Reminiscence, a naruto fanfic

Reminiscence

Uchiha Obito

Hatake Kakashi read his best friend's name a few more times. Over the years he had spent staring at it, he had memorized every mark, every stroke in the carved stone. He didn't know why he felt comforted staring at the names. Perhaps he felt less alone.

"Kakashi-Sensei? KAKASHI-SENSEI!!" Uzumaki Naruto burst through the brush surrounding the monument. His other students, Haruno Sakura and Uchiha Sasuke, came into the clearing soon after.

"Kakashi-Sensei, you were supposed to meet us for training four hours ago!" Naruto wagged a finger at his sensei in what he believed to be a threatening manner.

Kakashi looked up from the stone, surprised with his students' sudden arrival. But soon his eyes crinkled in his characteristic smile.

"Ah, excuse my unpunctuality, hard mission yesterday and all…" Kakashi approached the three young ninja, crossing his arms behind his head.

Sakura stepped forward, folding her arms angrily, "Oh stop it, you're always late mission or not!"

Kakashi let out a small bark of laughter.

"So I am."

He glanced over at his third student. Sasuke gave his usual smirk, and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Ah, even like this, you're as unemotional as ever, Sasuke," Kakashi began to lead his squad back into the town.

"Hey! Don't be mean to Sasuke!" Sakura automatically latched on to the Uchiha's arm, glaring at the jounin.

"And you're still as attached to Sasuke as ever, Sakura," He glanced fondly at his two students.

"Eh? Why are you ignoring me, sensei? And where are we going? This isn't the way to our training area? Oohh, are you taking us somewhere special? Are you going to teach us a new technique? Sensei, tell us! Sensei!" Naruto jumped in front of his teacher, waving his arms over his head, trying to catch Kakashi's attention.

"Heh, of course, how could I forget, you're just as hyperactive as ever, Naruto." Kakashi smirked at the blonde's angry look, walked around him, and then stopped.

"I was thinking that we'd take a day off today." He turned around to see the kids' reactions.

Naruto's face was twisted into a mix between disappointment and confusion.

"What? Why? I want to train, Sensei! That mission yesterday was a killer! We need to get stronger!" Naruto sat cross-legged on the ground and began to pout.

Sakura was more then happy with the decision of a break. "Naruto, stop! If Kakashi-sensei wants us to take a break today, then listen to him!"

Sasuke just stared with a small twitch of annoyance. "Yo, Kakashi, the dobe is right for once. We can't have a repeat of yesterday."

Kakashi smiled again, it was just like before.

"Well, the mission yesterday seemed to take it's toll on you're bodies. Look at the lot of you! You're all not taking proper care of yourselves. I mean, did you guys even change out of the clothes you were wearing yesterday?"

The three looked down at themselves. Among the many scratches and cuts adorning their bodies, Sasuke had a large gash down his stomach, Sakura's hitai-ate seemed to cover a deep slash of a kunai, and a long scar ran down Naruto's face and neck.

"Fine."

And Team 7 headed back to the town.

After a brief argument about what they were supposed to do, they all finally decided go out for dinner. Kakashi entered the restaurant, spotting Gai and Genma.

"Four please," he told the waiter. The man gave him an odd look but led him over to a booth.

Naruto immediately jumped in, Sakura sat down shyly next to Sasuke. Kakashi took a seat next to Naruto and opened a menu. After ordering a cup of coffee, he saw Gai and Genma approaching the booth.

"Kakashi! My eternal rival, I hope the day sees you in good health!" Gai flashed him a blinding smile.

"Hey, Eyebrows-Sensei, leave Kakashi-Sensei alone!" Naruto stood up and pointed his fingers at Gai.

Gai ignored him.

Genma strayed behind with a cautious look on his face. They had heard of some trouble Kakashi had on a mission the previous day.

"So, are you okay?"

Kakashi laughed and punched him lightly on the shoulder.

"Do you really think a silly mission would put me down? I'm fine, the medics patched me up in about a second."

"But you should be resting, my eternal rival! The next time we fight, you must be in tip-top shape!" Gai's teeth once again blinded everyone within a one-mile radius, as he struck his "nice guy" pose.

"Oh, I'll sleep tonight, I just thought I'd take Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke out for dinner," He gestured behind him at his three students.

Genma and Gai stared at their friend with pity, as Kakashi turned around and saw the empty booth.

"Kakashi…"

"Oh, damn it, it's already sunset! They must have gone back." Kakashi stood up and bolted out of the restaurant.

Genma moved to stop him, but Gai held up an arm to hold him back. Genma stared up at the older jounin.

"Do you think he'll be okay."

Gai sighed and lowered his arm. "Yes, He just needs his time."

When Kakashi made it back to the memorial stone, the sun had already dipped low into the trees. He saw an Anbu packing up his tools next it. Kakashi spotted three new names above him.

"Kakashi-san," The Anbu nodded his head and left the clearing.

"Sensei!"

Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura leapt out from behind the memorial stone.

"Well, I guess we're almost done."

"Yeah, I guess we'll see you later, right?"

"Hn."

Naruto and Sakura both hugged Kakashi, Sasuke nodded. Kakashi nodded back and stepped away.

"Well, it's been a good time, hasn't it? Yes, I'll see you later."

And they were gone.

Kakashi sighed and moved towards the memorial stone, looking down at the familiar name.

Uchiha Obito

But this time, instead of staring for the usual multiple hours, Kakashi moved on. He didn't have to read the same name any longer. He stopped at the end of the monument and looked up and the newest additions. There were three more names to keep Obito's company.

Haruno Sakura

Uchiha Sasuke

Uzumaki Naruto

A/N: Oh the angst! Poor Kakashi... excuse his OOC.