Disclaimer: Naruto belongs to Masashi Kishimoto.

"Rin, time to go!"

Rin stopped staring at the stars and turned towards her sensei and teammate.

"Home?" she asked.

"Our mission here is done," the Yellow Flash told her.

She nodded sadly as Kakashi spluttered in shock.

"What about Obito?! What about bringing his body back?!"

The Yellow Flash placed his hand comfortingly on Kakashi's shoulder as Rin shook her head and picked up her backpack. As she turned, Kakashi saw the scratched and bloody forehead protector tied to the back of it.

"Good morning Kakashi!" Rin said with a smile as she wiped her wet hands on her white apron.

"Rin! What are you doing?!" Kakashi exclaimed, slipping the kunai he had been pointing at Rin back into its holster.

"Your dishes. You seem to have acquired a large stack of them since we've gotten back. When was the last time you washed dishes?"

"Never mind that. What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I'm not allowed to visit one of my teammates?" she asked innocently.

"Your only teammate," Kakashi said angrily as he hurled his nightshirt violently in the general direction of what looked like a laundry pile.

Rin's eyes widened in horror. "Kakashi, I didn't mean to… I'm so sorry!"

"Don't be," he muttered, stomping off to the bathroom.

She followed him in.

"What the hell are you doing?! Why are you even here Rin?!"

"My parents threw me out," she said quietly. "I didn't know where to go."

"Oh."

For the first time that morning, Kakashi really looked at Rin. Her cheeks were splotchy and her eyes were red and puffy. The stripes on her cheeks were smudged and slightly crooked. Little bits of hair stuck up at odd angles and not only was her forehead protector slightly off center, it was upside down as well. She really is a mess, he thought. She's probably cried all night.

"What happened?" Kakashi finally asked.

"We got into an argument," she whispered. "They don't like me being a shinobi – they never have. They didn't really say anything about it during the war because they knew the village needed every ninja they had to fight…"

"But now that it's over they don't want you to be a ninja anymore?"

"Always quick," Rin said with a watery smile. "They're afraid that I'll get hurt, or killed. They were really upset when they found out that one of my teammates had been killed."

"You told them about Obito?" Kakashi asked, surprised. He wouldn't have thought Rin would have told her parents if they didn't like her being a shinobi.

She shook her head. "They found his forehead protector. They got really angry and they were waving it around like, like it was something dirty. I pretty much lost it at that point. I said some things that I probably shouldn't have said, and they ordered me out of the house. I grabbed my things and came here. I'm sorry. I'll leave now."

Kakashi grabbed her arm as she turned to go.

"It's all right. You can stay. I don't mind."

Impulsively he wrapped her in a hug.

"Don't worry. It'll be okay."

Rin burst into tears.

"Kakashi, I didn't know what to do," she babbled. "They were so angry. I was too, but when I walked out that door I realized that I was all alone. It scared me."

Kakashi didn't know what possessed him to say it.

"You'll never be alone. I'll always be here."

Rin wiped her eyes and gave him a funny look.

"What happened to the Kakashi that thought his team could only slow him down?" she asked.

"Those who do not care for and support their teammates are even lower than trash," he whispered. "That's what Obito told me when I wanted to finish the mission and abandon you. I'm not just Kakashi anymore."

"That's sweet," she said with a sad smile. "I need to get to the hospital, though. My shift starts in ten minutes. I'll see you tonight, all right?"

Kakashi nodded as Rin planted a kiss on his cheek before running out the door.

After Rin had gone, Kakashi decided to unpack the bag she had left next to the couch. Opening it up, he found a second set of the clothes Rin always wore, an extra pair of sandals, a copy of the team photo that they had taken when they first became a team, a hairbrush, a couple of medical scrolls, and Obito's forehead protector wrapped carefully in a handkerchief. Fingering the deep scratches in Obito's forehead protector, Kakashi realized how rushed Rin must have been when she left her house, because she hadn't packed any sheets, towels, or other basic necessities.

After he found places to put away her minimal possessions, Kakashi decided to pick up the rest of Rin's things from her house. Luckily her parents were at work, so Kakashi had no trouble breaking into her room through her window. Once inside, he tossed his backpack on her bed and began stuffing the rest of her clothing inside. Once her closet and dresser were empty, he made his way to the bathroom and plucked her towels off the rack. Going back to her bedroom, Kakashi lashed the towels to his backpack. That done, he stripped her bed and gathered up everything to leave. As an afterthought, he grabbed the plant sitting next to her bed as well.

As Kakashi ran down the streets, everyone stared at him. Was the Yellow Flash's prize student running down the street with purple sheets and a potted plant? Kakashi didn't notice the stares, though. He was exhausted and couldn't figure out why. It wasn't as if he had done anything particularly tiring that morning. By the time he reached his apartment, he could barely hold himself up. He was only able to slide the door open before he collapsed.

Rin yawned and rubbed her eyes as she made her way to Kakashi's apartment at the end of the day. She'd had a long day assisting the older medical ninja, and after work she had gone to the grocery store to pick up food so that she didn't use all of Kakashi's. As she approached, she was surprised to find the door already open. She was even more surprised to find Kakashi in a heap on the floor under her sheets clutching her plant.

Dropping the groceries on the floor, Rin detangled Kakashi from the sheets and rolled him onto his back. She couldn't see any blood; that was a good sign. His pulse and temperature felt normal. No obvious signs of trauma. The only abnormality she could detect was his lack of consciousness. As she doubted Kakashi had decided to take a nap in the middle of his doorstep (and he wasn't waking up with her hauling him about), she began to drag his limp body over to the couch. Somehow she managed to prop him onto the couch, where she could maneuver him onto her back. Grumbling about heavy teammates who inconveniently collapsed on their doorsteps, Rin began her walk back to the hospital. She could only hope that someone there knew what was wrong with him.

When Kakashi woke up, he found himself in a strange bed with something covering his left eye. As he struggled to sit up, he felt someone helping him from his blind side. He was about to turn to see who it was when Rin walked through the door carrying a tray with tea on it.

"I told you he would be waking up soon," Rin said, looking past Kakashi's left ear.

"Did I ever doubt your medical ability?" the Yellow Flash's familiar voice responded.

"Sensei! What are you doing here?" Kakashi asked.

"One of my students collapses on his front doorstep and I'm not supposed to come and see him? Rin came and got me."

"Oh."

Rin handed Kakashi a cup of tea, and began pouring one for Yondaime.

"How are you feeling Kakashi?" Rin asked as she leaned over Kakashi to hand the Yellow Flash his tea.

"I've been better," Kakashi mumbled as he sipped his tea.

Rin rolled her eyes as the Yellow Flash chuckled.

"I don't like this either," Kakashi informed them as he reached up to pull off the bandage over his eye.

The Yellow Flash grabbed Kakashi's wrist before Rin had time to do more than reach out for it.

"Don't take it off."

"But I can't see out of that side," Kakashi complained.

"That's why you collapsed, Kakashi," Rin explained. "You can't deactivate the sharingan and it's using up too much chakra. You'll have to keep it covered unless you're using it."

"I'm not going to wear a bandage over my eye for my entire life!"

"You could get a patch," Rin suggested.

"I can't wear a patch over my eye! I'll look like some sort of pirate!"

"I've got an idea," Yondaime told him. "Close your eyes."

Kakashi obeyed and felt the bandage being taken off. He resisted the urge to open his eyes to see what was going on. He felt a piece of fabric that was hardened in the middle being placed diagonally across his forehead to cover his eye. Reaching up to feel it, Kakashi realized that the Yellow Flash was tying his forehead protector across his eye.

"How's that?" Yondaime asked him.

Kakashi opened his right eye and looked around.

"I still can't see out of that side. What good is having an eye if you can't use it?"

"You can still use it," Yondaime explained patiently, "you just can't use it all the time."

"Unless you want me to come home every night to find you collapsed on the doorstep, you'll have to get used to wearing it," Rin told him matter of factly. "And incidentally, what were you doing with my sheets and plant?"

"Err… I was unpacking for you and realized that you didn't have any sheets or towels or anything… So I decided to go to your house and pick them up for you…" he muttered, turning slightly pink.

"My parents let you in?!"

"Well, no…"

The Yellow Flash began laughing.

"You know," he said, gasping, " as the current Hokage, it would be my duty to punish any ninja found breaking into civilians' houses."

"Kakashi!" Rin admonished.

"Well, I didn't really break in… I just wanted to pick up your sheets and stuff…" Kakashi trailed off lamely.

"Why'd you bring Mr. Ukki then?" she demanded.

"Who?" Kakashi and the Yellow Flash chorused.

Rin blushed.

"My plant. I named him Mr. Ukki when I was younger."

The Yellow Flash tried to hide a smile as Kakashi smirked.

"At least I'm not the one who collapsed after breaking into someone's house," Rin snapped at Kakashi. "And did you have to go through all of my things?"

"I'm sorry. I wasn't really thinking about that at the time. When can I go home?"

Rin shot their former sensei a questioning look. He shrugged.

"I can carry him back if you'd like," the Yellow Flash answered her unasked question.

"Why can't I just walk home?" Kakashi asked.

As Rin opened her mouth to answer, Yondaime quickly interjected.

"You can, if that's what you want."

Kakashi shrugged, and slowly swung himself out of the bed. As he stood up, he felt his legs give out from under him. Before he could hit the ground, he found himself in the Yellow Flash's arms.

"Oh," Kakashi murmured.

"You'll be like this for about a week," Rin told him. "I can pick up a pair of crutches for you, if you'd like."

"That'd be nice," Kakashi said quietly.

Rin nodded.

"I'll meet you two at the entrance in a few minutes then," she told Yondaime as she turned to walk out the door.

After Rin left, Yondaime looked at Kakashi.

"Rin is living with you now?"

Kakashi couldn't help blushing at his former sensei's knowing look.

"Her parents kicked her out. I told her she could stay with me."

"I see," the Yellow Flash murmured, looking thoughtful.

Once the trio had arrived at Kakashi's apartment and they had gotten Kakashi settled in bed, the Yellow Flash pulled Rin aside.

"Rin, Kakashi told me that your parents kicked you out of the house."

"Yes, they kicked me out this morning," Rin said, looking down in shame. "We got into a fight because they don't want me being a shinobi."

"I see," he paused, "As you may know, the village will provide shinobi with housing, but only once they reach chunnin rank. It is assumed that unless a genin has been orphaned he or she will live with his or her parents. This poses you a slight problem. You can't have your own housing until you become a chunnin, yet you can't live with your parents."

Rin nodded mutely.

"There is a chunnin exam coming up in four months. If you would like, I can place you with a genin team to take the exams with at that point. Until then you can continue to live with Kakashi, or I can try to find you temporary housing with another family."

"I'd rather live with Kakashi if he doesn't mind," Rin said quietly. She continued bitterly, "I don't want to be placed with another family like a war orphan when my parents are alive and happily running their tea shop because people like Obito died to protect this village."

The Yellow Flash nodded understandingly.

"In that case, I'll try to find a two bedroom shinobi apartment for you two to move into. I've already talked with Kakashi – he says he doesn't mind living with you, and he does qualify for a larger apartment now that he's a jounin."

"You can do that?" Rin asked in awe.

The Yondaime chuckled.

"I'm the Hokage now, remember?"

Rin blushed.

"Oh yeah. That helps doesn't it?" she asked, grinning.

Note: I think this has a bit too much dialogue... It also seems like it's trying to shift its focus away from Rin and onto Kakashi. I'm trying to keep the focus on Rin, but I think Kakashi played a large role in her life, so I'm sorry if the focus seems to stray at times.

Reviews would be greatly appreciated.