No warnings; YonKaka (slight), Kakashi introspective. AU timeline where Sasuke didn't leave the village.
Too Late
by vernajast
implied Minato x Kakashi, Team Minato
It was Naruto's birthday. Iruka and Sasuke had planned a party, filled Iruka's apartment with junk food, and invited twenty chuunin over for the surprise. When Iruka had stopped Kakashi in the hallway with an invitation, he politely declined. A strange, sad smile had crossed Iruka's features for a moment before fading, replaced by a genuine Iruka-style grin.
He was thankful for the memory now that he was actually at the stone. It got harder every time. Hurt more to count the passing of another year since his sensei's death, Rin's, Obito's. Obito teared up and Kakashi smirked. "No, you never really left me, did you?" One of the last things Obito said before he died, ...and then we'll see..., echoed through his mind and his smile softened.
Dragging his fingers across the rough monument stone as he walked, Kakashi let his head fill with the memories of his team, remembering the gifts each had given him, the mark of their influence on the person he became.
Rin, who left him with a renewed understanding of kindness and a handful of medical jutsu. Just like the girl who sometimes teased him in his dreams, both had saved his life on numerous occasions.
Sensei, who had bestowed upon him the knowledge that he was loved, desperately, and the hope that he could be again. Kakashi retained his humanity thanks to the blond man with the easy laugh and smiling eyes when so many of his Anbu comrades had not.
And he had left him Naruto, of course.
Kakashi cringed at his failures in that particular area. He knew he should have been in the village all of those years, caring for the boy, raising him in the knowledge that his father was an amazing man, a Hokage, and worthy of the hero-worship he already heaped upon him. But today was about his own team, so he let the thoughts slide. After all, Naruto was celebrating his birthday with friends and the people he considered family. He was as close to happy as Kakashi had ever seen him, wearing a familiar smile.
He sat down and leaned his back against the stone, closing his eyes. The Sharingan was pounding in its socket, but Kakashi ignored the pain. It was rare for it to remain exposed for so long, but Obito deserved to see the world around him, especially on that day.
"Baka! You're overdoing it again, thinking you're so good you don't need to be careful..." Obito's voice, growling frustration, and Kakashi smiled at that.
"I'm not."
"So where's your team?"
"Dead." The mood shifted abruptly. The word hung and stretched around Kakashi, filling up the air, making it hard to breathe.
"You know what I mean, Hatake."
"At Naruto's party."
"And why aren't you?" Oh. That was Sensei. The Copy-nin could feel his cheeks burn.
"I'm here, with you."
He practically heard Obito's eyes roll. "You're late."
For a moment, Kakashi wanted to protest that he wasn't going. His lips moved to form the words, but something else came out, dry and thin: "I know." Too late to save his team, too late to raise Naruto.
"Then, you'd better start running."
Sensei chuckled, and Kakashi felt like a teenager again. He nodded and shamefully pushed away from the stone, pausing only briefly to drag his eyes over their names before dashing off toward Iruka's.
[ ... ]