PURCHASE
WHT ROSE 200
SubTotal 200
Tax 045
TOTAL 245
Cash 300 Change 055

Hearing Molly's screech, everyone rushed to see what the pproblem was. Snape was effectively trapped by the crowd gathering to gaze at the four targets painted on the mahogany door. Sirius came in, an air of taking-charge about him, and asked,

"What's going on here? Hello Severus," He added distractedly, and Molly answered.

"Your guards have been using the door as target practice!" Sirius looked over the painted targets, taking note that all the weapons where either on or right next to the center dot.

"…They're pretty good. Glad they're on our side." A few people snorted and some laughed quietly. Molly's face softened, but she was still rather put out. Severus looked enraged.

"They nearly killed me!"

That got some more snickers and Sirius replied coolly,

"Well then maybe you shouldn't open the door when you know pointy objects are being thrown at it at high speeds." Most people where outright laughing now, and if not, they had at least snorted quietly. One of the twins hooted out, "Too bad they missed!" Kakashi and Rin exchanged a look. They started silently pulling their weapons out of the door, one by one. Once all the projectiles were safely back in thei holsters Kakashi and Rin bowed to Snape.

"We apologize." Rin also tacked on "Professor." Severus's lip curled, and he stalked away.

A few days later, Rin and Kakashi has been picking through a room when they heard a scream. They dropped their bags and sprinted towards the source. They found Molly Weasely kneeling beside Ron, who was spread eagle on the floor. Rin approached the women cautiously, and when she got closer, Ron changed into something else.

It was Orochimaru.

Orochimaru, in all his freakish glory, his sharp-nailed fingers digging into Kakashi's shoulder so hard it drew blood. But not Kakashi- a fake Kakashi. One with his mask pulled down and his eye torn up, bleeding, with stitches marring the warped flesh around it. But it was open and staring, the sharingan spinning. Rin choked and froze,unable to do anything but stare. Kakashi knocked her down and fell on top of her awkwardly, pushing Rin's shoulders down forecfully. She looked up at Kakashi, her eyes shining hlwith tears. The other nin couldn't look at her, his gaze fixed on the new sight. Now it was Obito Uchiha, the fallen comrade. He looked unharmed, his goggles pusged up on his forehead. He had his eyes locked on Kakashi's, and smiled a knife-thin smile, all teeth. Then he spoke, in English, which was strange to hear coming from their old friend's mouth. But what was most strange where the words, spoken with a harsh cruel edge. The voice of someone who enjoys to break people wit their words until they are incapable of fighting.

"It was all fake, you know?"

Kakashi took a deep ragged breath. Tensing for the words he had imagined so many times before.

"How could anyone love you, anyway? Cold heartless nin. Ruthless killer, prodigy. Boy genius. And son of the disgraced Hatake Sakumo no less.
"Hatake Sakumo. Who killed himself, and left his body for his child to find. Left his poor little kid to fend for himself in a world like ours.
"How could anyone love someone so damaged? So broken that he lets his friend die so he won't be like his father.
"It was fake. All of it. Every smile, every kiss, every touch - everything.
"I never loved you."

It was too much. He couldn't take it. He was shaking, fists clenched. His face was jerked around, and he was facing Rin.

"It's not real Kakashi. He's dead! Dead! Do you hear me?!"

When the nin didn't respond, she pushed him off her and pulled him up. She took him by the scruff of his neck and shook him and said through gritted teeth,

"It's - not - real." When she again got no response, she pushed him back and slapped straight across his face. A squeaky whimper tore from his throat and Rin pulled him towards the door. She pushed past the crowd that had formed and dragged Kakashi to her room. She slammed the door and shoved Kakashi down onto a bed. He sat down and looked up at his friend. Her eyes where tight, scared and worried. Her lips twitched in a last-ditch effort at controlling herself. Then she screamed.

"WHAT the FUCK?! YOU and OBITO were DATING?! I CUT out his EYE and put it in YOUR EYE SOCKET and you NEVER TOLD ME?! I'M a PART of this FUCKING team too.

It seems you two FORGOT at some point. Well THANKS. THANKS A WHOLE FUCKING BUNCH. Let's see a psych-nin try and sort us out now." She laughed hollowly. "A talentless, ignored, infatuated medic, a peppy failure abused by his family and /dead/, and a boy genius with a suicidal father and a dead mother, everything-issues, and inablity to cope with emotions, his dead lover's eye in his own socket, and a touch that mutilates and kills horrifically anything that might become precious."

She stopped there and took a long shuddering breath. Her legs buckled and she kneeled in front of Kakashi on the floor. He finally was able to reply in a weak voice.

"We were going to. We really were. Then we went on the mission and other things took precedent." Rin looked up at him, tears slipping down her cheek. He stroked her hair eoftly and she buried her face in his pants. She gave muffled sobs, her shouders trembling. Kakashi was silent as she cried. When it finally subsided, Rin was silent then said in a whisper,

"You never cry."

Kakashi gave her a confused look and she lifted her head, looking at him with puffy eyes. She wiped at her face and elaborated.

"When your dad died, you didn't cry. When Obito died, you didn't shed a tear. You never cry. Not for anything." Kakashi shrugged. He didn't really know himself.

"I just…can't." He looked over Rin's at nothing. "When Obito died, I really wanted to. But no matter what I just…it doesn't work." He paused as he felt Rin's full attention on him. "I've only ever cried before my father died.

"I remember, a few months ago, while you were on that sound mission, there was a mixup at the mission desk. I got sent a letter saying you and Minato-sensei were dead." He was petting Rin's hair absently as he talked and her face was still against his legs, but he could feel her listening.

"I didn't cry. I realized that all I had left in the world was gone, and I just…shut down. I went completely numb and I didn't eat for three days until you came back from the mission. That's why I acted so weird when you came by my house. I had thought you and sensei had been dead for three days. It was strange. I was staring at a letter that said my life was meaningless and I didn't even have the decency to cry about it."

"Is that why you became a Captain? Without Obito your life was meaningless?" A muffled question came from Rin's head. His jaw clenched and he answered with a hard

"No. It was just…it was recoil. Just when I had started to question myself on what I had decided when Sakumo died, when I thought maybe friends and all that was a good thing, Life just had kill Obito as if too say 'haHA got you Hatake! Thought you could have a normal life, right? Wrong!'. Like someone had slapped me in the face and told me to not get my hopes up. Not much of a confidence-booster, yeah?" Kakashi's fingers twitched in Rin's hair and she looked up at him.

"Oh 'Kashi…still, this doesn't excuse you for not telling me."

"Of course, Rin. I should have. Every time I thought I might be able to, it just seemed like a bad time."

Rin sniffled and sat down heavily next to Kakashi on her bed. She leaned on Kakashi's shoulder, clinging to his arm. Kakashi shifted closer to her and they sat together for a while.

Sadly though, duty called. They had jobs to finish. Kakashi stood, tugging Rin up along with him. She wiped her face again, her eyes looking better than before, but still a little pink. Kakashi patted her shoulder gently and opened the door.

"Work to be done, Rin-chan," he murmured and she nodded mutely. They padded silently through the halls, which were quiet. Instead of checking on Molly, they went back to do what they were doing before.

Namely, throwing stuff away.

It seemed they didn't have much confidence in non-magic people and thought it was the only job they were capable of doing.

The worked for an hour or two, quietly talking. Kakashi told Rin all about what he and Obito had done together. He was in the middle of telling her about the time when Obito had insisted they adopt a stray kitten he had found on the street.

"…It was this little thing really, tiny, and grey with black splotches all over it. He wanted to name it after you, but I said one of you was enough." He chuckled as Rin chucked him upside the head, laughing softly. The door creaked open and they looked ip together. Hermione leaned her head inside the room and said dinner was ready.

They nodded and she closed the door and they heard her footsteps retreating. Rin and Kakashi exchanged a look and set their stuff down. They slipped down tthe halls to the kitchen, from which lots of noise could be heard.