Warning: Spoilers up to chapter 440 of Naruto.
Disclaimer: Not mine.
AN: For Julis.
All That's Left.
Rubble crunched loudly under Sasuke's sandalled feet, the teen slowly making his way through the destroyed remains of what used to be his village. Dark eyes scanned the bodies littering the area, emotions flickering across the Uchiha's smooth features when his eyes caught people he knew. He did his best to ignore the sensations those particular faces brought along with them.
There were really only three people in total he refused to find in the rubble, and if he did, Madara was going to suffer once Sasuke was done with Pein. So far so good, though, because the more he walked along, the less he recognized the people he was passing. It was almost as if a line had been drawn between the people he knew, and those he didn't.
He was positive that Naruto had survived—after all, Tsunade wouldn't have gone as crazy as she had to escape if Naruto had died—but Sakura and Kakashi he was still unsure about. As much as he liked pretending to be a heartless bastard, he still had one pumping blood throughout his body.
The rest of his team had opted to come with him, but he'd decided against that. He didn't want them seeing him in his home—what used to be his home. Especially if one of his three important people had been killed. He wanted to be alone for that.
His eyes caught sight of Shizune, and he winced, turning his face away quickly and schooling it back into its indifferent mask. He didn't know the woman, but he knew what she meant to Tsunade.
What she meant to Naruto.
He wondered how many more important people the blond had lost during this fight. How many he himself had, as well.
Doesn't look like anyone important has died, he thought to himself, not bothering to add that he meant no one important to him. Because many people had certainly died at the hands of Pein. People who were equivalent to his loved ones to others. The man lying dead on his right was someone's Naruto. Shizune was Tsunade's Sakura.
So many lives had met their end, but Sasuke couldn't find himself caring enough, because as long as none of them were his loved ones, he didn't really care. He was heartless and selfish that way, and it wasn't a secret.
Sasuke stopped near the center of the village, looking around dispassionately at the carnage. "Time to head back." His monotone voice carried loudly on the wind, and he turned to move back the way he'd come when someone in particular caught his eye. He stopped, staring at Akimichi Chouza as the man lay dead in the middle of a pile of rubble.
Dark eyes stared at the figure, guilt flooding his system even though he hadn't been present. Even though it hadn't been him who'd killed his once-upon-a-time friend's father. Still, he was part of the group who had, and that made him—in some respect—guilty.
Moving forward towards the man's body to pay him some respect—he had known the man, after all—something caught his attention in his peripheral. His head whipped to the left, eyes zeroing in on a mesh of blood-stained grey hair.
Sasuke's heart thudded to a halt in his chest. No... No, it's not—it's not him. It's someone who looks similar. It's not Kakashi, I'm overreacting. His feet began to move towards the body instantly, his previous trajectory towards Chouza completely forgotten. He ran the last few steps, falling to his knees and grabbing a fistful of the other's hair.
He wrenched the person's head up.
All the blood drained from his face when his gaze locked with two clouded, mismatched eyes. Kakashi had been dead for some time, of that he was certain. And nobody had even bothered to come and get him!
The logical part of his brain tried to remind Sasuke that many of the dead had been left behind in favour of protecting Naruto—even Chouji's father—but he ignored it, rage and indescribable agony flooding his system. He immediately began pulling at the rocks around his sensei, hurling them away angrily, causing nails to break and pull painfully at the skin. He didn't care, he ignored the pain in his hands, because it was nowhere near as potent as the one in his chest.
The Uchiha got most of the rubble away and then grabbed Kakashi under the arms, struggling to pull him out. He'd been dead too long, his body had gone entirely rigid. Sasuke couldn't get him out.
He yanked harder anyway, feeling tears in his eyes. "No! No!" The words forced themselves past his lips. "You're Kakashi! You're fucking Hatake Kakashi! You're not allowed to fucking die!"
Giving up, he let the other fall from his grasp and fell back onto his knees, grabbing the front of Kakashi's shirt and burying his face in it, tears slowly falling down his cheeks. The other's clothing reeked of blood, but Sasuke didn't care. He couldn't care. Not about anything except the fact that his sensei was dead.
There were only three people who were never allowed to die. Ever.
Uzumaki Naruto.
Haruno Sakura.
And Hatake Kakashi.
His list had gone down to two. And now, Madara and Pein were going to pay for robbing him of his precious person. Nobody fucked with an Uchiha's family.
They were going to learn that the hard way.
END.