All Of Me
'So, this is how it ends.', the silver-haired jounin thought as he stared straight into the eyes of the man who would kill him.
Konoha had been turned into a crater by one man and he, Kakashi, had been defeated in battle. He was lodged between two rocks, waiting for the man before him to land the final blow. Waiting for him to end the miserable life that he had.
The villain who just destroyed his home is Pein, the leader of a band of ten S-ranked criminals. This group, the Akatsuki, has been labeled the most dangerous among the shinobi faction of the world. And at this point in time, it is Pein who would end his pathetic life.
In himself, Kakashi knew he did not care that he was to die today. In fact, he had never cared about dying. Not since the day he became a hero.
Ever since the day Kakashi cut a lightning bolt with his refined One Thousand Birds Technique to save Gai's life sixteen years ago, he had changed. He could feel no more. Not a single fibre of his being could feel a thing. Not his flesh, neither his brain. A prick from a pin did not hurt. A stab with a kunai in his shoulder felt like dry breeze. A comrade betraying him only felt like cold water on his teeth. He had become the perfect shinobi; an emotionless tool. A shinobi who could look into the eyes of a mother whilst he took the life of her only child. He had done it twice before. Each time, he had no remorse. He could stand hours before the memorial of his departed teammates and friends and not shed a single tear. He could stand hours before his parents' graves and not long to feel their touch once more.
Gai was alone and running for his life during the war. It was raining and each droplet stung, he was in enemy territory and behind him, a team of shinobi from Cloud pursued. Gai was just a fifteen year old chuunin, there was nothing he could do against four deadly opponents.
Whether it was fate or by chance, Kakashi was alone at his team's rendezvous location; an outpost metres away from a hill that overlooked the border of Fire Country, waiting for the rest. Kakashi noticed Gai climbing the hill. He saw Gai reach the top but his predators did not follow. Instead, they had chosen to end the pursuit with a technique.
Kakashi uncovered the last gift from his former teammate, the bloodline sharingan eye that replaced the left eye he lost a few months ago. His teammate died under a rock with the right side of his body crushed. How did that happen? That is another one of his nightmares he did not like to share.
From what he could see through that eye, the Cloud team were gathering lightning-type chakra and readying a technique that would utilise the electrons already present in the atmosphere against Gai. From his vantage point, he knew Gai would not survive if he did not intervene. His team would reach their location soon but Gai needed immediate reinforcement. He would not sit back and watch a friend die. Obito's death had made sure of that.
"Fight fire with fire."
Throwing caution to the wind, he charged up his signature technique which gathered lightning-type chakra over his hand and made it the sharpest weapon in existence. Simultaneously, the lightning chakra sped up the flow of impulses from his brain to the rest of his body, granting him the ability to move three times faster than the average shinobi and increasing his reaction time. The One Thousand Birds was not the perfect technique to use against multiple opponents. It emitted a high-pitched screech reminiscent of a flock of chirping birds and was taxing on the body due to the muscle strain. But he had no choice.
Combining both powers, he raced to the apex of the hill knowing fully well that if he could not stop whatever jutsu the enemy was using, both of them would not live to see another day again.
Kakashi reached the top as lightning descended towards Gai. With his speed and senses heightened, Kakashi shot forward, and with perfect timing, he sliced through the bolt. That was the moment he realised he made a rash decision. Lightning does not just dissipate on its own, it requires some sort of medium which would disperse it. Being full of lightning chakra made Kakashi a walking transistor. The raw lightning mixed with chakra went through his body into the ground and at that instant he lost consciousness.
It was not until later he found out that his team had made it in time to obliterate the enemy Cloud team. According to the medic-nin, his brain and body were overloaded with electricity and he was supposed to die.
But he woke up the next day, wanting to, yet could not appreciate the sun's light nor the smell of morning dew. He could not find joy in winning battles nor escaping death. He found pleasure in nothing. Nothing... not even in the face of his dearest Rin.
He became a hero. He risked his life to bisect a lightning bolt to save an ally. But where is the logic in making a hero out of a broken man?
A man who had sacrificed all of himself for an eternal hell.
A man who put on a fake smile everyday of his life.
A man who would watch his own students try to kill each other.
A man who would betray his father's legacy.
A man who was dead on the inside.
"You fought well." Pein said to bring Kakashi out of his thoughts. "But you forgot one thing. I am a god. There's no one powerful enough to stand up against me. Not even Kakashi of The Sharingan."
'The real Sharingan no Kakashi has always been nothing but a scarecrow; an effigy of sorrow and dread.'
With that thought, his pain was no more. His soul was finally free.
One 'god' has saved him.
AN: A one-shot! I'm bringing back memories of one of my favorite Naruto cast. The character, Hatake Kakashi, in the first few seasons before Shipuuden was one that really grated on me. He was really messed up. And reading different fanfiction made it worse. Almost every story about Naruto growing up and becoming strong had some type of Kakashi bashing.
When I found MoD's challenge, I felt it was the best opportunity to write about the enigma that was Kakashi. It takes place during the Pein Invasion Arc, right before Kakashi dies, meets his father and is resurrected by Pein.