The Masked Shinobi

A Day of Sorrow

Warning: Past character death, signs of PTSD, blood, and minor injury
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The sun slowly rises over the horizon letting its early rays of light peered through the window, warming Rin's back like a comforting embrace as she slept on her side. Slowly the Nohara stirred her slumber and blinked the sleep out of her eyes. She sluggishly raised to prepare for the day, she didn't want to, but Rin felt like she had to since today was that day.

Her heart felt like lead as she got out of bed and got in the shower. The hot stream of water from the showerhead softly pelt the top of her head, plastering her brown hair to her face, helping to melt the icy throbbing in her heart.

However, Rin could feel that deep sharp ache in heart intensity with the steam of the hot water, like the dull throb of a pinched nerve. Pressing her back to the cool wall, Rin slowly slid down the cool shower wall to the floor as she drew her knee to her chest.

'It hurts.'

The water pelting on her face felt heavy.

'Is this heaviness what he felt in his final moments before death?'

The high temperature of the water turned her bare, pale skin red as the discomfort of the heat started to turn to pain.

'Was it painful?'

The first thing she saw upon open her eyes was the bandages wrapped securely over Kakashi's left eye with a faded pink hue on the clean white gauze. Forming a line from his brow to his cheek with a round spot where his eye socket is located. He was paler than usual, making what visible skin he has appeared almost translucent. While she could make out the quickness of his breathing and the evident pain in his right eye.

'It's my fault. I should have been stronger.'

There was a man who appeared out of nowhere, right behind her. When she reached for one of her kunai, the world around her darkened. From the quick strike to the base of her neck. Only to regain consciousness from her genjutsu prison by her teammates. One had a faintly bloody bandage wrapped around his left eye, and the other with eyes that shined with the color of blood.

'I'm so sorry... Kakashi.'

The ringing sound of Rin's bedroom alarm pulled away from the dark, painful memories that plagued her mind from time to time. Rin shakes her head. Then slowly stood up and examined her angry red skin and turned down the water temperature as she continued her shower to stop herself from self-wallowing. Since she has places to be and people to care for, which are not her hospital patients for once.

The medic still remembers after the first few months of the destruction of Kannabi Bridge, Rin had enough. She was more self-critical, seeing the flaws and mistakes in everything she did. Always aware that it was her fault for her weaknesses that caused her to be captured. Made Obito's Sharingan activate. Unable to be there to heal Kakashi's eye after it was damaged. Not be able to move quick enough to pull Kakashi and Obito out of the way of the fallen rubble, and too weak to do anything but cry. The Nohara still recalls how she went to the only person who could help her become a strong kunoichi and an even better medical ninja, Princess Tsunade.

"Princess Tsunade, may I speak with you, please?" A young Rin asked, peeking her head into Senju Princess's hospital office. She was a little nervous but filled with determination.

"What is it, kid? I'm a little busy right now," the head medic replied, giving the young kunoichi at her door a brief look before focusing back on her paperwork.

Rin silently walks into the office and stood a respectable distance from the wooden desk the Slug Queen was working in. "I would like to be your apprentice," the young Nohara requested in a determined tone as her deep brown eyes remained on the sannin in front of her.