Next Time
previously "Erect A Statue When I Die"
Hatake Kakashi is alive when he has no right to be. By all means, he should have died years ago.
He should have died in the Yondaime's place, in Sarutobi's place. He should have been killed on the bridge when Zabuza brought his sword down.
Hatake Kakashi should be dead, without doubt.
He is known as the Copy-nin, Kakashi of the Sharingan, Man of a Thousand Jutsu. His name is in bingo books everywhere—though it should be engraved into the cenotaph, next to Obito's name like so many others.
He is known by all, feared by many, and immortalized by those who have failed in their attempts on his life. He should be dead. …He should be, but he isn't.
Sometimes he wishes he was.
If Hatake Kakashi was dead, the world would still spin, Sakura would still have bad taste in boys, and Naruto would still eat ramen. Time would go on; and surely he would not be forgotten.
Hatake Kakashi could never be forgotten by the families of people who died to save him—families of those who died when it should have been him under the knife instead. It's never him.
…Orochimaru was a great terror, Sarutobi was a great Hokage. Kakashi is not great…or at least, he doesn't think so. He wonders why so many others seem to, and why Tsunade is still letting people die when it should be him. So many lives have been wasted to preserve his.
(Next time there won't be others.)
Fin.
Author's Notes: ...I'm back! What a relief it is to say that and be sure this time that I mean it. I am very sorry for my absence; I spent much time being ill and was (to my shame) unable to focus much on writing. But now that I've returned, I'm starting a "revival project" in which I am raking through my old stories and making them better. Once that's done, I'll finally write something new.
Thank you so much for still reading.
Always, Incognito