Umbrella

The rain that poured onto the streets of Konoha came soft and easy. A gentle shower that caressed the trees who harbored the leaves that hid their village, the grey horses that thundered across the sky in their herds, the cold wind that pushed the soft patter back and forth—it seemed as though Kami wanted a sadness to go down on earth. Slow, sweet, bitter.

Like the rain that spread across Hatake Kakashi's face as he looked down at the stone before him. His grey eye skimmed the list of names on the memorial, his nose smelling the wet aroma of death as he pictured the face around each name—what they looked like before they had died—until he found the names that he knew so well, and Kakashi didn't have to imagine. He knew what their faces looked like upon death. He was there to witness it first hand.

Kakashi lifted his hitai-ate. The scarred eye opened slowly and dark light swarmed its vision after being hidden in the dark for so long. The Sharingan and Kakashi looked down at the names that they knew so well, and as Kakashi lowered himself, the Sharingan began to weep for its master.

Or at least tried to.

The gentle, slow patter suddenly grew to become loud and restless. The rain struck down on Kakashi's mask, stinging the skin underneath with each harsh drop. It drenched the Copy-nin's hair, plastering it so uncomfortably against his head in a spiking coldness. It washed away the escaping tears that fell from the Sharingan eye, covering the hot salty droplets in a cool wetness.

Kakashi closed his eyes and sighed deeply. His gloved finger reached out to stroke the engraved lines of Obito's name.

He failed as a friend even to this day. He couldn't even let Obito's own tears run down for him.

The fingers moved on to more familiar names.

"Rin, Sensei, Sandaime, Asuma…"

Kakashi wanted to cry, but he didn't; or rather, he couldn't. The years of holding back finally caught up to him. Not once—not even for a little bit—did he allow himself to cry in the past. Not when he was with friends, not even when he was alone by himself in that dusty house that belonged to his family. And now, when he wanted to cry the most, his eyes wouldn't let him, the years of restraint too firmly on hold.

This was his fault. All his fault.

He clutched the knee that was pressed against him. The other kneeling on the sodden grass as he rocked back and forth, trying so desperately to let the Sharingan cry. But the damn rain wouldn't let him. It wouldn't allow him because it was some goddamn unwritten rule that Hatake Kakashi couldn't weep even when the tears weren't his. It shook him to his very core.

Cold. It was so cold.

Why couldn't he be human like the rest of them? Why couldn't he be allowed to cry and sob like a temperamental spoiled brat? Why couldn't he just let it go?

Above him, the rain stopped hailing.

The Copy-nin sighed and wrapped his arms around himself as his knee finally joined the other in the muddy ground. He opened his tightly screwed eyes, only to have realized that the rain had not stopped. Its shower thundered through his ears in the cold howling wind. Kakashi could still feel the wetness that escaped here and there, splashing onto him, trying to reach him under his shelter. The shinobi raised his head and looked wildly around him. The rain continued, but it was unable to touch him now. The pitter-patter above him crashed wildly as nature's wrath raged on. He looked up.

And the sun shone.

It was bright against the Sharingan eye—bright for even his own eye. Kakashi blinked rapidly for a few short moments before realizing that the brightness was actually blonde hair. It took him several long minutes before realizing that the blonde hair was Naruto.

Naruto only smiled softly at him—that smile so strangely alien on his usually obnoxiously grinning face—as he shifted the umbrella he held more over towards Kakashi.

The umbrella that he held was far from a decent excuse for shelter. It was tattered and worn, obviously a sign of abuse and overuse. The skeletal brackets that held it together hung loosely over the edge dangerously, limp and broken; tape struggled to bind the brackets back together but to no avail. The small holes poked everywhere; occasionally a large tear or hole gaped at one of the flaps. The rain still poured in, but Naruto managed to make it so that the most preserved parts of the umbrella were sheltered over Kakashi.

The older shinobi quickly opened his mouth to speak but quickly snapped his jaw shut when a hand—a hand that he didn't even know was there—squeezed his shoulder tightly. Tightly, as if Naruto was trying to squeeze the tears out of him. Mismatched eyes met soft blue, and Kakashi once again turned his head at the names, his will flittering—he wanted to be in the clouds with them so much…so, so much. Fists clenched the earth as he tried to hold himself down. The hand on his shoulder squeezed so tightly that Kakashi hoped that the young boy would never let go.

And finally—finally—the Sharingan and Kakashi let their tears be their own again.

A/N: Hello! Mo here.

I'd like to say, first and foremost, thank you for reading the first chapter of my "Umbrella" series! To you tell the truth, I had written this some time ago, but today I finally decided that I would share this with you. It's my own take on the Kakanaru pairing. This is one of my most favorite pairings. Possibly the most favorite (I would have to decide between GinIzu from Bleach and this one). Although I have many more chapters I'd like to post, this will be...a test [?] chapter (if that's what you call it...). It will be one of the few that I will be posting tonight. I hope that you'll look forward to reading the rest!

Here are some warnings:

I will most likely post at awkward intervals at times, but please bear with me! I have planned many things for this series.

There is also mention of some OCs, but no CharacterxOC pairings. I feel that these people that I have created will bring more emphasis on the emotions that I'm trying to create so please look forward to them!

There will be OOC sections in many of the characters. Also, the storyline will seem a bit awkward because there is no set plot to the story. However, I assure you, all chapters are connected and are in chronological order.

I MIGHT'VE tweaked some things in the Naruto Universe as I was writing this. I'm not actually sure. Please forgive me if I do. (I do you no justice Kishimoto-san T.T *bows deeply*)

Also...this is yaoi. If you don't like it or are uncomfortable with it, please don't read. I apologize for any discomfort that my words have inflicted upon you, but I did warn you in my bio (if you haven't read it, please do.)

ありがとうございます！Thank you!

Mo

It's already 11:00PM and I STILL haven't done my homework yet...Looks like this person is going to have stay up PRETTY LATE (nuuuu~ my beauty sleep T.T)

Update 02/23/14: Grammar Corrections