Chapter Two- Memories

I don't own Naruto

Kakashi was never one to express his feelings outwardly. To some he may have appeared cold, heartless and maybe even arrogant. Those close to him knew that was not the case, they could tell that he was hurting inside. The scars on his heart seemed endless at this point and to think that he was only nineteen and bore the burden of death on his shoulders was unfortunate.

Instead of letting others see his hurt he kept it locked inside, looking both ways before he even let his eyes water. He protected himself and had good intentions by pushing everyone away. Any one who got too close to him was as good as dead once they became too important to him.

He learned this lesson once more when Minato-sensei had died. He should have learned his lesson as soon as he lost Obito, he should have taken the hint from life and built his walls back up around his heart. He should have known that even Minato-sensei would leave him eventually.

Kakashi let out a breath, closing his eyes as he stood in front of a familiar grave. As always, his hands were shoved in his pockets as he mourned for his friend. It was alright now though, his heart was hidden behind walls, chained and locked away where it could hurt no one. He wouldn't make the same mistake with Rin.

Rin.

Kakashi sucked in a sharp breath as he remembered his best friend. How long had it been, three years? He shook his head, it was better this way. This was the whole reason why he had joined ANBU, so he could stay away from Rin. He had to keep his promise to Obito, he couldn't let her die and the best way to keep her alive was for him to stay away from her. After all death lingered around him like a plague that he could not shake off no matter how hard he tried.

Images of the sweet brown haired girl came into mind before Kakashi forcefully shook them away. It was for the best, maybe she had forgotten about him by now anyway. Though he tried to ignore it a pang of sadness washed over his lonely heart at the thought of her forgetting him.

It's for the best, It's for her sake.

Kakashi bent down placing the fresh new roses he had bought on his way here on Obito's tombstone. He felt the corners of his mouth tug upwards as he slowly smiled down at the tombstone.

"It's been a while hasn't it Obito? Sorry I couldn't visit, I've been busy with so many missions recently that I can't even count the amount. People call me the 'Copy Ninja' now, strange right? To think that I would be able to step out from underneath my fathers shadow and build a name for myself...I wish you and Minato-sensei were here with me though," Kakashi let out a sad laugh," I could just imagine you fuming and us fighting like old times. If Sensei and Rin hadn't always broken us up. our fights may have been more than vocal," he lowered his voice, "But Minato-sensei isn't here any more, he's with you. Rin...Rin is safe. For now anyway."

Kakashi paused as he sensed some one approaching. Standing up he jumped up onto the nearest tree, frantic to hide himself. He felt slight confusion cross through him, after all he could have sworn that no one came to visit the graves around this area besides him. Most of the shinobi had died in the Third war had been long forgotten, peaceful times slowly washing away the cries of the fallen warriors.

To his surprise he could make out a girl approaching the grave, to be specific, Obito's grave. Kakashi watched suspiciously as the girl set her own batch of roses onto the tomb before sitting down. From here he could not see her face, the only thing visible was her dark brown hair that went slightly past her shoulders. He couldn't make out what the girl said though even without hearing he could feel a sense of dread spreading through him.

There was only one girl that would come mourn for Obito like he would, the girl that he had been avoiding for years, the girl that's name was-

Snap.

Too focused on the girl, Kakashi had failed to notice that he had been inching forward on the already unsteady tree branch. Before he could lean back, his weight made the branch snap sending a loud noise through the clearing. The girl looked above her in surprise just in time to see the silver haired jonin crashing down on her. She let out a gasp of surprise, closing her eyes as she braced herself for the weight that was to crush her. She had pinned herself to the ground, grasping bits of grass underneath her.

The weight never came. The girl opened slowly opened one eye after another, feeling another body pressed against hers.

Kakashi had managed to throw his arms and legs forward to brace his fall so he would not land on the girl. He groaned as his hands and knees came in contact with the hard ground. He rolled off the girl, hissing slightly in pain. This was exactly why he tried to stay away from her. This was the first time he'd seen her in years and the first thing he managed to do was almost crush her.

Rin let out the breath that she had been holding as she sat up. She wondered silently why someone would even think of hiding up in a tree. She blinked, remembering the split second that she had seen the man's face.

Silver hair and mismatched wide eyes. A scar running across his left eye.

Rin's turned her head to her right, seeing that the not so stranger had sat up, rubbing his arms. As he turned his face to look at her she knew exactly who she was dealing with.

"Kakashi?!" She asked in disbelief. She watched as the silver haired teen nervously rubbed the back of his neck and she could imagine him giving her a hesitant smile under his mask.

"Rin," he said nervously," Sorry about that, really! I was visiting Obito and you came along and I didn't know who you were. I wasn't spying on you or anything! I know it may have seemed..."

Rin listened as Kakashi began to uncharacteristically blurt out things, his voice nervous. She took this time to fully take in his appearance.

He had changed quite a bit though he was still recognizable. His hair had turned slightly darker than she last remembered, taking on a much more silvery appearance than before. He didn't have his forehead protector on so the scarred transplanted eye was fully visible. Both grey and red eyes were on her as he continued to explain himself, stuttering slightly every now and then. She noticed that he was wearing his ANBU armor, his ANBU mask hanging from around his neck, the red painted wolf smiling down at the ground. He had a lean, fit muscular body, the ANBU tattoo on his left shoulder visible from where she sat.

"...I'm really sorry," Kakashi finished his rant, staring at Rin expectantly. Rin noticed with a hint of sadness that his eyes were lonely, sad, and much darker than before. Had the ANBU rumors been true, had he changed?

Kakashi stared at Rin, head spinning. What now? Now that she knew that he was in the village, there was no way that he could hide. He couldn't just leave either, the Hokage had told him that he had a mission here in Konoha, a mission that he would reveal later. A part of him was filled with uncontrollable joy while the other was panicked. He had to leave before his bad luck started to rub off on her.

He was more than surprised when the brown haired kunoichi threw herself into his arms, knocking him back down on the ground. He could feel her arms wrapped tightly around him, squeezing the hell out of him as if he were going to vanish any second. He sat up. She had buried her face in his shoulder, her body shaking slightly in his arms. Why was she shaking? Why-

Oh.

He felt warm tears fall onto his shoulder and before long they came more rapidly. He sat silently letting her tears drench the right side of his uniform as she held onto him tightly. He didn't know what to do, what to say. Instead he sat in silence, his head rested on her shoulder as he listened to her quiet sobs which soon turned into angry cries. He still sat silently as she pulled away, roughly pounding at his chest half heartedly.

"You idiot! You came home and didn't tell me?!" She cried angrily," Idiot, Idiot, Idiot!"

Moments later, Rin seemed to give up being angry. Instead she pulled away, wiping the tears out of her eyes. Kakashi noticed that this was quite similar to their first meeting only this time he had made Rin cry.

He had made Rin cry.

Kakashi bit his lip under his mask, guilt threatening to over take him before he convinced himself that avoiding her for all this time was the correct thing to do. It had kept her alive, hadn't it?

"Sorry?" he offered. For once, Kakashi who had always been a smooth talker was lost for words. Rin shook her head, sniffling as she still attempted to wipe her eyes with her sleeve.

"No, I'm sorry. I'm just happy that your back," Rin told him. Even if it's only for a little while.

Kakashi felt touched by her kind words and couldn't help but smile a bit, a part of him reassured. See idiot, she hasn't forgotten about you.