Author's note: This work has not been beta'ed or looked through by another person other than me so I do apologise for any glaring grammar or spelling mistakes. All forms of feedback are appreciated. Thank you for reading my work.
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me.
The Memorial Stone is a monument in Konohagakure no Sato, where the names of all the ninja who died in service to the leaf were carved. It was a stone dedicated to the fallen heroes of the village, who gave up their lives to protect it, the place they call home, and the place where their loved ones are. It reminds all shinobi of the sacrifices their comrades made for the greater good of the village, and it made sure that none of the village's heroes would be forgotten easily. Its purpose is to educate the new-grown leaves, and allow all Konoha shinobi to remember those who once stood beside them.
When Kakashi first set his eyes on the Memorial Stone, he didn't think much about it. Sakumo, his father, had been unusually sombre that day, and had brought him to the front of a cold black stone. His father bought a bouquet of flowers, set them in front of the memorial, before standing in front of it with his head down, lost deep in his thought.
The mind of a four-year-old could not yet grasp the feeling Sakumo had, and Kakashi opted to stand beside his father, small and innocent mind wondering what his father was thinking and why he had brought himself here. He was jostled out of his thought when he felt Sakumo's warm hand rest on top of his silver head, and his deep voice could be heard. "Kakashi, this is the Memorial Stone, it is dedicated to the fallen heroes of the leaf. They died in order to protect us. Remember them, treasure them, fight for them. Fight for what they have died to protect. Never forget that." At that moment, his voice cracked. Kakashi looked up to see his father, the White Fang of Konoha, with tears streaming down his face, staring, unblinking, at the black stone, the Memorial Stone.
The words of his father echoed in his ears and committed to memory. He had yet to figure out why a small black stone could cause his father, his idol, to break down so completely, but he knew this stone is important, and that the names on the stone are to be remembered. If he was going to be a ninja as great as his dad, he would respect this cold slab of stone, and the dents the stone held.
Lightning flashed, illuminating the room, Kakashi could see his father's hunched body, with a tanto still stuck in his abdomen, a pool of blood around his body. Kakashi stood rooted to the ground, he couldn't move, staring past the body of his father, unseeing. Just because the village and his comrade ridiculed and slandered him, doesn't mean he could just take his own life and walk off the face of earth, leaving him to fend for himself and deal with the mess that was left. Just because he was treated unfairly, doesn't mean he could collapse and fall, never to rise again.
"Weren't you the one who told be that ninjas are supposed to endure and not give up? Weren't you the one who said that we, as shinobi, are supposed to follow the rules? Weren't you the one who told me that saving your comrades was always the right thing, and one would be respected for that? Weren't you the one? Father!" Kakashi became older than the five-year-old he was, and for the first time in his life, he felt anguish and betrayal, his beliefs shook, he didn't know what to do, he didn't know what to believe.
He was angry at his father. His actions brought about his death. He didn't follow the rules, that's why he was disgraced. He would follow the rules now, and he will never break them.
There were still people at his funeral, but only a few. He did not understand why, why they still bothered to pay their respects to a person who caused so much damage to Konoha. He recognised all of them, the Third Hokage, the Sannin, Minato-sensei. He didn't understand, all he wanted to do was to rage and shout. He wanted an answer, he buried his doubts, and found his 'answer' in his cold determination to follow the rules through and through.
It rained on the day of his father's funeral. He did not understand why the sky opened up to cry for a coward who took his own life, a traitor who broke the rules to save his friends. Maybe he would never understand.
His only comfort was that the Memorial Stone did not hold his father's name. Nobody would allow it, he himself would not allow it. The Memorial Stone was a place for heroes, not a place for traitors like his father. The black Memorial Stone stood in great contrast with the green fields of the training ground.
Not for the first time in Kakashi's life, his beliefs shook once again. Obito sacrificed himself to save his teammates, to save him. "Those who break rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash." The sentence shook him to his core, and the world and the reality he had been living since his father died crumbled instantly, crashing down onto him with full force, just like how the rocks crumbled and fell onto Obito, taking his life.
A new name had been added to the Memorial Stone. He stood by the side, as the carver painstakingly etched each and every stroke of the kanji onto the black stone. The mission was a success, but it came at a high price, it came at the cost of a life. The weight of crushing guilt almost caused him to struggle to take in a breath. It was his fault that Obito died, it was his fault that Obito's dreams of Hokage would float away, like the ashes, it was his fault that Obito's voice would never be heard again, only silence.
Kakashi's life took a new turn. The rules were no longer everything, his comrades were. After six years, he had finally understood the reason behind his father's actions. As he stood in front of the Memorial Stone, he stared at the name of his fallen friend, occasionally tracing the newly carved name with his finger, not stopping even when the rough edges scraped his fingertips, drawing blood. Kakashi vowed that he would now always protect his comrades, he would value his comrades' lives and teamwork above the mission and the rules. He would never allow himself to lose a comrade to fulfill a mission. He was now willing to die for each and every Konoha shinobi. To honour Obito's memory, he would.
Kakashi couldn't keep his promise. Obito, with his dying breath, told him to protect Rin, but he failed spectacularly, killing her with his own hand. His world was just a broken promise. Another name added to the Memorial Stone. Another teammate fallen. His hand was stained with blood, no matter how hard he scrubbed or washed, it was still red. Even when he could feel his skin protesting, even when it was already raw, the colour of blood never left its surface. The sound of a thousand birds was never more terrifying. Not only did it shock his opponent, it shocked himself.
The Kyuubi attacked. And what was left of Kakashi's world, fell away. The only parental figures he knew were gone. Both lives lost for the safety of the village, for the safety of himself. The Sandaime had barred the younger generation from participating in the battle against the monster fox, and he had followed his orders. In the end, resulting the last of his precious people to fall. After just one night, dozens of new names were added to the Memorial Stone. It was a wonder they didn't need a new stone to accommodate the increasing number of names.
Kakashi understood that it was his sensei's duty to protect the village, but that didn't mean that he had to die, and leave the last of Team Minato to haunt the surface of the earth. He almost broke from the unfairness of it all, but he was a shinobi, a tool which only exists to serve the village. A tool does not have emotions, so he locked away all the emotions that threatened to overflow him every time he stood in front of the Memorial Stone.
He made it a point to come to the Memorial Stone everyday, to be able to see his only friends, all whom are already dead. To think that he had actually dismissed the Memorial Stone as just another stone when he was younger was laughable, when he now could never separate with, not when his best friends and his sensei are all there.
Even the sky was crying, when Kakashi stood in front of the Memorial Stone, staring at the names, apologising to them again and again. The rainwater flowed into the dents on the stone the names made. When they could not hold anymore, they fell. The rain was big, and soon enough, there was a steady flow of rainwater from the names engraved on the stone, as if they too, were crying. Kakashi stood there, wondering why were they crying when the team could be functional in Heaven without himself. Kakashi also wondered who they were crying for. It may be the village, or their loved ones left behind, or just the shinobi world at large. Or it may be himself, but then, he would never know.
That was why Kakashi didn't hesitate to use the last of his chakra to save his comrades, to convey the important message such that Pain could be defeated. Because he need not stand before the Memorial Stone again, he need not face the loneliness, he need not feel the pain of losing another loved one. Because they were all already waiting for him on the other side.