Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Kakashi stood in front of the memorial stone, immersed in his thoughts. Two years after the Fourth Shinobi War, the village was starting to recover from the losses it suffered. The village was doing well, even with him as Hokage. Kakashi sighed, speaking of being Hokage, he was now in charge of the village. That meant that when something bad happened, he was the one they would go to, even though he was far from being the wisest person in the village. He was getting tired of being Hokage already, especially when his angry assistant was looking for him.

"Hokage-sama!" He had tried getting people to call him Kakashi like they used to, but they had said it was "improper."

"Ahh, Akemi, do you need something?" Akemi Yatsumi, his assistant, was hired to make sure he got something done. He never understood how the other Hokages did it without going crazy, sitting behind a desk all day, doing stacks and stacks of paperwork.

"The team you sent to investigate the place where the bijuus were released are back, and they have bad news." As soon as the words bijuu and bad left her mouth, Kakashi had already vanished, leaving Akemi fuming at the memorial stone.

Kakashi reappeared in his seat in the Hokage's office, startling Naruto, who was in the middle of ranting about how late he was. Three days ago, Kakashi had heard some troubling rumors, about how one person saw some people with a "evil and malicious" chakra, like a bijuus. He had sent Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura to investigate in the Valley of the End, the place where all of the bijuus had last been seen. Apparently, they had returned with bad news.

"Report!"

Naruto's and Sakura's expression said 'What, we don't even get an excuse this time?' while Sasuke, mission focused as always, began to report.

"We reached the Valley of the End at night, and decided to wait until morning to investigate. As you know, after...I released the bijuus, some chakra remained. It should have disapparated after a week or so, but based on what my Rinnegan and Naruto's Sage Mode tells us, it disappeared after two days."

Kakashi's only exposed eye narrowed. "I hope it's just you guys making a mistake, because if it is true, the most likely scenario is that someone took the chakra. Remember Sora? What if they're trying to create jinchurikis...but all nine of them?" Naruto and Sakura looked at each other gravely while Sasuke just looked confused. Eh, no matter, Naruto and Sakura would explain everything to him later. They were there when Sora had almost turned into a mini nine-tails, and it was not pretty. Now to imagine nine mini bijuus? However, based on their luck, it probably wasn't a mistake. The question was, who did it? And what was their target?

"Akemi!" Akemi, who had just got here, hurriedly stood to attention. "Alert all ninjas that there may be nine jinchurikis on the loose. Send messages to the other hidden villages, tell them the situation. Also summon Kiba Inuzuka, Neji Hyuga, Ino Yamanaka, and Sai to try to follow the chakra." Akemi nodded and ran off to do what he had asked.

Kakashi turned back to his students before him. "We must be prepared, whether we're ready or not. Be on guard." They nodded seriously, and Kakashi couldn't help but smile, though no one could see it because of his mask. The three insolent children have all grown up into strong shinobi, ready to die for the village, though he would not let that happen as long as he was still alive.

(line)

The tracking team had returned without success, though Kakashi didn't expect them to. After all, the chakra trail was two years old. The tracking team followed it for as long as they could before the trail ended, Kakashi was standing in front of the memorial stone once more, looking at all the names on it. He knew a lot of people who had their names carved onto the stone, but three names were the most important to him.

His eye fell on the name Minato Namikaze.

"I'm glad you met Naruto, Minato-sensei. He's really grown up. You know, Naruto's actually in line to be the next Hokage, after me. Can you believe it? I bet you and Kushina-san are so proud."

Next he looked at the name Rin Nohara.

"Rin. I still can't tell you how sorry I am, for abandoning you, and killing you. I know you would probably be saying that I should just get over it, but I can't. You may have forgiven me, but I will never forgive myself. I hope you and Obito are having a great time though, in the afterlife…"

Lastly his eyes rested on the name of his best friend, Obito Uchiha.

"Obito...when I saw that you were Tobi, I thought that the person you were in the past was dead. But in the end, you were still the same Obito I knew, the Obito that was my friend, the Obito that was a hero. You saved my life, again, thank you. I'll never forget you."

Kakashi sighed, he could still feel the years of regret weighing on him. His thoughts turned to team seven, how similar they were to his team. Naruto and Obito's recklessness and determination, Sakura and Rin's caring and kindness, and Sasuke and his arrogance and brilliance. How happy they were right now after Sasuke returned and peace descended the lands, how they were settling down and having families of their own, how close Naruto was to becoming a father.

"I will not let the same thing that happened to our team happen to them, not if I have anything to do about it. I've failed at so many things in my life, but I will not fail at this. I swear, even if it means dying a horrible and painful death a hundred times over."

(line)

Kakashi was walking through the busy streets of Konoha, taking a break from his paperwork that seemed to never end. The citizens all bowed to him as he passed, while others hurried up to him with worried faces, seeking reassurance.

"Hokage-sama, is the village going to be alright?"

"Do you know when the jinchurikis are going to attack, Hokage-sama?"

"Last time Sora almost destroyed the village, what are we going to do against nine of them Hokage-sama?"

"My wife just had a baby, I don't want them to get hurt if the jinchurikis attack the village. Please do something, Hokage-sama."

Kakashi calmed them as best as he could. "We don't know about their movements, but we have put up extra guards around the village. Also, the village has grown stronger, and I'm sure the village will be strong enough to defeat them." As they turned to leave, Kakashi saw more people coming his way. He quickly Body Flickered onto the roof of a nearby house, ignoring the shouts of the civilians below. Kakashi suddenly sensed a spike of familiar chakra. 'Naruto's.' He extended his senses and sensed Sakura's and Sasuke's more subtle chakra. Kakashi started running towards their direction, wondering what was going on.

When he arrived, he saw Naruto and Sakura looking livid and glaring at a group of civilians, as if they were barely restraining themselves from running forward and beating them up.

"It's fine, just ignore them." Sasuke was saying to Naruto as he prevented him from charging at the civilians.

"You traitor! You left us for Orochimaru and now you're coming crawling back to us? We should have killed you right there!" One of the civilians shouted at him.

"You're still saying this to him? Even after all this time, after he helped defeat Madara?" Sakura said back.

"The village could have still defeated him without the traitor. According to me, the Godaime should have thrown you out immediately. After she stepped down, I thought the new Hokage would be smart enough to kill you, but no, he let you stay, which was a fool's decision." Another one of them said arrogantly. However, they all took a step back and gulped nervously as Naruto and Sakura let out so much killing intent it was almost tangible.

"Don't you dare insult Tsunade-baachan and Kakashi-sensei!"

"Say that again about shishou and Kakashi-sensei, and you'll pay."

Sensing danger, Kakashi quickly stepped between them and the civilians. Naruto, Sasuke, and Sakura looked surprised while the civilians looked relieved.

"Hokage-sama, I'm so glad you're here. They were so out of control, they could have killed us. They don't deserve to be a ninja of the Leaf, especially the Uchiha." Kakashi felt a surge of anger, they expected him to defend them?

"I think you're mistaken." Kakashi said in a deathly calm voice as he pushed his headband up to reveal the sharingan. The civilians froze in fear. "You have just insulted the Godaime, me, and my students. You think you can get off that easily?" He placed a minor genjutsu on them that made them see their deepest fears. After the genjutsu wore off, all of the civilians were on the ground, whimpering with fear. "Insult my students again and it'll be worse. Now leave." They nodded and hurriedly left.

"Why do you get to harm them but we don't?" Naruto complained.

"You're not the Hokage. Besides, I didn't harm them, physically." Kakashi said, then turned to face them seriously. "What was that about?"

Naruto gritted his teeth, Sakura scowled, and Sasuke looked away, not meeting his eyes. After a long silence, Sasuke said, "Naruto and Sakura decided that what the civilians said weren't true, even though they were, and got angry at them."

Sakura looked over at Sasuke worriedly. "You know that isn't true, Sasuke. You came back with your own free will."

"After I tried to kill you and Naruto."

"Sasuke…"

"Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura. Just ignore their insults. However, if they decide to take action against Sasuke…" Kakashi chuckled evilly. "Well, I can't blame you for self-defense, can I?"

They nodded, and Kakashi saw Naruto anger cool off a bit. However, he looked more conflicted than normal. "Is something wrong, Naruto?"

"Kakashi-sensei, why do we fight for the village? I know it may sound like treason to say this, but Konoha isn't all good and kind. They made Itachi kill his whole family…" Kakashi didn't miss Sasuke's flinch when Itachi was mentioned. He understood though, some wounds never healed. "They viewed me as a monster because of the Nine-Tails, and now they view Sasuke as a traitor. Why? Why do we risk our lives for the village?" The question was one that Kakashi had been pondering for a long time, especially when he was in ANBU, doing deeds that would send him to the deepest darkest pits of hell. It was in front of the memorial stone, right after when Kakashi had to kill an innocent child, who unfortunately had important parents that needed to be taken down a notch or two, when the answer came to him.

Kakashi knelt in front of the memorial stone. He could still see the blood, covering his hands, and no amount of water could wash it off. Kakashi desperately blocked out the memory of the terror on the child's face when he had suddenly appeared in front of him. Kakashi had tried to make the death quick and painless for the child, but that didn't lift the guilt of taking his life in the first place.

"Obito, Rin, Sensei. I killed a child today, I killed him, because it was my mission. You probably all feel disgusted by me, it's okay, I deserve it. You guys wouldn't have done it, not like me. Obito, you would have just torn the mission scroll in half and thrown it at Danzo's face, wouldn't you?"

Kakashi took a deep breath, he could still smell the scent of blood, clinging to his uniform. "Sometimes I just feel like abandoning the village, becoming a missing-nin. Even that life would be better than murdering innocent people left and right. Why do I serve the village anyway, Sensei? They expect me to just let go of my emotion and be their tool, wielding me as they see right. Why should I let them? Please, tell me, Obito, Rin, Sensei, I don't know the answer anymore."

Kakashi stayed still for a long time, knowing that if anyone heard what he had just said, he would be in big trouble, but he didn't care anymore. He felt like just giving up and leaving the village, or just go in front of the council and say what he felt like saying, that they were a bunch of corrupted power hungry fools. Kakashi felt despair creep into him, and was about to give into it when he felt a hand gently ruffle his hair.

Kakashi looked behind him, but saw no one there. He was about to wonder if he was hallucinating when he felt the familiar presence. 'Sensei…'

"What, are you going to just give up?" Someone put their hand on his shoulder. 'Obito…'

"It'll be okay, Kakashi." Even though Kakashi couldn't see it, he could feel her hand holding his. 'Rin…'

"What do you think you're fighting for?" It was then, when Kakashi saw them, transparent and ghost-like in front of him. 'If I'm hallucinating,' Kakashi thought to himself, 'I don't want to stop.'

"I don't know, Sensei."

Minato smiled. Obito scoffed and said, "Why do you wallow in front of the memorial stone everyday, genius?"

"Because I miss you guys, everyday. And also I'm reminding myself to never make those same mistakes again, so more of my friends don't die…" Suddenly the answer hit Kakashi, it was so simple, he wondered why he didn't think of it sooner.

Rin smiled her sweet smile. "See, Kakashi? It wasn't that hard. I guess our job here is done then." Slowly they started to fade.

"Obito, Rin, Sensei, don't go, please don't."

"Our time is up, Kakashi. I wish we could have stayed forever, but then you would have never learned how to move past the pain, and I'm sure you will, Kakashi, on your own. I have faith in you." Minato looked at him warmly, his blue eyes sparkling with pride.

"But-"

" Stupid Kakashi, are you going to keep crying there like a crybaby? I thought you said that I was one. See, it takes one to know one." Obito teased, he gave Kakashi a thumbs-up. "This isn't good-bye, we've always been with you, Kakashi, and we always will be, in your heart." Then they faded into nothingness, and all that was left was the feeling of their warm and familiar chakra lingering in the air. Kakashi knelt motionless for a few seconds, taking in their chakra, and it filled him with strength and courage, then stood up and turned to leave for his next mission.

'Thank you, Obito, Rin, Sensei. I know what I'm fighting for now.'

Kakashi smiled at the memory and looked at his students. Sakura's green eyes that were filled with caring and strength, Sasuke's dark eyes that were filled with calmness and sadness, and Naruto's blue eyes, so much like his father's, that were filled with determination, empathy, and most of all, love.

"We fight for our comrades, our friends, our precious people.