Accident
By: Song
Summary: Kakashi returns to Konoha, and confronts tragedy he never expected.
A/U: Written over a very, very, very long time, revisited infrequently and finally finished.
Kakashi felt numb. Not the kind of numb that prolonged exposure to the cold creates, either. (He wishes it were.)
No, this was the kind of numb that leaves one questioning their own existence. The kind of numb where any sense of self disappears and you're left an observer to the world that continues on.
The mission was a normal one- as far as solo unranked missions go. Locate target, eliminate, erase all traces. Kakashi might have even gone so far as to say it went well.
As soon as he stepped foot in Konoha however, he knew something was terribly wrong.
Somber air palpitated the village in a dense fog, heavy on the very soul of those left wandering the streets.
People- both ninja and civilian, walked around like corpses revived by forbidden jutsu.
Everyone dressed in black.
Kakashi walked the village a specter. No one really saw him and no one really looked.
As a shinobi of Konoha his first action was to check on the Hokage, but when he transported there in a puff of smoke he found Tsunade quietly signing paperwork, trusted sake bottle by her side and eyes red rimmed.
Second he checked on Sakura though he couldn't conceive the entire village being in mourning for her.
Sakura was at the hospital, diligently healing patients.
Finally, he stopped by the Academy, strangely ominous.
Students dressed in black quietly studied, while teachers graded.
Unsure of what else to do, Kakashi did what he always did in a hard and confusing situation; went to the memorial.
Like always the stone held guard over the souls of the dead, a memorial to their sacrifice. Virtually unchanged, a newly carved name jumped out at him, a name that made his blood turn to ice in his veins.
うみのイルカ
Umino Iruka
"Why wasn't I told?" Kakashi demanded of the empty air, ANBU mask dropping to the compacted ground and shattering.
Fin
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