Don't Leave Me Behind
Summary: Kakashi is old and his loved ones gone. He has been Hokage for over five years after Tsunade's death and begins to look back over his life to realise that everyone has left him behind.
Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters are created by Masashi Kishimoto, This fanfiction has been written for entertainment purposes only and without intention of infringing upon any copyright.
A young boy looked down to the floor, he stood alone. He was a small and short figure within the quiet house. Being so young and innocent Kakashi didn't understand his father was dead when he found him unmoving on the floor of their home. He thought it was a game until blood began to pool around his little, sandalled feet.
The house was large, expansive, and his father had been upheld as much as the legendary Sannin in his prime. How things had turned so fast, Kakashi knew now, but couldn't understand at such a young age.
At that time, all he could fathom was that his father had died and he was alone.
He was just a far away memory now. Silver hair and dull eyes, just like his own. After Kakashi's father had committed suicide Kakashi had grown into a respectable, young man, but on the inside he'd stilted as a human being.
He stared into the misty mirror inside his dreary cube of a bathroom, unmoving, frozen as if time had stood still. Despite his efforts to freeze time the downpour of rain outside his window continued to be heard along with the drip of the leaky faucet. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. DRIP. Suddenly a man in his late twenties stared back at him in the mirror with startled eyes. He blinked and the image was gone.
"This place makes me think about the mistakes I've made in the past… and I've made so many of them."Words from another time, another life, replayed in his mind. Memories of standing by a grave in the early hours of the day, neglecting his students in favour of looking into the past. All the things he could have done differently could never be altered and those that died could never be saved.
"I'm Kakashi Hatake. Things I like and things I hate… I don't feel like telling you that. My dreams for the future… never really thought about it. As for my hobbies… I have lots of hobbies." His own words, came back to him like a piece of music playing in the distance. After teaching his students he had left them to their own devices and lived out his days in vagueness. Would it have made a difference had they known him better? Would he feel less hurt at their deaths and missing status's knowing that he had done all he could to get to know them and lead them with the guidance he himself had never received as a child?
Within the mirror, the old man that stared back at him raised his closed eyelid to reveal a blood red eye. It felt so wrong to have the last eye of the once great Uchiha clan. He remembered his first and last students, one in particular. As a young man Kakashi saw one of his first students exile as inevitable and as his own choice of action. Not the messed up system and family values that made him that way. Sasuke Uchiha... The name whispered its way into his ear and he gave a shiver. Kakashi had regarded the angry young boy like himself. No parents or love and expected to become great. But Sasuke had seen and experienced far more sinister things which had changed him permanently than Kakashi ever had at that age.
It was years later when Kakashi had grown even more distant from his students that Naruto Uzumaki died. The blonde idiot, the chosen one and the next in line as the sixth Hokage. In the end Naruto's and Sasuke's rivalry went on until their early deaths. His demise accompanied and entwined with Sasuke's just like the majority of his life.
Kakashi recalled the moment a couple years after they died that he was physically able to visit their graves. A hero and an enemy of the leaf buried side by side. "In the ninja world, those who break the rules are trash, that's true, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash." He remembered how it had hit him like a blow to the head, how Naruto never did abandon his friends. It was Kakashi's words instilled in the blonde that carved a path for his future choices.
What ever he did, it never seemed to be right. Only the good die young. Everyone Kakashi had ever loved or cared for was dead. Only the Bad live on. Was it not his time to go yet?
On the white-washed wall of his large and grand home rested a sword. It was his fathers, the same one he had ended his life with so long ago. The memory was fresh as if Kakashi was the still the young boy his father had left behind. Kakashi took the sword from its place and made his way into the living room. He stood for the longest time, just staring at his feet before pulling the sheath and ties off with his leather hands and admiring the dull metal silently. He would never do what his father had done. Leave behind a son, a family member, a loved one.
Kakashi would only leave knowing there was no one out there that had a shared bond with with him. It was his time to join them in peace. "Kakashi! Kakashi sensei!" One last voice entered his head, quieter and more heartfelt than the rest yet just as powerful that it almost felt real. Sakura Haruno, the cherry blossom, the weakest one. Where was she now? Kakashi had asked that question over twenty years ago.
"I regret to inform you Sakura Haruno has been killed in action." Tsunade bit out through gritted teeth to Sakura's parents and Kakashi.
Sakura's mother broke down in tears, her father shouted outbursts of refusal in denial until they both quietly left, showing signs of both being broken. Kakashi remained still and quiet by his place on the wall. Emotionless.
"On a B rank?" Kakashi said bluntly, knowing full well Tsunade was covering something up. It was clear Sakura had left the village as a missing nin and she might as well be KIA after a few years out there or even months.
Looking back, Kakashi knew he should have cared more. The way he had seen it was that his last loved one had left him. Not him turning his back on her. Maybe if Sai had grown closer to team 7 and Naruto hadn't died 4 years prior, Kakashi would have been pushed to go after her. But past experiences had shown him that going after someone who didn't want to be taken back was futile.
"SENSEI!" It was loud and it was undeniably Sakura's voice. Kakashi had many regrets and letting go of his last student was just one of many, yet her voice rose above all other thoughts. Kakashi dragged his thumb across the rough blade before turning it onto himself. A splash of red covered his hands and then he fell to his knees.
An explosion rocked the foundations of his stately home. "Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura's voice echoed in his mind even louder and the explosion reminded him of her chakra punch. Peeling his eyes open from his fallen position on the floor he saw a curtain of brunette hair fall on him seconds later. Slender yet rough hands warmed his body with a green glow and big green eyes stared down at the wound.
"Sa-kura?" Kakashi coughed with a mouthful of blood. Her hair was brown and she was a grown adult with aged feature and soft scars on her body but Kakashi could tell it was his past ward from looking into her emerald eyes.
"I find out that Tsunade-sama is dead and that you've been Hokage for over five years, so I sneak into Konoha and this is what I find? Don't you dare leave me behind." She bit out harshly in a hushed tone, eyes welled up with unshed tears and blood pooling around her little, sandalled feet.
A/N: Now re-read the first paragraph...