Whatever Happened to Rin? Ch.1

"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.