What my teacher taught me

He had never once called him Sensei, not that he was reprimanded for it or anything.

As a matter of fact none of them of were really admonished, except Naruto. Even then it was always done with a calm force that was characteristic to the man. He never raised his voice in anger at them.

Anger and revenge were all that he knew, yet the man had tried to teach him that there was more to life than simply retribution. Taking a twelve year old brat and educating him in one of the most deadly forms of chakra use, the Chidori, in an attempt to get him to stay in Kohona… and out of trouble.

Many would have fought, killed and died for a chance to have been tutored by the legendary Copy Ninja. All he had to do was be a part of the man's team, which he didn't actually choose to be in to begin with.

Not that the team lasted very long. Many would say that even though he excelled…was a genius… he failed as a Sensei, but it wasn't entirely true. They hadn't been the perfect students either and when you really think about it, going off with Orochimaru had started the disbandment. Then Naruto went with Jiraiya, and Sakura with Tsunade.

The three students of the legendary Copy Ninja were now the students of the Legendary Sannin. If Sensei jumping was a social ladder they would have been labelled as gold diggers.

It was probably for the best. They were pretty inoperative as a team. What with Naruto and himself fighting like cats and dogs (which wasn't too far from the truth when you thought about it), Sakura all love struck over him and Naruto all love struck over her and his own 'I'm-better-than-thou' attitude, it's surprising they lasted as long as they did. It's surprising their Sensei had put up with them at all.

Special. They were special, that's why. He put up with them because they were the first team that had ever passed his bell test, even though they didn't get the bells.

They were special because they reminded him of his own team, when he had been a genin…or was it chunin? After all he was one of the youngest to reach that level. Charcoal eyes would sometimes stare off into space while watching them. Rare as it was, he'd managed to catch glimpses of these rarities and knew when someone was staring their past in the face when he saw it.

He's done it himself, countless times.

Remembering that night when his brother had slaughtered their clan, leaving only him alive. Fear had never had such a grip on him before and he can remember the way his knees shook, his hands had sweated and how no matter how hard he tried to swallow he couldn't quench the dryness in his mouth or push down the lump in his throat that stopped his breath.

Feeling weak. Lost.

Discovering that Itachi was only following orders had only served to pull him further into his rage. Madara had been the one to tell him, Madara was also the only outlet for his grief fuelled frenzy.

He became cruel. He sacrificed his own team to succeed in his objective of destroying Kohona, and his former team … and teacher. The same teacher, who had once tried everything to change him and believed he would, had now completely lost faith.

Naruto hadn't. That wasn't a surprise. There was a reason he was a dobe. But still, somewhere deep inside of him, it hurt to know that he had been given up on.

Or so he originally thought.

So, he had decided to give up on them, not that it was hard.

Fully functioning sharingan now spun in his sockets as he looked his 'opponent' in the eye.

Mismatched eyes stared in to his own. Warm scarlet ran down the sword and down the green vest. Yet those eyes held no anger towards him. No blame.

Nothing.

The eyes he stared into held no blame, no pain….and no life.

They merely stared, as if made of glass and completely hollow.

As he fell to his knees the ground gave way to his weight, staining his pants a deep maroon.

Trembling hands reached out, he could feel the heat leaving. He had not been gone long.

"Get up."

There is no movement from the man he speaks to, no recognition to the address in his eyes.

"Get up"

Growing restless at the lack of response he begins to shake the man…with still no reaction.

He doesn't remember when he started crying or really why he started in the first place but he was, in the middle of a battle field over the body of a man that was supposedly his enemy.

Body.

That's what it was. It was a body. His body.

Kakashi's body.

Lifting his head he looks down at the now still chest, at the sword that ended his life. It's covered to the hilt in blood. He knows who it belongs to, but he can't stop himself from hating them none the less.

Madara will pay.

Grabbing the handle he slowly pulls. The sickening sound the blade makes as it slips it way from the chest is enough to make him gag.

But he was taught better than that.

He's made his choice….finally. He knows what side he is fighting on. He can hear the blonde haired idiot from here.

He may have broken the rules (if not all of them and then a few) but he wasn't going to abandon his fr….comrades…when they needed him the most.

"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 would not become worse than what he already was.

Gentley laying the limp head down, he stands ready to fight with his old teammate , the opposite to what it should have been…

"Like the fate of the two who founded the village of Konoha… Naruto and Sasuke… your fates are like theirs."

He no longer believed in fate, he could choose his own path, that was what he was taught.

One last look, and he's off.

"I won't allow my comrades to die. I'll protect you with my life. Trust me."

And he did. Madara had intended to kill him. With Itachi's ressurection he had unknowingly been placed in the middle of the power struggle that was this war. Instead of waiting to find out which side he was on, Madara had simply decided to kill him and save himself any trouble.

But something had got in the way.

Kakashi.

And now he was gone.

They would have to win this war on their own.

It was almost funny. For the first time in years they would once again fight as a team, but it was without the one person who held them together….

Oh well, sometimes you just had to go with it, and move on, although one can never really forget the past, something will always be there to remind you of what you've done.

"This place makes me think about the mistakes I've made in the past"

For the sake of what was left of the combined shinobi forces they would just have to learn to get along, for atleast the next five minutes.

After all, that's is what his teacher had taught him.