Kakashi glanced up as Eren hovered over him.

"Can I sit here?"

"...sure" Kakashi replied and sighed when Mikasa and Armin ended up sitting next to him.

There was an awkward pause amongst the four- Kakashi stared at the ground, Eren looked at his hands, Mikasa stared off into the distance and Armin sat quietly eating his food.

Eren cleared his throat, "Your name is Kakashi? Right?

"Yeah" Kakashi said.

"What you did back there, that was so cool!" Eren burst out. "How did you scare the inspector so badly...he was speechless!"

"Um...", act natural, what would a regular boy say? "thanks I guess?"

Armin looked tentatively up at the two conversing recruits(Although Eren did most of the talking) He scratched the back of his head nervously trying to decide if he should voice his thoughts. Interrupting the two Armin slowly began. "What you did back there... I-I mean it was brave, but- you could have gotten in a lot of trouble... you should be more careful..."

"Oh Armin, I'm sure Kakashi would have been fine." Eren replied lazily. "I mean did you see the guy run... right Mikasa?

"uh huh."

The black haired girl answered in a short brief tone that revealed nothing except that she was bored by the conversation.

Kakashi found himself snorting in disbelief, again. For the exception of Mikasa, the only smart one, why were they all so friendly?

It was unnatural.

"Hey did you guys see the potatoe girl? A short boy exclaimed as he seated himself at their table.

"Yup", Eren replied. "She's been running for over five hours straight. Wow. Just wow."

The short boy, Kakashi dimly remembered his name to be Connie, leaned closer in and grinned at Eren.

"I can't believe she just stole a potato and then decided to eat it... Right in front of the inspector! And then she offered him a piece, thats like asking to die!"

Eren laughed at his comment, "The whole thing about running till near death didn't get to her quite as much as the moment she was told to skip lunch."

Kakashi groaned softly as another person joined the table. How could they all be so happy when war raged behind the walls they called home? ANUB never acted like this…

A sharp pang rippled throughout Kakashi's body as a familiar black haired ucuhia flashed across his vision.

"You don't understand what's really important about being a true ninja!"

Back then, I thought Obito was weak... a crybaby, anything but a shinobi. A shinobi was a tool, nothing more and they could be replaced just as easy. In my eyes a true shinobi always followed the code. The mission was of the most importance and nothing came before it.

It wasn't until Obito's death… It wasn't until I saw him crushed beneath that boulder; it wasn't until he sacrificed his life for mine that I realized the answer.

"Kakashi...I-I never got you a present...d-did I? Take...take my sharingan. I can be your eyes...we'll watch the future together."

Teamwork...was the answer.

And it was all MY fault! It might have well been me that killed him. I should have died...I didn't deserve to liv-

"-kashi, Kakashi? Hello? Anybody in there?"

Kakashi blinked in surprise. He glanced up at the five people staring back at him. Dammit, the mission!

"Oh...I'm fine", Kakashi said, forcing a smile (not that any one could see, cause of his scarf) on his face before scratching the back of his head. "I guess I must've spaced out."

"Are you sure? I mean you kinda looked a lit-"

"I'm fine." Kakashi said, this time more forcefully, letting some killer intent seep into his words.

The only one who seemed unaffected was Mikasa who continued to eat her soup. The others stiffened as the room turned about five degrees colder.

"So..." A black haired boy shifted uncomfortably in his seat before asking, "Where are you guys from?"

Eren slung both his arms over Armin's and Mikasa's shoulders. "We're from Shigan-shina."

Erin and Armin suddenly became grim and they visibly slumped against each other. Mikasa, although not quite as obvious stared off into the distance and looked as if she was remembering something unpleasant.

"Armin, me and Mikasa all lived there until we were twelve...before moving to the landfill."

Frowning behind his scarf, Kakashi puzzled over the sentence. Something must have happened to them, something when they were twelve. Whatever happened back then, Kakashi concluded, was probably the reason why Mikasa and Erin had seen death, it was why they had that look in their eyes.

Or it could've been something else, seeing that I know nothing about my charge.

Apparently everybody else was oblivious to Erin, Armin and Mikasa's change in mood.

Connie's eyes lit up in disbelief. "Thats mean you were in Shingan-shina the day it happened! Did you see it? Did you get to see the Colossal Titan!"

Reluctantly Eren answered as Armin looked down at the floor. "...Yeah...We were all there."

People turned around and crowded the table, bombarding Eren with questions.

"For real!"

"How big?"

"What did it look like?'

Eren had seemingly recovered from before and was trying his best to answer all the questions. "It was mostly skinless, with a huge mouth."

"What about that armored titan broke through Wall Maria? Did you see it?"

"I saw that one two." Eren said, "But despite the name it just looked like a regular titan-"

"Well then-" one of the boys exclaimed, "-what does a regular titans look like?"

Eren froze and a dark look crossed over his face. He clenched his spoon and held his hand over his mouth. Shuddering he tried to begin, "I-I..."

Concerned faces looked at Eren and Kakashi narrowed his eyes at the scene. I remember. Titan attack, approximately twelve years ago...what did Eren see?

"Sorry, must've reminded you about a lot of unpleasant stuff..." Connie blurted out. "I mean, it was a massacre."

"Hah!"

Everyone froze as Eren continued. "Wrong!" Tearing off a piece of bread violently he slammed his hands on the table. "Titans...they aren't such a big deal when you come down to it. Once we get our 3-D maneuver gear, they'll be nothing against us!"

Kakashi snorted and everyone turned to face him. "Are you really naive?" Eren whipped his head towards the silver shinobi in rage. "What do you mean?!"

Leaning backwards against his chair Kakashi crossed his arms in front of him. "Do you really think that's true?"

"Of cours-"

"Then, tell me why-" Kakashi asked, "-why are we still hiding behind walls?" Lets see how he'll react to this..." Why is the human race, even after one hundred years, still cowering behind walls?"

Scowling Eren looked at Kakashi. "Why did you even join the military if thats what you think! How dare you disrespect the soldiers who risked their lives to protect us! Who gave up their lives to protect us! What do you know of sacrifice!"

Kakashi could only stare at Eren as memories came flooding through his mind.

What do you know of sacrifice...

What do you know of sacrifice...

Father who gave his life up for my future...

Obito, who sacrificed his life for me...

Rin who gave her life for her friends...

Minato-sensei who sacrificed his life for the village...

The thousands of nameless shinobi and ANUB...

What do you know of sacrifice...

I know plenty.

Kakashi glanced coldly at Eren and the people surrounding him.

Reining in his memories he sighed and raised his hands in surrender. Besides, Kakashi thought, despite how naive everyone here was, it wouldn't do to have his charge mad at him. It would just make his job harder.

"Maaa.." Kakashi exclaimed, scratching the back of his head. "I never meant to offend you. Sorry."

Erin blinked in surprise before smiling. Everyone sighed in relief as tension eased in the room. "It's all right. I'm sorry too, I guess I was a bit to eager to fight. Lets forget about it, friends okay?"

"Friends." Yeah right.

"First thing, lets see if you're for something! Just tie the ropes to both sides of your waists and hang from there! Use your full body belts for balance!"

"Those who can manage that might be able to not become titan food! Those who can't, we'll send you back to the landfill where you belong!"

Kakashi hung lazily on the harness and watched as people around him struggled to keep their balance. He swept his vision across the field, across Connie, across Armin, across Mikasa, across the trainers, until it landed on his charge.

That said person was hanging upside down.

Leaping out of the harness Kakashi grabbed Eren and pulled him upwards, right before Eren's head hit the ground.

He tossed the startled fifteen year old onto the ground and bent down, examining the harness.

"WHATS THE BIG IDEA!" One of the trainers yelled as a crowd of people circled around Kakashi and Eren.

Kakashi got back up slowly and gestured at the harness. "Faulty equipment," he stated. "The metallic fixtures on Eren's belt are broken. Normally it goes up to your waist so that even if you're overturned, your head shouldn't hit the ground. Right? If I hadn't been there Eren would have hit his head on the ground, rather hard if I must say... and he would have failed the aptitude test."

The trainer gaped at Kakashi before looking at Eren's harness. "You're right...Mr...?

"Hatake. Kakashi Hatake, sir."

Kakashi helped a rather grateful Eren to his feet before turning around and heading back to camp.

"YES!" He heared Eren scream, and Kakashi couldn't help but notice Eren glare at Mikasa. Mikasa looked away, slightly startled and her eyes darkened with sadness.

Stepping closer, Kakashi heard Armin say, "If that look on his face isn't triumph, I don't know what is!"

"Thats not it," Mikasa said bitterly. "He's thinking about he won't have to stay close to me anymore, and it makes him happy."

Coming up from behind them Kakashi asked, "Why is he happy about that?"

Armiin yepled in in alarm at Kakashi's surprise visit and Mikasa stiffened at the sound of his voice.

The black haired trainee spun around glared at the silver haired shinobi. "Why do you care so much about Eren! I can protect him... I don't need your help."

"What if he doesn't wan't your help?" Kakashi asked calmly.

Looking away, Mikasa didn't answer and Kakashi walked away from the two.

Once I complete the mission, I can leave.

People streamed out of the field as practice ended. Kakashi looked around at the empty clearing and then down at the mission scroll in his hands.

Rin...

Armin

"I-I mean it was brave, but- you could have gotten in a lot of trouble...you should be more careful..."

Obito...

Eren

"Lets forget about it, friends okay?"

Me...

Mikasa

"I don't need your help."

Minato-sensei...

"I can protect him."

Why do they remind me of Team Seven? Why, Obito, Rin, Minato-sensei?

Why does it hurt so much?