on the Yondaime's team. Kakashi reaction to her addition to the team… it was almost what she and Naruto felt about Sai. It was like Sai didn't belong there. It was Sasuke's place.

"He was always late, always. And he was also always smiling, a-always… always making everyone laugh. B-but that day… everything… e-everything went wrong," Rin let out a loud sob and Sakura found herself embracing the brunette girl.

"Shhh, it's alright," Sakura whispered as tears threatened to fall down her face, "You don't need to talk about it," Sakura added feeling quite guilty to have asked it in the first place.

"N-no…" Rin said as she pushed away from Sakura holding and wiped her tears away, "It's not o-okay. It was me. It was because of me that… t-that he died. I… if only I wasn't the weakest link… then…t-then he would still be alive,"

"Rin…" Sakura started not really knowing what to say.

"I was… I was caught by the enemy shinobi and t-they came to rescue me and he… he… he got crushed… oh my god… sometimes I still feel as if he is about to call my name at any time… sometimes I still feel that he's going to ask me if I want some Ramen…"

Sakura stared perplexed at the sobbing girl. It was like looking at herself in a broken mirror. Rin was broken… Rin was her but a much broken version.

"And he made… he made Kakashi promise that he would always look out for me… even… e-even when he was… d-d-dying… he still thought of others above himself… s-stupid.. So stupid… his smile… I just can't forget his smile!"

Tap.

"You don't want to forget his smile,"

Rin massaged her burning cheek. Her watering eyes stared at the pink-haired girl who had just slapped her.

Rin chocolate eyes watched as Sakura stood up.

Sakura's face was staring at the horizon where the sun was quickly hiding away. The gentle breeze caressed her face and she closed her eyes.

"You should live on and be thankful that his last smile was directed at you,"

Rin blinked as a few more tears escaped her eyes.

Sakura then smiled down at the dark-haired girl, "You know… take his beliefs… a little of him inside you, to never forget him is the key,"

Seeing that the brunette was still taken back and not fully comprehending her words, Sakura carried on, "When he died that day… he didn't want to be forgotten Rin. He wished for you to smile whenever you thought of him, he wanted you to always remember as the boy who always got late and infuriated Kakashi-sensei beyond limits,"

Sakura smiled a secret smile as she could see a hyperactive blond Naruto annoying the arrogant Uchiha.

"You see… there will always be days when you think that there was still much left unsaid, when you will ask yourself why things don't last and why all the good things disappear so fast," Sakura breathed in and out, "that's life Rin, and you have still a long life a head. I guarantee you that. You have people that love you all around you. Obito was not the only one who cared for you. He would want you to move on, to carry on smiling that bright smile you have. That's what he died for."

"S-Sakura-chan…" Rin whispered as she stood up and embraced the pink-haired girl catching Sakura completely out of guard. Both girls ended up losing balance and fell on the floor with a loud thump.

Rin sobbed quietly as she held tightly to the other girl while Sakura eyes remained on a silver-haired boy who was staring at her right between the trees.

I understand now… Sakura thought as she softly tightened her arms around the crying girl.

He had been watching them for a while now. He used the pretence to go look for wood to observe her. He hid himself between the trees and used his stealth technique.

They seemed to be talking about a touchy subject because out of the sudden Rin had started to cry. He sighed as he watched her trembling shoulders, her lower lip trembled and the tears fell like cascades down her face.

He hated to see her cry. It always made him feel quite useless.

In fact, if he had to chose between being captured by the enemy shinobi or to console a crying Rin he would prefer the first. He was never good at comforting others.

But, of course Rin knew that.

Curious as to why she was crying he moved closer. He leaned his back against the trunk of the tree and simply stood there listening.

It didn't take him long to realise what they were talking about. His eye widened and he almost dropped the pieces of wood onto the floor.

Rin had never mentioned what really happened to Obito to anyone. Not even Minato-sensei.

Kakashi closed his eyes tightly as the emotions were starting to get a hold of him. He want to burst in and tell her to shut up, that she hadn't the right to blurt out personal things to complete strangers but then… then when he heard the loud noise he was completely shocked to see that the pink-haired girl had slapped Rin.

At first he felt rather furious. No one touched Rin. No one.

But then… Sakura words caught him off guard the most.

They were like sharp knives running through his body.

"You know… take his beliefs… a little of him inside you, to never forget him is the key,"

She spoke as if she had experienced it before. The lost of someone dear to her.

"When he died that day… he didn't want to be forgotten Rin. He wished for you to smile whenever you thought of him, he wanted you to always remember as the boy who always got late and infuriated Kakashi-sensei beyond limits,"

Kakashi snorted. Even though he disliked her immensely, he couldn't help but to think that she was right. Then he froze.

"Kakashi-sensei?" he repeated to himself quite confused, "What the…"

Shaking his head as he decided that he probably heard it wrong, he decided to step aside and let his presence be known.

Kakashi black eye met emerald and a cold feeling travelled through his body, nudging him as if he was supposed to figure something out. He just didn't know what but that he was curious to find out, that he was.

"Are you quite done?" Kakashi asked as he walked forward. His trek was slow as he made his way towards them.

Rin quickly stood up and wiped her tears away, blushing furiously. Sakura merely stared at Kakashi. Instantly, the boy dropped the wood pieces on the floor and mentioned Rin to produce fire.

Kakashi stared at Sakura sympathetic smile and disregarded her as he walked past her.

Sakura couldn't help but to feel quite stupid as the smile vanished from her pale and tired features.

"Look… I think we started on the wrong foot," Sakura said as she approached the silver-haired nin.

Kakashi spared her a 'spare me' look. Sakura blinked as he remained silent.

"The fire is set!" Rin said as she eyed the both teenagers sensing that something was about to happen.

Kakashi black eye darted away from Sakura to Rin's fire. He rolled his eye and walked past the pink-haired girl leaving her staring at the empty place where he was standing. Her eyes were now two dangerously emerald slits.

"This way," Kakashi crouched next to Rin and helped the fire flames to increase.

Rin mumbled a thanks and Kakashi mumbled a 'your welcome'.

"By Kami! I was talking to you," Sakura said as she grabbed the silver-haired boy sleeve.

Kakashi quickly reacted and pulled back, "I know. And I did not respond,"

Sakura eyes almost bulged out at his cocky answer. Rin merely shook her head at their ranting. Kakashi arched an eyebrow as if asking her if she had something else to say before he turned his back on her.

Sakura wanted to split some blood. A certain masked nin blood.

"Look you!" Sakura said as she glared at the silver-haired boy who merely looked absolutely bored as she pointed her index finger at him, "If you think you can pull that tough guy act with me you are absolutely wrong!"

"Okay," Kakashi answered as he sat down and leaned his back on the tree and closed his eye.

Sakura narrowed her eyes and a loud scream filled her head. Who would have thought that a young Kakashi was this aggravating? Her hands formed a fist and she quickly crouched and punched the ground with all her strength.

Kakashi quickly jumped out of the way of the massive rocks and broken trees. He stared at her in pure awe.

"Just… who are you?" He said as he played with his favorite kunai in his fingers.

Rin fell down on her knees and closed her eyes as one small rock cut her cheek.

"Rin! I'm so.. so sorry!" Sakura said as she ran to the brunette.

Rin eyes widened as she saw Sakura's hand surrounded by green chakra.

Kakashi didn't had time to think about the pink-haired girl skills.

Sakura gasped in pain as something grabbed her arm completely stopping her chakra. She stared at Kakashi who quietly told them to keep down.

Rin and Sakura traded confused looks just before a loud explosion was heard.

They all fell unconscious.

Next Chapter Preview!! Because I'm nice!! ;)

Kakashi sighed, and moved closer to the other cell. His both hands clasped around the cell bars.

Sakura groggily glanced at him warily, and quickly tried to step back.

"It's me. Kakashi"

"Prove it," she said as she tried to focus her blurred vision on his silhouette.

Kakashi shook his head irritably, his spiky silver-haired moving as he stood up. Carefully, he calculated the width of the cell. "It's six by six." He mumbled to himself, but she heard him.

"By Kami! Kakashi can count! That must count as a proof," Sakura said as she spotted his silver-hair and his dark mask.

Kakashi scowled. "Shut up Haruno. Now, do you remember what happened? I'm drawing a blank. Explosion and then, nothing."

"And here I thought you wanted me to shut up."

"Out with it Haruno!"

Sakura sighed melodramatically. "Well, if you insist. Actually, I don't remember much either."

"Great. Just great."

"Kakashi? Where's Rin?"