Hatake Kakashi sat on top of one of the three wooden posts at training ground Three. He was supposed to be meditating, but today he didn't seem to be able to push aside all the memories. He could hear Naruto's loud voice yelling empty threats as he tied his new student to the very pole he was now sitting on. He could hear Sasuke's gruff voice as he offered the blonde his lunch for no logical reason except that his teammate was hungry. Kakashi could even see Sakura' open admiration for her crush as she followed his example. Another memory flitted through his mind and he smirked at the way she had screamed when she had seen the genjutsu of an injured Sasuke beg her for help and fainted when she had assumed he'd been beheaded. The most amusing part (besides the annoyed look on Sasuke's face) was the fact she had really believed the Jounin had killed him.
The amusement died however, as soon as the memory of the last time his students had met crossed his mind. He couldn't stop his mind from visualizing the all moments when Sasuke had been about to kill both Naruto and Sakura. The seriousness of the nukenin's attack against Sakura had partially come as a surprise to Kakashi. Of course he expected the boy to defend himself, but never before had Sasuke went so far against the girl. Perhaps he should be pleased Sasuke saw her as a threat, but deep down the man knew it was a sign of how far his former student had fallen. Sakura had been the cherished part of Team Seven and Sasuke had always left her alone because of that. Because the girl was the only thing sweet and innocent about his existence since the death of his family; and the sensai knew that was why he had put up with her all those moments when she had 'made him sick'.
But Sasuke had attacked her, would have killed her if he hadn't intervened. There was no 'but' or 'maybe it was an accident' or 'he tried not too' or any other excuses because Sasuke had known exactly what he was doing. The most troubling thing about this truth was that it was not only a reminder of Sasuke's crimes, not only did it serve to demonstrate clearly how broken Sasuke's bonds were, it proved that the one thing Kakashi had feared since the day he had met his student had finally happened: Sasuke had lost his mind. The Jounin had personally witnessed it. His beloved prodigy was now insane and he could not deny it; he could not pretend it was not true.
Normally he could dismiss these thoughts before they came this far. If he cared to be honest, he knew the reason he couldn't rid himself of them was guilt. Because deep down he knew he could have changed this. He was the only one who could. Sure he had tried, but looking back he could see that tying the boy to a tree and giving him a lecture was not the best way to handle the Uchiha. Naruto probably would have gotten the point, but Kakashi of all people should have known that Sasuke's pride would have only made it worse. He had known so at the time, but he hadn't wanted to be the father figure the boy needed. He had justified it by telling himself the kid was to smart to do anything rash. But he had and it was all because of their pride.
And he knew that at the root of Sasuke's problems was pride. The Uchiha's had left such a wonderful legacy for themselves: pride, pain, and the sharingan. That was all Sasuke had now; and as soon as Madara had used him for his purposes he would kill the boy.
Perhaps the reason this was bothering Kakashi so much was the way the boy had responded so well to Madara. It seemed all he'd needed was someone who seemed like a victim also and wanted to help him fulfill his goals of vengeance. Again the Copy-nin wondered if he'd been a little more understanding or had listened a little more….or maybe if he'd been there from the start, when the clan was first murdered and listened then, the future would have been different.
He opened his eyes and looked at the memorial stone. If it had been Obito instead of him, Sasuke would not be a criminal now. Naruto and Sakura wouldn't be so sad and have that same glaze over their eyes that Sasuke had when they were younger. They wouldn't be as strong as they were because of his leaving, it was true, but Obito would have taught them to become stronger anyway; funny how Uchihas had a way of doing that. More importantly, they would be happy and Konoha would be safer.
Kakashi reprimanded himself for allowing his thoughts to get so out of hand; he had learned the hard way not to let this happen. If you did they would hinder you from doing your shinobi duty and eventually tear you apart from the inside out. Perhaps if he'd just explained that to Sasuke a little better- no, that was in the past, it must stay there.
He stood and gracefully alighted in front of the cold stone that had his best friend's name engraved on it along with so many others. The sliver haired man traced his index finger lightly over the letters, Uchiha Obito. He could find that name in the dark. In fact, he had done so on many nights like this one when his age and the things he had seen in this life caught up with him. A small, sad smile forced its way to his lips.
"I wish you could have told me what to do with Sasuke. You would have liked him, you know. He would have been just like you if he had got the chance to grow up properly. What should I do now, Obito? You always did know what was best. So how do I fix what I did wrong? I could have been there after it happened; you would have wanted me too. But I wasn't. I would give anything to change that now." Kakashi rarely opened himself up like this, and it was only to his best friend. This was the only place he could allow himself to state what was bothering him aloud; he just had to be careful no one heard him. As always, it helped him come to the problem more creatively, and his mind responded with Obito's dying words. "…so I can keep an eye on things…"
Immediately the shinobi knew what he was to do. Obito had already given him the means to fix it; he had just been too blind to use it. So right there before the memory stone he did. Kakashi reached up and pushed the forehead protector out of the way of his sharingan. This was the tricky part. To be honest, the jounin didn't know for sure if it would work. He did know he couldn't change too much of the past. The best he could hope for was to make Sasuke sane again. He had already decided that if he could do that, and get his wayward student to come back to the village, it was worth any cost. So he ignored the blood streaming down his face from the eye and pictured a better reality; one where Naruto and Sakura were happy. One like the Team Seven photo, only Sasuke would not leave this time. Kakashi was not so naïve as to think the Uchiha would ever be truly happy again; but if he could be content, it would be a miracle. That decided the reality he was working for.
Yes, he thought again of the photo, one like that.