A/N: This fic is rather elderly, I never got around to posting it. I wrote this back when everyone still thought Kakashi was dead. Obviously, he isn't. My semi-half-sister-thing, Hpontopoftheworld, suggested the idea of the box while we were brainstorming ideas for Kakashi fics. Enjoy the fic!

Precious Treasure

Kakashi POV

My apartment has very few personal things. Plain furniture, standard issue clothes. Normal food. The only personal things are my copies of Icha-Icha, my plant Mr. Uke, and one other thing. A plain, cardboard box. And inside are my most precious possessions. Only a few things. My father's sword, Obito's goggles. A picture of my team. Rin's medical kit that she gave me before the mission to Kannabi Bridge. Minato-sensei's kunai that he gave me on the Kannabi Bridge mission. I never used it after that. One more object was here. A leaf headband, scuffed and unpolished, the blue fabric dirty from much use and little washing. It was Tamiko's. She gave it to me when she left for Otogakure. It was a secret infiltration mission, but I didn't know that. When she returned, I gave the headband back.

All these objects are things to remember them by. You see, I'm afraid to forget. If I forget them, I'll have nothing. And as much as I sometimes wish to forget, I cling to these objects as precious treasures.

They make me wonder. If I die in the line of duty, which I will, what will happen to my precious treasures? Will they be burned, thrown away? Will someone take them? Who would want them?

Tamiko POV

I haven't been outside for days. I know I should go help repair the village, but I don't have the courage to face the rubble. It's not that I'm afraid of being injured. In fact, pain might bring me to my senses. But I am afraid of the memories. I'm the one who found him, lying among the debris. In that moment, I felt the world crumbling around me. Why didn't everyone freeze? The world still moved around me. I was the one who was frozen. Frozen and shattered. Like a fragile glass, dropped. Since then, I've stayed in my apartment. Holed up here, selfishly. And I hate myself for it.

Even here, the memories threaten to overwhelm me. I pace around and around the room, trying to keep busy. Trying not to think about any of it. It's always futile, in the end.

A loud knock sounds at the door. I stop for a moment, then keep pacing. A second knock reverberates, and I call,

"Go away!" If it's Kurenai or Yamashi, they'll ignore me and come in anyway. But it's not. No more knocks come, and I hear receding footsteps.

Upon opening the door, I find a plain cardboard box on the step. A square, white envelope is taped to the top. It reads: "For Tamiko Hyuuga." I recognize the handwriting right away, so I pick up the box ad kick the door shut behind me. I sit down and rip open the envelope. I trace the letters, shapes made by a familiar hand. Not reading yet, just looking. But I can't look at writing and not pick out words. And so the phrases pass before my eyes.

"Entrust my treasures to you." "Please keep them safe." and "Don't give up." There's one last phrase, and it makes my eyes bright with tears.

"I'm sorry"

To give myself something to do, I open the box carefully. On top is a short sword and an oddly shaped kunai. I lift the kunai, puzzled by it's unusual handle. A small piece of paper is taped to the end. It reads Minato-sensei. Kannabi Bridge mission. I set it aside, and pick up the sword. The note on it says Father. And then a date from before I was born. Still inside the box are a battered pair of goggles, a small scuffed box, and two framed photographs. The label on the goggles reads Obito. Kannabi Bridge mission. The small box is actually a basic med kit. Its label says: Rin. Kannabi Bridge mission.

Moving them both aside, I look at the two photographs. One's label reads: Team 7. Uchiha Obito, Namikaze Minato, Rin, Hatake Kakashi. The other label says: Team 7. Uzumaki Naruto, Hatake Kakashi, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke.

Mechanically, I put everything back into the box. I put the box under my bed. And then I walk outside, and go towards the Hokage office. Maybe some records were salvaged. And maybe one of them can tell me about Kannabi Bridge.