Here For You - Kakashi Hatake x OC

Chapter 7: The Pain of a Ninja

*Normal POV*

The days went by and I found myself mostly sitting in my apartment, thinking about my team, and about Kakashi. Kakashi was very busy with missions these days. I would eat dinner alone, since he came home very late. Come to think of it, I rarely saw him. And I really missed him. It wasn't his fault, it wasn't as though he didn't want to see me... Right? Yes. I was just being an idiot again. Although, I did see him yesterday, after taking the jonin exams, we both passed and were very excited, so we celebrated. I was really proud of him, I hugged him as tightly as I could and I made him his favorite dinner once again. I would have to get him a present.

Kakashi wasn't around, so I made my way to the KIA stone. I bought some lilies and brought them to the memorial. "Hello, father, Tamiko-sensei, Hiroji, Ishiro," I started. I kneeled down and replaced the dead lilies in a vase next to the stone. "It's been rough these past few weeks. I've missed you a lot. To make it worse, Kakashi hasn't been around much, he's been very busy with missions. I wish you were still here." I sighed, "I think I love Kakashi. I know that maybe I'm too young for love or anything, but he's the only thing I have left, and the only thing I care about. I wonder we'll be the same in the years to come." I bowed my head, "Well, I'll talk to you tomorrow, goodnight."

I walked through the Konoha streets, windowshopping, looking for something Kakashi might like. I stopped at a weapons shop, admiring a beautiful katana in an amazing case lined with blue velvet. I thought he might like switching a bit from his usual kunai. I walked into the shop and thankfully, I had enough money saved up for it. I didn't really care about how much money I spent on Kakashi, he was the only thing I had, and after all he's been through, he deserved the best. I gestured to the woman at the counter and asked if I could buy the katana. She nodded, closed the box and took it to the counter to ring it up. "Uh, sorry but do you do giftwrapping?" I asked awkwardly. I was too antisocial. I cursed myself mentally. She smiled at me, "Sure, sweetheart, who is the present for?" She asked, taking a roll of wrapping paper from under the counter and proceeding to wrap the box. "Oh, for my friend, he just made jonin yesterday. I wanted to congratulate him, and I thought this would be a nice gift," I explained. "Well, your jonin friend is a lucky man," She chuckled and I blushed. I paid and thanked her. "Have a nice day, sweetheart! Hope your jonin friend likes the gift!" "Thanks again, you have a nice day, too!" She was a very nice woman, I thought to myself as I left the shop.

I walked to the apartment complex, carrying the huge box and watching small children happily play tag, running through the streets. I smiled a little to myself. Such innocent beings. I knew Kakashi wasn't home, so I just went to my apartment. I slipped off my shoes and cardigan and walked to the kitchen. I placed the box next to the table.

I sighed as I began making dinner for myself, yet again. I was frying some fish when I heard my door open. I turned to look at Kakashi.

I stopped doing everything I was doing. I immediately knew something was wrong. He looked sad, angry, even scared. His headband was covering his left eye. Something had happened on his mission. "Kashi?" I asked carefully. He looked at me, a tear escaping his only visible eye.

"Obito's dead."

Everything froze. This had to be a dream. I pinched myself, and yet, here I was, Kakashi standing in front of me, and Obito was dead. I ran to him and I hugged him. I was crying, too. I couldn't believe that Obito, sweet, innocent Obito, the only person who spoke to me back at the Academy, the boy who strived to be Hokage, was dead. I led Kakashi to my couch and we sat there, just hugging. He placed his head on my shoulder and I stroked his hair. I still couldn't quite comprehend the situation, I needed the story, but I didn't want to pressure Kakashi into telling me this soon. I knew he would speak once he was ready. Time felt ten times slower than it usually was. It felt like years before Kakashi finally spoke.

"The enemy kidnapped Rin. Obito wanted to go after her, but I told him that the mission came first. I was so stupid... I'll never forget what he said to me in that moment. He told me that people who break the rules are scum, but people who abandon their friends are worse than scum. He left after he said that, I felt so bad and guilty. I decided to go after him after a few minutes, I met him in a tree. We stood there and saw the cave where they took Rin. The enemy sneaked up behind us. I tried to dodge his attacks, but before he fell back, he... He cut my eye," He choked, lifting his Konoha headband, revealing a large wound through his closed eye and down his face, even his mask was torn a bit. I gasped as I saw it. He continued, "As I sat there trying to heal my eye, the enemy was attacking again, from behind... But this time Obito had seen the ninja, and he stabbed him. I was a bit shocked to see that his Sharingan had activated. We made our way down to the cave and killed the ninja that were guarding Rin. I released her from the genjutsu she had been put under and we saw the ceiling of the cave start to collapse. We ran, and I saw a huge boulder dropping above me. I thought I was going to die. But Obito pushed me away. And the boulder fell on him, it crushed his whole right half. I tried to push the boulder away, but it was useless, it was way too heavy. He talked to me and he decided to give me a present for making jonin. I couldn't believe him, but it was his dying wish. And... He gave me... Well..." He opened his eye and my hand flew over my mouth as I saw the redness of the Sharingan. He closed it quickly and moved the headband back into it's previous state. "He gave me his Sharingan. And he told me... To protect Rin. He loved her so much. He shouldn't have died, it should have been me! He's a much better person than I am! He never deserved this! And we were just starting to get along, I even thought we would become friends," He was crying now and I just hugged him. "He died a hero," He finished hoarsely. "Kashi, nobody deserved to die! It wasn't your fault. He saved you. Don't blame yourself for his death." I cried with him. I reached out my hand to wipe the tears away from his cheek. I had never touched his face before. He looked at me. "Being a ninja is hard," He finally whispered. "Yes, Kashi, but this is our life now. We're at war, and we're going to have to face many more hard things now that we're jonin. But we can't bury ourselves in sorrow and guilt. You know that Obito wouldn't have wanted that, he would want you to move forward, and make him proud." He smiled weakly, "Thanks, Katsi." "For what? I haven't done much... I wish I could help more..." I trailed off sadly and looked at my feet. "No, no, no, everything you've done for me... You always know what to say, and how to make me feel better. I guess what I'm trying to say is, just, thanks... For everything." I looked up at him and smiled. "You too, Kashi. Thanks for being here." We sat in silence for a while until I decided to break it, "Uhm, Kashi, this might not be the best of times, but I wanted to give you your present." He studied me, "What present?" I laughed a bit, "For making jonin, silly!" He looked a bit shocked and he put his hands in front of himself, waving them in a denying manner. "No, no! But I didn't get you anything! Ugh, I'm so bad," He put his head in his hands. "Kashi!" I exclaimed. He looked very ashamed. My body moved by itself as I leaned over to him and kissed his forehead. "I don't need any presents," I whispered and blushed madly. He stared up at me, but I avoided his gaze and awkwardly went to retrieve his gift from beside the table. I could still feel the redness in my cheeks and I desperately tried to cool them down with my cold hands. It seemed to work and I walked back to Kakashi, handing him the present. "Congratulations," I said, smiling to him. I could see that he was still upset with himself about not getting me anything, "Please don't worry about getting me anything, having you is more than I could already ask for," I reassured him, blushing slightly. This seemed to do the trick as he unwrapped my gift. I bit my lip, hoping he would like it. He gasped as he opened it, "Katsi! No... I can't accept this... It's too much, it must have cost a fortune..." I waved my hands in front of me, "No backsies! Please, Kashi, I wanted to get you something you would like and find useful, please tell me you like it," I looked at him worriedly and he met my gaze.

"I love it."