"Kakashi, please kill me!"
Kakashi was frantic when he heard those words, but he still forced himself to calm down. The tense expression on his face relaxed a little, and he said to Rin with feigned ease, "Rin, you'll be fine. I'll take you back to Konoha soon. We'll find a way, I promise."
As Kakashi spoke, Rin's face grew even paler, until scarcely a trace of color remained. Cold sweat covered her forehead, and the veins stood out on the hands pressed against her chest from the force she was using. The pain brought on by the Three-Tails inside her was nearing the limit of what she could endure.
Kakashi's voice grew quieter and quieter. By the end, even he seemed unable to believe Rin could hold on much longer. Before he knew it, his voice had begun to choke with tears, and tears welled up in the eyes that were usually as cold and lifeless as a dead fish's.
Ever since his father, White Fang, had taken his own life, Kakashi had thought his tears were all dried up. But now, as he watched his comrade take one step after another toward death while he could do nothing to help, he realized he wasn't nearly as strong as he had imagined.
Just as Kakashi's thoughts tangled in knots and he didn't know what to do, a soft little hand gently wiped the tears from his face.
Kakashi lowered his head slightly and saw Rin smiling at him. Her smile was as bright as ever, just as it had always been, and it could still bring a little warmth to his cold, numb heart.
"Kakashi, I'm sorry. This selfish request of mine is putting you in a terrible position. But for the sake of the village, you have to