#sandsshadow

Here it is~

Ryuu was wandering about the desert, fidgeting nervously as sand blew around and got in his clothes- there was a reason he didn't care much to visit deserts, and this was why. He was used to hot and moist conditions, not this dryness.

He had been... idly floating recently. Yes, he had things to do. No, he wasn't ignoring them... and no, he wasn't doing them either. He was just... between.

In this case he happened to have gone on a nice long walk, in a forest that was indisputably not in Hi no Kuni, as the Land of Fire happened to be a no-go zone for him at the moment. Not with everyone so riled up over the events the year before in Konoha anyway. He'd give it a few more months before resuming his haunts in that particular country. Still, there were other forests... and it appeared he wasn't the only one who knew that.

He immediately took to the trees as he spotted the red haired teen, taking a moment to make sure that it was, in fact, who he thought it was before he swung down, legs curled around a tree branch so he was dangling upside down in the teen's path.

Time to see how stable the Ichibi jinchuuriki was feeling these days. Thus he pitched his voice high and threw himself into the game without even once looking back.

Many have speculated what is behind his mask and few have actually seen it. And those that have he doesn't mind too much taking off his mask in front of them unless they make too much of a fuss about it. There are many reasons he will use as to why he wears it and many tricks that he will play to get out of revealing what is underneath, but the truth is it is rooted in hate. Hate for himself.

When he was very young his mother passed away and one day, not meaning anything by it his father said "Your face looks just like your mother's." Again, he didn't mean it in a bad way but he was already unstable as a young boy with such power and ability and not enough care. He put on a mask to hide his face from himself because it was true, he does look a bit like his mother. No one took notice of it and his Father didn't pay any mind to it since he was already spiraling out of control with his guilt from his heroic actions that weren't being taken as such. Kakashi got to watch this take place and all he could do was hide behind a mask.

He had put it on before going to the academy either way so it was something that didn't bother any of his classmates since most didn't care for him anyway with his attitude and the rumors going around about his father. As he grew so did his hate for himself.

He let Obito die.

He killed Rin.

He couldn't help Sensei.

He couldn't help their son.

He watched his comrades die.

He failed as a teacher.

He left Sasuke go.

He failed to help Naruto and was relieved he was still alive after his fight with Sasuke.

He watched his team leave for people that could do better than he could.

Each one added to the guilt and hate. He hates who he is on the inside and keeping the mask on is a subconscious way of keeping that shame and hate away so he can continue to be who Obito wanted him to be. To be a better person.

It's not that he will never take it off but if he has to look at himself in the mirror he would rather not recognize himself completely rather than see all the failure that has plagued the person he is. It is a defense mechanism for comfort and stability.

He doesn't hate removing it but he won't show his face to just anyone. Then again it's not something he is intentionally hiding to anyone except himself. That is why he didn't mind taking his mask off to eat at Ichiraku's. But having it off for too long does bother him since it feels uncomfortable not just because the fabric isn't there but because it's a stigma in his mind that he gets nervous and anxious when out around people with it off. So that is why he pulls it up quickly after finishing his meal in about two gulps. He is able to joke about it to get people off the trail of making his mask into something important and uses it as a tool in missions to help hide or try to cover up who he is (though that doesn't work very well with his sharingan or silver hair), so he does get a kick out of messing with people about it.