He watched as his father smiled kindly at him, pride emanating from his before he turned away, the wind blowing through his hair.
The scent of copper filled the air as he watched the blood as it seeped into the wood, dying it a wine-red as his father lay prone on the floor, his eyes closed. A bloodied sword by his side.
He watched his father's casket descend into the grave, swallowed up by the Earth, a flower resting on the soil.
He stared into the mirror as he donned the fabric for the first time and certainly not the last.
He watched his teammate bound towards them, once again late.
He heard the female medic scream as he watched the kunai come towards him. Pain roiled in his system as blood seeped through torn tissue and skin. He couldn't see out of his left eye.
He watched his friend cough up blood. Blood that was supposed to be his as he watched more escape from the body pinned under boulders. He felt tissue reconnect as his eye was replaced and he could see once more.
He watched as the needle dug into his skin, leaving red ink in its wake. Bandages wound around his upper arm and he felt a pat on the shoulder. He slipped the mask on, cool porcelain on his skin and he fled out the window, looking out from behind the mask.
He watched from a distance as the three genin conversed amongst one another. A loud-mouthed boy tied to a pole as he slumped over, his features in despair, features bearing a haunting resemblance to a man he had once looked up to. His eyes moved to raven hair, the familiar features of a lost clan with a familiar cold disposition that brought back memories that left a bitter taste in his mouth and a pink-haired girl who was much too innocent for this line of work. He watched the hesitant display and smiled beside himself. Maybe there was hope.
He watched a boy cry for a hero, his own heart wishing for comfort. Though the rain can bring life, it can only offer condolences. As he stood at front of the epitaph, he saw from the corner of his eye the purple-haired woman. He had known her love and knew her pain and felt it right to give her an answer. His answer gave more truth than she wanted to hear and possibly more than he wanted to realize, but that was just a passing thought.
He watched his students fly towards each other as the third ran to stop them. He watched the chakra swirl in their hands, one in particular made chills run down his spine. As he flung them apart from each other, he felt his heart leaden. Realization brought with it a startling pain; they were tearing apart at the seams.
He watched the flower cry as rain fell on the village. The boy had left days ago, but she still mourned his loss. He wanted to cry also, his hopes of redemption and a better world lay dashed at his feet. He wanted to cry too, but let her grieve for the both of them. He would watch.
When he saw his lost student once again, years had done him change. It had done for all but him. He had remained the same because with change, it brings wariness and an enemy he didn't want to face again. Memories were better buried.
He watched as they returned to the village, a lost soul with them. Blood stained their hands and bodies as the boy's brother's head dangled at his calloused hand. He watched the gates open and a light flicker within the hollowed eyes of the boy, but it was fleeting and the emptiness returned once more.
He watched as sentencing was brought upon his old student. He watched him leave the room escorted by Anbu back to a compound that bore its share of painful memories like his own. He could still see his father lying in a pool of his own blood.
He watched the recovery process. The blonde boy had become a man and the innocent girl had become a woman. They helped their lost teammate regain his feet, catching him as he stumbled. The struggle for a redemption he had no hope of having, but there was hope for him. The boy would find forgiveness. And now…
He watched their backs move farther and farther away from him as they headed out of the gates. The rain fell heavily on him and he knew that they weren't going to come back, but he stayed and watched, observed them as they left their home because he could do nothing else.
Because he had watched his loved ones die while he looked on.
Because it was expected of him.
Because Kakashi was deigned by fate to be an observer.