First of all, I apologize for the REALLY late update.

This was due to several factors.

It started with a "slump" state where I couldn't write. Then, school decided to beat me black and blue and threaten me with tests. Then, finals started to crawl up on me as my health deteriorated and I ended up sick last week.

So, yeah I have finals next week and I am currently (smoothly) recovering from whatever virus I caught (probably from my sister or school)! I will be done with school next week and, hopefully, the holidays won't hold me too much so I can't write... -_-'

Anyways, I'm sorry for the late and thank you for waiting!

Here is the continuation of the last chapter:

Oh! And please don't forget to check out the special fic that correlates with this one!

Kakashi Chronicles: Colliding Worlds

Also, I'm just going to weasel in my usual scenario requests right here~

Remember that this arc will be ending soon, so enjoy preteen Kakashi and co while you can~

"Welcome to my home. Would you like some tea?" A middle-aged man urges the three young ninjas to sit down.

"No thank you." Politely, Rin declines the offer with a small smile as, in the corner of her eye, Guy restlessly takes a seat on the tatami floor like she and Iruka have.

Rin doesn't need to make much of a visible effort in order to note the home's poor condition. The walls were a bit mucky, the wallpaper fraying with age. The kitchen was rather poorly tended to, small but tidy despite its poor condition. The old, worn tatami presses against her bare knees. She had a feeling that they were going to leave marks.

One wouldn't have thought that an infamous thief, who steals from the rich, would be living in such poor conditions.

In fact, most would think he would have exchanged the riches and at least gotten a home in better condition at least.

"What is your real intention with these thefts?" Iruka gets straight to the point. There was no need for them to ponder any longer on this man's—Nezumi Jirokichi's home to conclude that the riches were not here and that there must be some other intention behind the string of serial thefts.

Nezumi Jirokichi pauses, giving a slight awkward smile before he exhales a held breath. The thief under the mask looked just like any other civilian and he seems to have a mild personality as he explains the situation. Nezumi Jirokichi was once a servant at one of the noble's estates. One day he had sprung upon an account book which had shown signs of embezzlement by his master. Investigating into the matter more, Nezumi had found that, not only his master but several other nobles were embezzling from taxes right under the emperor's nose. Determined to make things right, Nezumi steals from each of the traitorous nobles and gives the goods to the citizens, selling the objects and donating the money to the towns around the Land of Birds.

"During my thefts, I also search and gather all the evidence I need of their betrayals… so that I may present them to the emperor and show him what they are doing behind his back." Nezumi explains with great charisma and confidence.

The three young Konoha ninjas contemplate Nezumi's stories. Each has their own thoughts and feelings on the matter.

Rin averts her brown eyes to her knees and listlessly fiddles her fingers. There is a certain gloss over her chocolate orbs as she focuses on her hand as they gently rub the pale skin of her knees. Absentmindedly, she notes how her knees were cold and how the warmth the rubbing created was soothing. The brunette girl was wandering away, focusing on something else rather than the situation at hand.

Rin is at a loss.

On one hand, the only reasons why Nezumi-san had been stealing from those nobles were to gather evidence of their crimes in order to present it to the emperor and to help the poor citizens of The Land of Birds. On the other hand, he had stolen from the nobles, taken what was not his—and that is a crime. Then again. Rin isn't one to talk about that—after all, she is a ninja.

She has no right to say anything.

However, one of them did not hold back.

"Though your intentions are just…" Guy begins. His eyes are closed and his lips are twitching as if he was still in a state of contemplation All of a sudden, the green-spandex clad boy bursts. "Stealing is still a crime!" Guy jumps up, standing to emphasize his claim. "Even if you are only doing so to combat another crime, a sin does not make up for another sin!" Resolutely, Guy clenches his hands so hard that his fists tremble. "There may have been another way to punish those evildoers even without having to perform a crime!"

"Guy…!" Rin reaches to grab hold of the usually cheerful boy before he begins lashing out at the older man. Although Guy was bringing up a valid point, it is not something they can say per se—they are ninja, taught to hide amongst the shadows and use stealth and trickery in order to achieve their goals. They had no right to lecture this man for what he did.

She was about to scold the other boy for saying too much when Nezumi spoke up. "It's alright, lass." Nezumi smiles weakly. His eyes fall as he smiles sadly. "The boy is right.

There were many other ways I could have gone about this—there was no need for me to steal." He brought his weary, brown eyes back on the three preteens. "It's just like that bowl-haired kid says, 'a sin does not make up for another sin'..." Nezumi trails off.

The thief breaths in, taking in the cold air of his home before exhaling. "That's why… I ask of you, young ninjas of Konoha, that you turn me in…" For a second, Nezumi pauses and then he continues. "...to the emperor."

He smiles softly as if it were his last.

Obito scowls as he continues to walk alongside Kakashi and Genma. The dark-haired boy grumbles under his breath, only letting out an unintelligible murmur. His deep, obsidian eyes bare into the backs of the men who march in front of them, glaring with a great aura of rage.

A pain shoots through his gut when Kakashi jabs her elbow into his side. Obito bites his lip to stop the oncoming groan as he turns to his friend with tears on the brim of his eyes. Kakashi pointedly glares at her teammate and silently signs to him. "Stop, you'll blow our cover."

Obito pouts but he understands that he should listen. The Uchiha complies reluctantly, returning to walking behind their clients alongside his friends.

Currently, the young Konoha ninjas are escorting their clients, the nobles of the Land of Birds, to the emperor so they may report Nezumi's "death" and give the rewards to the young ninjas. The trio follow behind the group of nobles as they lead the way into the emperor's chamber.

Upon reaching the emperor's chamber, first, the guards stop the party asking them to state their business. The noble leading the group explains that they have come to report to the emperor on the Nezumi case. Hearing this, the guards quickly confirm before allowing the group inside.

The group files into the room, all formally bowing to the emperor as a greeting until the man commands them to raise their heads. The noble who is the supposed 'head' of the group is the one to explain all that has occurred thus far and reports. "Nezumi Jirokichi had met an unfortunate end during the last heist and we were unable to retrieve him. However, now that he has deceased, we have no need to worry about these serial theft cases any longer and now we can close this case—"

" Close this case , you say?" A mischievous, boyish voice echoes throughout the room like a laugh. "What case could you be talking about?"

Alarmed, the noblemen all tense and whip their heads around the room. The ends of Obito's lips lift into a smirk as Genma tips his senbon up with his teeth.

The voice was all too familiar to their ears.

Smoke explodes causing the nobles to cough as they try to fan away the sudden intruder. Steadily the smoke clears and four figures come into sight: one tall amongst three smaller ones—as if they had teleported into the room, appearing as if by magic or some sort of sorcery.

There is a rather ordinary man, looking just like a citizen, standing amongst the young ninjas of Konoha right before the emperor.

"Nezumi Jirokichi?!" The leader noble screeches.

"How?!" Another noble howls, "You should be—he should be?!"

Another joins in the panic. "How are you still alive?!"

"Even after we killed you?!—Ah!" One of the noble blurts out and, as if catching himself, hastily covers his mouth. Unfortunately for them, everyone in the room had heard the man's confession.

" 'Killed' him , you say?" piques, the emperor focuses on the scrambling nobles. "What is the meaning of this, men?"

"And so," Minato smiles as he questions. "What happened to Nezumi Jirokichi after all of that?"

Kushina and Obito are stuffing their stomachs and mouths with Ichiraku ramen as Minato and Kakashi discuss the events of her last mission. Obito opens his mouth to answer as he chews the pork slice only to mutter out something undecipherable.

Kakashi promptly lectures, "Don't talk with your mouthful, dummy." Then, the silver-haired girl turns back to their teacher and continues with her report. "Nezumi Jirokichi is waiting for his trial to commence. Though he was stealing in order to reveal the embezzlement, he still stole which is a crime he needs to be punished for." She leans on her arm as she watches the tea leaf in her cup swirl. "Well, if it weren't for him, the nobles would have stolen even more money from the country though, so I doubt his sentence will be no more than a few months of imprisonment and a lot of community service."

Obito slurps up some noodles, chewing and swallowing before he adds in. "On the other hand, those nobles had their titles stripped off them and are now working in prison for a few years." He grabs another group of noodles and lifts it to his mouth before slurping them up.

Silently, Kakashi drinks her tea as Minato takes a bite from his order of potstickers.

"Hmm…" Kushina hums after she swallows her soup. "Well, they were asking for it." She takes a sip from her glass of water. Her cobalt eyes stare at the clear liquid as it slides in the glass. She then picks up her ramen bowl and stacks it on top of the other four bowls she has already finished off before raising her hand. "Teuchi-san! Another large serving of miso ramen with roasted pork fillet, please!"

"Right up!" The older man behind the counter calls out. Kakashi pats Minato's back as tears silently glide down the blonde's cheeks while he stares at his wallet in despair.

"By the way…" The redhead woman tilts her head to get a better look at the group. "Where's Rin?"

A lone brunette leans back against a wooden fence as she watches the horizon. From the bottom up, bright red and orange glow before fading out into magenta, purple, and indigo. The dusk sky mirrors onto her chocolate brown eyes as she gazes at it, lost in the transition between sunset and night.

"I wonder if I could stand by my ideals like Guy did back then." Rin sighs as she watches the sun fade away.

There is a slight creaking sound and a delicate shift of weight on the fence. "Hmm…" Hums the sudden intruder. Rin turns her head slightly and smiles when she sees who is next to her. Iruka sits beside her on the wooden fence, gazing out at the skyline as he leans back. "Well, Guy is something else, that's for sure."

Rin turns back to watch the sky as he nods in agreement.

Guy is strong—he holds onto his ideals and does not shake from it as he tackles everything with his great energy and optimism. Even though he is not skilled in ninjutsu, he is able to achieve so much. Yet she, who is fairly roundly skilled, could not seem to achieve anything. She was always holding her teammates back and is barely ever of use in missions with how capable both Kakashi and Obito are. Is someone like her even worthy of being in such a wonderful team with its outstanding members and teacher?

Rin knows that she has fallen behind her teammates a long time ago—perhaps, from the moment they first were established as a team.

It's frustrating .

Rin was utterly useless, unable to pitch in and help her own team in at least their times of needs. Instead, she always seems to be causing trouble for them—getting captured by the enemy, being used as a hostage, not having the ability to at least defend herself. She is the weakest link in the team.

She doesn't even have a great enough will to follow her ideals—

"But," Iruka's voice pulls Rin from her thoughts, dragging her back to the reality of the disappearing sun, darkening sky, and faintly glowing moon. The brunette girl turns her attention to the ponytailed-brunette boy with her chocolate eyes slightly wide. "I'm sure you will also find the resolve to do great things too—" Iruka's lips spread wide as he grins. "Since it's you."

Beige pink lips lift into a smile as chocolate eyes soften.

A wide smile stretches Rin's mouth.

"Yeah!"

How was it...? I'm not really sure if this was any good but I hope it is (despite that I kind of had to force out the ending...)

I think I may or may not focus on this series for a bit (so I can finish this arc) but I will still be writing my other ones! I just want to try and reach the end of this arc! (Cause this series will be prob over 100 chapters)
Anyways, remember to check out the special chapter! Kakashi Chronicles: Colliding Worlds!

Please leave a review before you leave~