Author's Notes: Just a quick one-shot that occurred to me. Would you believe I had SasuSaku on my mind when I thought of this? I DO NOT like the whole "Tobi is Obito" thing, and never will. But this idea wouldn't leave me alone. It crawled inside of me and made itself a nest. So welcome to my emotional outpouring, and read and review. ;) Oh yeah, and this doesn't resemble canon – it's just the manifestation of a twisted thought that formed in my head. Enjoy. n_n
–
In the Rain
–
That final blow came in slow motion. His Sharingan caught the whole thing, and stored it away like it was afraid he would one day forget – Kakashi didn't do it consciously. Black and white collided, red and orange shattered, and the world exploded in front of him. His body refused to let him move, to run forward and break the man's fall. He had to force himself not to intervene and save him.
It was better if he died – hell, it would've been better if he'd died a long time ago.
But this didn't stop Kakashi from hating himself. It didn't lessen the burden, the guilt, and the shame – he could've avoided this situation, saved a lot of lives, and prevented so much suffering, if he'd been there for him in the first place.
He watched the body of Tobi fall, hit the ground with a sickening thud, and twisted his head to the side as Sakura Haruno ran forward. She wasn't going to aid the masked man who had made their lives a living hell. Tobi wasn't the only one who'd fallen through the air. She ran to Naruto, Sai, and Tenzou behind her, dragging the semi-conscious form of Sasuke Uchiha with them.
But Kakashi's concern was his ex-team mate.
He took a step forward, willing his body to move, and painfully aware of how difficult his breathing had become. All these years, spent being late to wherever he needed to be, making up stupid excuses to cover that he spent hours on end just staring at that damned memorial stone… wasted. He felt like he'd failed all over again.
"Kakashi-Senpai…"
He ignored the warning voice of Sai, and the sarcastic grunt of the broken Uchiha under restraint from one of his ink creations, and knelt down; both knees hit the mud and a spasm of pain shot through him. It was just another thing to ignore. But the rush of wind and immediate downpour of rain was not so easily disregarded. It stung his open wounds, blurred his already impaired vision and he shivered involuntarily, soaked in seconds.
No-one would notice his tears but for the puffiness around his eyes.
He kept his Sharingan uncovered, letting it whir and glint at the man it really belonged to.
After a moment of hesitation, Kakashi held a shaky hand over the orange mask, terrified by the familiar face waiting for him underneath it. He knew it was Obito, that the man bleeding to death on the muddy ground and unable to use his space–time travelling jutsu, had once been his team mate and, for a lack of a better person for the role, his best friend. He hadn't known it then, hadn't wanted to see it, but Obito and Rin were the closest things to friends he had back then; even Sensei was closer to him than he'd realised.
His fingers gripped the orange swirl, lifted the mask from his face, and revealed the pained face of his dying friend.
Kakashi heard the gasp from Sakura, knowing she'd recognised the older version of the young boy in his team photo. But he ignored her, just as he ignored the blonde, who was just now getting up and having to be restrained by the pinkette – he didn't seem to get it. Even Sasuke had gone quiet in some form of mock respect.
And then Obito smiled. It wasn't a wicked grin, a smirk or anything like the fake smiles Sai forced out on a daily basis. He looked genuinely happy.
"I knew you'd do that," Obito rasped. "Kakashi."
The sound of him using the copy ninja's name seemed to calm down Naruto, even if it slightly unnerved the silver haired Jounin.
"Obito," Kakashi said. "Why?"
"Hm… many reasons."
"Just give me one."
Obito lost his smile. "You."
Kakashi gripped the mask even tighter, threatening to break it into pieces. "Me?"
"Hm… yes. I remember how much you used to always go on about how the mission came before anything else. I suppose your words finally sunk in."
So he failed again?
The Uchiha laughed, then spluttered and groaned – he was bleeding internally, clearly in pain, and still he found the idea of his former team mate upset a hilarious thing. He really was crazy.
Silence fell between them as Kakashi struggled not to cry, his free hand grasping Obito's shirt. He was waiting for him to die, and it would seem, the Uchiha was anticipating it. A moment passed… very slowly. A smirk from Obito and grunt from Naruto later, and Kakashi realised he'd been openly staring at his old friend.
"I cared about you," Obito said, shuddering. "I was so ridiculous."
"You told me to start taking our friendship seriously," Kakashi whispered back. "But I never listened: not until it was too late."
"I don't regret it," his friend said. "Looking up to you, almost dying… and trying to…" He spluttered, his hand going to Kakashi's knee instead of trying to cover his cough. Blood splatter marred his lips, and he smiled a crooked smile. "I wish I could've seen it – a world of peace."
Kakashi shook his head. "There is no peace in what you planned to do."
Obito rasped. "Fool." He lifted his hand to run a finger along the wound over the copy ninja's left eye. "You never did see as much as I did, did you? I gave you a piece of me, and all you did was ruin things."
His hand dropped as he felt the tears that Kakashi had been trying in vain to hide. "But Kakashi… I wanted to say… thank-you. You were my best friend, my only friend… and you and Rin, and Sensei… I loved you ‒ all of you."
"I'm so sorry."
But his apology fell on deaf ears. Obito was already gone.
– In the Rain –
The funeral was a public affair – everyone knew now, that the Uchiha who had been at the heart of all their problems, was finally dealt with. The Hokage hadn't wanted it drawn-out, stating that it was unnecessary to make a show of it. She was thinking about Kakashi, about the friendship he'd had with his former team mate, and about respecting his feelings.
But the copy ninja just wanted to move on. The Obito he'd known had died a long time ago, and would respect that alleviating the village's concerns (not to mention the rest of the ninja nations) was good for everyone. Besides, he'd gotten used to screwing up royally and still being treated like he was the victim.
Everywhere he went sympathetic eyes followed him. They had always been there though, but now the purpose was a little different.
He sighed, staring down at the epitaph in front of him. He couldn't avoid this place, even after everything, and out of the rain, it suddenly felt right to continue this tradition. No matter what, his initial reasons for hanging around this depressing monument still stood. But at least now, he had some closure, and was damn sure it would never happen again.
Sasuke was locked up – while Naruto berated the Hokage and demanded a fair trial for the last Uchiha ‒ his team mates were all going on to different things now, and he had finally made up his mind. At first he'd considered retiring, since his own track record was dubious at best, but he was a ninja in more than body and mind – it was rooted into the core of his very being. So he wouldn't be giving up or running away.
No, it was time to finally live.
X X X
A/N:
Angst or Tragedy… I agonised on that. Hope you guys liked what I finally came up with. Now it's time to review. :) *yawns* Night-night. XD