To Share a Burden
When Kakashi entered Tsunade's office, Sakura and Gai were already there. He knew the look on their faces; he'd seen it too many times.
"Who died?" he asked. His stomach churned. This was the worst part of being a ninja, the seconds that felt like hours as he waited for someone to tell him one of his precious people didn't come back from a mission. It couldn't be Naruto, or Sakura would be crying. Gai was here. He wasn't close to many people.
Tsunade had obviously been crying. She'd even let the youth jutsu slip slightly, and she had visible wrinkles.
"Jiraiya won't be coming back," she said.
"Noni?" he asked. It couldn't be right. Saying his uncle was dead was like saying the Hokage monument left the village during the night. Jiraiya was a force of nature. He couldn't die.
Tsunade gave him the details of Jiraiya's death, but Kakashi was barely listening. He kept thinking it must be a mistake, only to have reason assert itself.
"Are you ok?" Sakura asked.
He realized he'd spaced out. "Yeah, it's just unexpected."
Gai put an arm around Kakashi's shoulder and sobbed loudly. "We will be here for you, my rival."
"I'm ok, really," he said. "He lived how he wanted to live, and he died a hero's death. We should all be so lucky."
"I'm sorry, Sensei," Sakura said.
"Has anyone told Naruto?" Kakashi asked. "I don't think he'll take this well."
"We wanted to tell you first," Tsunade said. "You've dealt with this kind of thing before, so we were hoping you could help him cope."
"They were really close," Sakura said.
He thought about how emotional Naruto was. Kakashi practiced his own way of the ninja and sublimated his feelings. At a time like this they'd just be a nuisance.
"Let me get him," Kakashi said.
He left to find Naruto. He couldn't bring Jiraiya back, but he'd help the old Sanin continue his legacy in the orange ball of energy. When he reached Naruto's window he stopped to collect himself. He didn't want to do this, but some burdens need to be shared.