Du l c e Et De c o r u m Es t Pr o Pr a t r i a Mo r i
"My friend you would not tell with such high zest
To children for some ardent glory
The old lie: Dulce et decuorum est
Pro pratria mori"
Wilfred Owen
It is fitting and sweet to die for your country- it is all that a shinobi should want.
Reciting the words over is father's grave and forcing himself to believe them. Collapsing onto his knees and burring his face in his hands. You cannot tell whether the rivulets, which run down his cheeks and through the gaps in his fingers, are tears or raindrops. He cannot tell either but he clings desperately to the hope that it's the latter. Shinobi don't cry. Minato- watching from a distance hopes that the boy still has enough humanity for it to be the former.
Laying offerings at the memorial stone, questioning the words he recites—it is fitting and sweet to die for your county. Was it fitting and sweet that Obito died for Konoha? He doesn't think so and he turns away, clinging to the belief that Obito died a death every shinobi should want. And he touches Obito's eye to find it streaming with thick tears, crying like Kakashi is unable to.
Words whispered into the wind, arms wrapped tightly around the bundle in his arms. Brushing blond locks out of the eyes of the boy. His sensei's son. Will he learn the words Kakashi now whispers? He will grow up to look just like his father, he muses, the eyes, the hair, that stubborn-set jaw line. Kakashi sighs and turns back to the village, daring to hope that the boy won't grow to hate his own face as well.
Laying a single white rose on Rin's grave. There is so much that he can say but he says nothing, and turns instead, from the people weeping over her coffin to walk the barest of city streets.
Tracing the names on the memorial stone and turning to the academy group he is faced with. He tells them how teamwork is important, and he tells them it is the most important thing. One boy- Kakashi can't remember his name- yells out in anger at failing. That's not the most important thing- he says- the most important thing is to die for your country! So Kakashi leaves, abandoning the three devastated students, and makes a mental note to speak to Iruka about their teaching syllabus later.
Watching the fighting between Naruto and Sasuke. Trying to focus, because it's Naruto, Naruto not Obito and he mustn't forget that. A few more moments, he thinks. So he waits and when he teleports in front of them, he is met by three angry faces, screaming at him for being late. But he smiles and brushes it off. He can take the abuse, because they had a few less moments being Shinobi and a few more just being children.
Looking on as the cycle begins to repeat. It may be a little different, he concedes, but it is happening again. Beginning with Sasuke's abandoning the village and ending with Sakura's training under Tsunade. Naruto will come back and chase after Sasuke, but Kakashi knows it's no good. He was the one who trained the boy and he knows without a doubt that nothing will bring Sasuke back. And he does nothing, like the time before, because every team seven ends in tragedy.
Watching as Naruto leaves for Myobokuzan. He will fight Pein soon and Kakashi has faith that he will win. And he looks up to the heavens and sees the faintest shimmer in the sunlight. And he dares to hope that maybe, maybe, this time the cycle will be broken. Because he knows that Naruto shall never succumb to the old lie- Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Pratria Mori.
Lying on the battle field, staring at the sky, deciding that maybe, dying this way isn't so bad. Shutting his eyes and preparing to meet them again. Just this once, he decides, a death was a fitting and sweet release.
.