Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Thank SweetDreamsAreMadeOfNaruto for betareading!

A/N: Welcome to my new story! It's a canon-based one, from Kakashi's death during Pein's invasion till the end of the Fourth War. Basically focusing on Team Seven and Team Minato, especially Kakashi's interactions with Naruto, Sasuke and Obito. Kakashi will NOT be resurrected through the whole story.

Hope you enjoy!


Chpater 1: Another Beginning

Unlike when Sandaimei's funeral had been carried out four years ago, it was a bright sunny day today.

Far from the downtown of Konoha, the cemetery was not seriously destroyed. As long as they were capable to move, all shinobi who had survived from the catastrophe gathered here, supporting each other, stumbling and tottering.

To say the last goodbye to their families and comrades.

Many people threw quiet looks to the blond shinobi at the first row. He had defeated Pein the Six Paths, and ended Konoha's suffering. The boy who had once been feared and isolated by almost everyone in the village, had become their savior now.

But he had also lost more.

Less than one month since the news of Jiraiya's death had arrived... Uzumaki Naruto was going to bid farewell to his other teacher.

"Shizune...san...Kakashi...sensei..."Sakura was sobbing by his side, and it sounded like sharp knives cutting through Naruto's broken heart. "I'm sorry, Naruto... I failed to save their lives, I failed... I'm a medic, but I was not able to save anyone..."

Naruto was staring at the photo frame in the front. He hadn't blinked for at least five minutes. He felt the muscles on his face stiff and his eyes sour, but there were no tears.

He was no longer a kid, living under his teachers' shields, carefreely enjoying their protections.

He has grown up. He must grow up, and be strong. He must stride along the road he had chosen, walking straightforward, never stop or retreat.

No matter how much more pain and bitterness he would experience, how many more important people he would lose.

Father, master, sensei.

He would inherit their will - the Will of Fire, and carry through his ninja way unswervingly.

"It's ok, Sakura," said Naruto with a hoarse voice. "You've tried your best. Everyone has tried their best. Tsunade Baa-chan is still in a coma, and you need to brace yourself up."

"We are disciples of the Sannin... We are Team Kakashi. Be strong."

As the leader of jonin, Nara Shikaku officiated the ceremony. Konoha was still in reconstruction, there were little time left for remembering and sorrow. After a short eulogy, it was the relatives' and friends' turn to present flowers to their lost ones.

Holding a white chrysanthemum in his hand, Naruto came to the front and stopped at the photo frame.

In the photo, twelve-year-old Hatake Kakashi looked over coldly with a pair of black eyes.

The jonins' dorm had been totally devastated under Pein's Shinratensei. Kakashi had no living relatives, so Naruto, Sakura, Yamato and Gai had worked together to collect his belongings. Digging from the ruins, the four shinobi had found two team photos and an old iron casket protected by a seal; besides those there had only been some uniforms, ninja tools, and other daily living goods that were distributed by Konoha.

As the Copy Ninja who was famous among all five nations, he left quite few personal effects after his death.

They needed a photo to be his deadee. Usually, after a shinobi reached a higher rank, a new personal file would be created, and a new photo would be taken. However, Kakashi had changed a lot since he was promoted to jonin, so it would be much better if they could find a single photo of him in his adulthood. With other three's consent, Yamato released the seal on the small box, and opened it carefully.

To their disappointment, there were no photos of Kakashi in it. What were kept in the casket was a broken tanto, a kunai with an unusual shape, a worn first-aid kit, and a pair of orange goggles.

Seeing those things, Gai's expression became very strange; before Naruto and Sakura could ask, the jonin had reached out and slammed down the lid.

"No need to check again." He looked away, trying hard to hold his choking voice, "These... aren't even Kakashi's own stuff."

Effects of his parent, teacher and friends, and the photos of his genin team and the genin team he was leading.

Was there anything that was unique to Hatake Kakashi himself?

None.

The man was hidden in mysteries when he was alive, and left nothing behind after death.

Getting back to reality from memories, Naruto looked up at his sensei in the deadee, who was even younger than Naruto today. He had two good eyes, and his gaze was sharp and grim, just like a pointed blade buried in the ice, totally different from who he was decades later.

He has never known Kakashi had become jonin at the age of twelve. He has never known twelve-year-old Kakashi had been like this.

Not for the first time, Naruto deeply realized that he had learned too little about his sensei. Furthermore, there would not be any chance for him to learn more about Kakashi face to face.


Two days later.

On the Training Field 3, Naruto and Sakura was standing in front of the Memorial Stone, looking down at the particular name that had been recently carved.

It was not a prearranged activity; they had met each other here by chance at the crack of dawn. In the next few hours, neither of them had spoken a word.

They just stood there for a long time.

"I dreamed about the past last night," Sakura suddenly broke the silence. After her sensei and senior sister apprentice had dead, her master fell into a coma and probably would never wake up again, the kunoichi had rapidly grown to be more mature in a few days.

From Sakura, Naruto could see himself back to a month ago - himself after overcoming the loss of Jiraiya.

"Once we tried to reveal Kakashi-sensei's mask. Sasuke-kun... he suggested us to take turns to track him. It was a rainy day when it came to my turn, and I was hiding in the bushes, watching Kakashi-sensei standing in front of the Memorial Stone without moving for a long while."

Sakura chuckled at the old days. She reached out, fingers ran through the hairs that were falling over her eyes, and put them behind her ear.

"But it was a trick. He made a scarecrow of himself and put it there. However, now I can't help myself to think that... "

She lowered her hands, squeezing them tightly, which made the leather gloves let out small rustilings.

"...has he himself ever been like a scarecrow, standing here for a long, long time?"

Naruto listened sliently. He opened his mouth after a while.

"...You remind me of something. I've seen him here, in front of the Memorial Stone. It happened before I went to have a trip with Ero-sennin. I was wondering around in the village, saying goodbye to everyone... Then I came to the Training Field 3. I saw him standing here... just at the spot we are standing now."

The faded memory became colorful and vivid again, and those details that seemed to be ignored at that time and quickly forgotten afterwards also emerged to the surface, and became very clear.

"I asked him what he was doing. He smiled, and said he had just come out to have a walk and accidentally arrived here... only several minutes earlier than me. Then he said he would like to treat me with ramen; I was happy and left with him without thinking further. But when I see back now... His hair and shoulders had been moist with dew, and it didn't dry out until nine o'clock in the morning. On that day... how long exactly had he been standing in front of the Memorial Stone?"

The two shinobi fell silent. There was one question rolling over in their minds, which had puzzled them for many years, but were never deliberated before; why was Kakashi always late?

Had he come here every time before meeting with them? What had he been thinking when standing here?

Had he been like them today, full of agony and regret in heart?

But the truth would never be revealed now.

"Naruto...do you remember? When Team 7 was just formed, Kakashi-sensei gave us the bell test, and taught us teamwork..."Sakura said slowly and looked up. Her gaze lingered on the upper half of the Memorial Stone. "He said his best friend's name was carved here. Who... is that ?"

"The name is Uchiha Obito."

It was not Naruto who answered the question. Gai's voice suddenly came out behind them.

The two turned around immediately. Konoha's Blue Beast was standing behind them. He has lost his excessive abundant energy, and looked serious and haggard.

"Yeah, that's it." Gai nodded briefly after seeing Naruto and Sakura's expressions. "It was just like what you are thinking about. Uchiha Obito, he was the man who gave Kakashi the Sharingan."

No one spoke up after that. Gai took his eyes off the Memorial Stone after staring for a short while, and looked back at the two teenagers.

"We still have a lot of thing to do," he said in a low voice. "The village needs to be rebuilt, and the remaining members of Akatsuki are still out there, and might come to attack us at any time. What's more... You two are still going to get Sasuke back, aren't you?"

"Of course!" Naruto answered determinedly.

"Good! You need to have this vigor to be youthful!" Gai smiled and thumbed up at Naruto. "I'm going back now, and you guys had better come along soon!"

Saying that, he turned around, but stopped after a few steps.

"And there's one more thing..." he didn't look back, "No need to be too sad. My words may not sound pleasant to your ears, but it is probably Kakashi's true thought. For him... death is only disengagement."

"His families, and his teammates... were all in the other world... longing to reunite with him."

Leaving these words, Gai disappeared in a puff of white smoke. At where he had stood, shining drips slowly slid down along the grass blades.


Here was the Akatuski's lair.

In a spacious and empty room, the three members of Team Taka were sitting silently on the floor, while their leader, Uchiha Sasuke, was sitting at the end of a long stone table, keeping a close watch on the man sitting at the opposite side, and his orange swirl-mask.

"Uchiha Madara".

The man who had truly manipulated Akatsuki. The man who told him the truth about Itachi. The man who would give him a hand to get his revenge to Konoha.

Same as Sasuke, "Madara" was sitting on a high-backed armchair. He set an elbow on the armrest, fist under his chin, leg crossed. His posture was lazy, but somehow Sasuke could felt that the man was in a slight anxiety.

What was he waiting for?

Sasuke got his answer soon.

"It's over." Beginning with these words, Zetzu rose slowly from the floor. "Pein has failed. Nagato died from exhaustion, in front of Uzumaki Naruto. Konoha was severely destroyed, and the Godaimei Hokage Tsunade is in a coma, but they have already begun rebuilding their village with the lead of the council."

"Hn. I knew they were all useless trashes," "Madara" snorted relentlessly, showing no sympathy to his deceased subordinates. He lifted himself up from the chair. "Time is short... I'll have to do it myself."

"By the way, there is good news for you." The corner of the lips on the white side of Zetsu's face curled up. "He's dead, that Hatake Kakashi. You know what it means, don't you?"

Hearing the familiar name, Sasuke, who had kept an indifferent face all along, widened his eyes slightly. However, that was all he had shown.

And the reaction of "Madara" caught his attention.

For a moment, he could felt the chakra signal of the man became incredibly wild and furious, as if it's owner was going to begin a bloody massacre; but in less than a tenth of a second, it was suppressed by force, and sealed off firmly.

It was just like nothing had happened.

"I see," said "Madara" after a short silence. His tone was calm and hard, and there was no emotions in it. "Konoha lost one of their strongest soldiers. It's good."

White Zetsu raised his brow. "And you," he turned to Sasuke. "You got your Chidori from Kakashi, right? Don't you want to say something?"

"Is it still meaningful to have some empty words when I've decided to destroy Konoha by my own hands? "Sasuke asked in reply. "Now there is only hatred between me and the people of Konoha... They were nothing to me."

The eyes of the raven-haired teenager suddenly turned crimson, and he smiled darkly. "And you've just reminded me... It is really a pity that Kakashi, who loves Konoha most, will not be able to see that the village is going to be ruined by the jutsus that are derived from his Chidori."

"Well well... How ruthless, both of you," White Zetsu clicked his tongue. "One is his former student, and the other is..."

"Shut up," Black Zetsu suddenly said, stopped him from continuing. "You've said too much."

While Zetsu was talking to Sasuke, "Madara" was just standing there, listening without a word. After Black Zetsu spoke up, he was still silent and just walked towards the door. Giving a last glance at Sasuke, Zetsu also turned around and followed him out.

"Wait for me outside, all of you," Sasuke suddenly said in the silence. "I would like to be alone for a while."

Jyuugo, Suigetsu and Karin looked at each other, before they obeyed their leader's order without questioning.

The door was shut again. Lowering his head, Sasuke looked at his own hands. As if acting on their own, his finger moved, and formed five familiar signs, mouse, ox, monkey, ox, rooster...

The sound of crying birds hovered across the empty room.

From now on, there was only one person left in the world as the user of the justu.

"In the end, those who tasted revenge were not satisfied... it ended in tragedy. You'll only hurt and suffer more. Even if you are successful in your revenge, all you'll be left with is emptiness."

The silver-haired jonin's quiet voice echoed in Sasuke's ears.

Kakashi... If you were still alive, seeing what have I become, what would you have said?

The scarlet of Sharingan flickered in his eyes. Sasuke clenched his hands, and the lightning immediately dissipated.

What I've been long detested was your composed attitude, no matter what happens. As if you know everything. As if you have experienced everything.

"For me, there are no longer any important people. They have all... been killed already."

"I'm much older than you, and have lived in a long, hard era. I understand how terrible true pain and loss are."

Ahh, you are right. You did foresee it. After killing Itachi, I did feel empty. After knowing Itachi's truth, I did hurt and suffer more.

But you haven't foreseen Itachi's truth, and what have I become now.

Now I got new goals and motivation to live on; my revenge isn't finished yet. I will never stop before it comes to the end.

And this time - It's towards Konoha.

Sasuke rapidly stood up. His eyes were sharp and stern. He went to the doorway and opened the door.

His team members all turned to him.

"Let's go," he said coldly, with no expression on his face. "To Konoha."

"We aren't the lucky ones... that's for sure. But we aren't the worst off either."

Yeah. You're right, Kakashi.

Fortune showed its last mercy, to prevent you from seeing your students killing each other with your own eyes.


"Madara" was in his private room.

He took off the cloak with red clouds, and pulled down his mask. He stood in front of a mirror, looking at his own scarred face, and the blood-red right eye.

Uchiha Obito looked at himself in the mirror.

He's dead, that Hatake Kakashi.

The sound of White Zetsu kept repeating these words in his mind.

He should be glad. Because Kamui lost its shortage, and nobody else would be able to intervene that dimension, revealing the secret of his justu; Pein had made him a huge favor, completing what he had long planned to do, but somehow failed to actually carry out.

He should be apathetic about that man's death. Because that was just a fake; as early as more than a decade ago, on the night that their fates were decided, in the forest near the border of the Water Nation, along with Rin's death, the Hatake Kakashi who lived in the world had become a fake, trash, an empty shell. The real Kakashi only existed in Obito's Infinite Tsukuyomi.

But he failed to be glad, nor apathetic. It didn't mean he felt sorrowful or grievous, though.

He could feel nothing.

The world was hell. He didn't care any more about it.

What he had seen many years ago was like a soldering iron, seared this idea onto his heart; nowadays, after learning Kakashi's death, it was as if someone had dug out the iron again, and pressed it down to his old scar.

Even deeper and clearer than last time.

Obito reached out, touching his own empty eye socket.

His left eye had died.

His only connection with his past had died.

I want to build a world where heroes don't have to make pitiful excuses in front of graves.

But the hero had already died.

There would be no longer a figure, standing in front of the Memorial Stone, everyday for decades.

"Haha... hahaha...hahahahaha..." Pressing hard at his eye socket, Obito heard hoarse, humorless laughter coming out from the back of his throat.

"Isn't it ironic, Kakashi?" He said to the old friend in his imagination, "I, who had been identified as the first deceased member of Team Minato, turned out to be the only survivor of us."

Since the tragedy of Team Minato started from the Kannabi Bridge, from me, then...

Let everything, everything about the decayed shinobi world, come to the end in my hand.


A/N: Thanks for reading! Reviews are appreciated.