When he woke up, they told him she's gone. That was it. There wasn't a nicer way to put it.
On his hospital bed, he lay thinking how just a couple of days ago, on a mission, he had shielded her from some poisoned needles, his body receiving the lethal hits that were aimed at her, saving her, once more keeping his promise of protecting her.
Just a couple of days ago, he saw the fear and distress in her eyes as she saw him falter and stagger to the ground. And he felt her catch him, clutch him, hold him as tightly as she ever did. And he heard her cry his name as his vision darkened, heard her telling him to stay awake, heard her begging him to stay alive.
"Stay alive for me, Kakashi. Please..."
And then everything faded to nothingness.
And then he wakes up and they tell him she's...
He ought to tell them that he fought his way back; that it wasn't a miracle that saved him from whatever deadly poison that got into his body - it was her plea. It was the last thing she asked of him. And they cannot just tell him she's gone because it's her he came back for.
He thought he should be screaming at them for letting her go without him. He could've kept her safe. He thought he should be crying or crashing the room or banging his head on the wall. Something. Anything. But his chest, and whatever was in it, just felt so heavy. Too heavy for anything.
He had failed Obito. And it was more than that. For he knew, had realized all along, that he wasn't protecting her just for the sake of the promise he made to his friend. He felt the same way Obito felt for her. He had also failed himself.
***
There was a note that he kept. An invitation he never paid any attention to before. He felt there wasn't any reason he should. Not until now. Now that they're all gone.
***
In front of the memorial stone, a lone figure stood. He's nothing but a codename. There was a fresh tattoo on his left arm. His hair was hidden by the hood of the cloak that covered his whole frame. His already masked face was hidden beneath yet another mask - a porcelain one, white and red.
He hoped that the mask and the cloak could conceal the grief for everyone he loved. For everyone he lost.
In a blink of an eye, the lone figure disappeared. Off he went to obscurity.