"Wha-! Sakura! Hey, hey it's okay. I'm here. What's the matter, Sakura? Why are you crying?"

"Oh, Kakashi! It's just… Itachi…he just got back from his first C-rank mission…"

"He's a tough ninja. I'm sure he'll be fine."

"He is fine. It wasn't him it was… it was Abi Koroki."

"Abi? I know her. What happened?"

"She… she's…"

"Oh no… Shhhh… it's okay. I'm here."

"Please, go see him. He's at the Memorial Stone. I think he just needs another man to talk with him."

"…Okay. I'll talk with him. I'm here for you too, you know."

"I know."


Kakashi strolled down the damp, dusty road with his hands thoughtfully thrust in his pockets. The air was clinging to his face from the misting rain, making his navy blue mask wet. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes as he exhaled.

This is rather reminiscent of your childhood, eh, Kakashi? he thought to himself. It brought up bitter memories; of a goggled Uchiha, a girl with purple tattoos, and a man with blonde, spiky hair. A mission to a bridge; a mission behind enemy lines; a suicidal mission.

The path opened up for another ten feet, then was surrounded by the trees that created a fence around Training Ground Three. Kakashi peeked between the thick green branches and gazed at the kunai shaped Memorial Stone.

At the base of the monument sat a young boy dressed in a light grey shirt with a large Uchiha symbol on the back. The boy was calmly staring at the names engraved in the memorial with his hands resting on his knees of his crossed legs.

The silver-haired ninja sighed silently and rubbed his hand against the nape of his neck. What can I say that will comfort him? I'm a 40-year-old man; I can't relate to a 10-year-old boy.

But something inside him said, You were a 10-year-old once. Just talk with him.

He ducked underneath a branch and slowly made his way across the dark field. The Uchiha cocked his head slightly to the side, but ignored Kakashi otherwise. The older man came to a shuffling stop, sliding his sandals across the wet grass. He stood beside Itachi and looked down at the name he'd become so familiar with over the years. Obito Uchiha…

He was the weakest and strongest Uchiha I had ever and ever will meet, he thought fondly.

They were still silent after quite a few minutes. The jounin didn't know what to say. How do you deal with someone in pain? Before he could say anything, Itachi rose to his feet and dusted his pants off. Yet, he didn't walk off, but continued to stare down at the newly engraved name. Kakashi watched him curiously.

"She had really pretty hair," Itachi muttered. "Sometimes it would puff out if she hadn't brushed it and she looked like a little owl." That brought a smile to the young boy's face. "But she still was really pretty. I don't usually like it when a girl wears make-up, but she always did hers in the simplest, yet prettiest of ways."

Kakashi nodded. "I saw her once or twice. She was really pretty."

"She played the cello… she told us, when sensei had us introduce ourselves, that if she wasn't a ninja, she'd be a professional musician. I never got to hear her play..." The boy closed his eyes and took a calming breath. Kakashi saw his jaw clench and knew he was thinking back to the mission.

"What happened?"

Itachi let his breath out as a shuddering sigh. "It was like Mom's first C-rank mission. It really should have been B-rank or A-rank… Abi Koroki, Hanato Hyūga and I were following sensei and the Feudal Lord's daughter, but we were surrounded when we entered a clearing. They attacked before we even had a chance to breathe and they split us up.

"I kept trying to get to Hanato and protect her, but I couldn't—" Itachi cut himself off and looked away from the monument painfully.

"You care for her, don't you?" Kakashi asked, smirking beneath his mask.

The Uchiha boy blushed and refused to look his elder in the eye. That was answer enough for the silver-haired ninja.

The boy continued. "At one point, Abi and I ended up back-to-back. I told her we needed to get rid of all of them and fast so that they couldn't call for reinforcements. I was thinking of using my Sharingan, but sensei had told me not to use it, especially since I've only had it for a year... She got really quiet after that, and we got split up again.

"Sensei called out that we needed to protect the Feudal Lord's daughter at all costs and to regroup to him. I ran back, but I couldn't see Hanato or Abi. Sensei left me to guard while he tried to rescue the girls."

His eyes grew misty as he explained with an endeared awe. "She was the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen… I didn't even like her like that; she just was. Sensei said couldn't stop her as she weaved the signs for her family's forbidden jutsu…"

Itachi choked. "S-…she… She looked at him… and she said, 'I'm not really worth it anyway. I only slow the team down.' I heard a piercing cry as she activated the jutsu… I'll never forget that sound."

The boy didn't continue, and Kakashi looked down at him in concern. Itachi's black bangs flew away from his face when he let a small laugh.

"Her favorite color was purple… She always told me that she like my lock of purplish hair. I always hide it, but she told me not to. Since purple was her favorite color, if she liked it, everyone else should too and I shouldn't hide it."

Kakashi frowned, confused by the sudden deviation. His former students' firstborn didn't seem to mind, though. He continued after five minutes.

"When sensei came back with a small form cradled in his arms, I knew one of my teammates had died, but… I didn't know which one… and I couldn't really honestly say I wanted one alive over the other. But when I heard it was Abi and not Hanato, I was kinda relieved… and at the same time, I was sad."

Itachi looked up at him. "It was all my fault, Kakashi. If I had abandoned the mission, if I had run after her to stop her, if I had…" Itachi trailed off and let his gaze fall to his feet. "I didn't even know her," he whispered. "I wasn't really her friend. But… if I'd tried to be, if I had made her feel wanted, maybe she wouldn't have done it…"

Kakashi's face softened and his eye glistened sadly. "It's not your fault. It's never your fault. God's got a plan in all of this. He didn't want her to die, but he knew that she would make that choice. Nothing you could have done would change what happened. Don't focus on the past when you can't change it."

The boy glared angrily as he fought the tears. Thunder rolled, vibrating through the silence. Kakashi looked up at the incoming cloud; he could smell the rain in the air.

"Thanks… but that doesn't make it any easier…"

The older man pressed his lips together firmly, knowing all too well how true Itachi's words were. One had to come to terms with the facts, not be told them over and over.

"Do you want a hug, Itachi?" he asked softly when he saw the boy's tear splash onto the cement. Or maybe it was the incoming rain?

Itachi trembled before he muttered a tearful, "Yes," and flung himself into Kakashi's lanky arms. Kakashi held him close rested his cheek on the top of the boy's head. Itachi had the stubbornness of his father, but the sensitivity of his mother.

The rain began sprinkling as Itachi sobbed, then it began to pour, soaking the two. Kakashi felt heavier by the second with his thick jounin jacket absorbing so much water and pulling down on him.

"S-s-she's gone," Itachi whispered, fisting Kakashi's shirt in his hands. "She's not ever coming back… she's g-gone."

This one gets it, he thought. Not many kids do, especially at his age. But he does… poor thing.

In that moment, he felt as if it was his own son dealing with the loss of a friend, who had lost a teammate; as if it was his own flesh and blood that was clinging to him as if his life depended on it. Like Itachi was his son…

"I love you," Kakashi whispered.

Itachi gave a whimpering laugh. "I love you, too,"

Dad…


This is for the lives lost sooner than most; for the kids who are bullied, pushed around and made to feel worthless. This is for their friends, the ones who love them and their families, who know or soon realize they'll never come back.

I know how it feels to lose a friend who is younger than me, a girl who was loved by everyone, but she didn't know it. It's a painful thing to wake up one morning and know you'll never see that smiling face again.

This is for Abby Knorr who was the most beautiful girl I've ever known, whose favorite color was purple, who made everyone feel special and whose hair would puff like an owl's feathers when she didn't brush it.

We love you and miss you. You're in God's court now, singing praises with the angels and I look forward to joining you. Until then.

It's only too late to accept the gift God has offered us when you're dead. Don't wait until it's too late; Jesus wants everyone to spend eternity in heaven with him – all we have to do is say, "Yes, I want to spend forever with you. Please forgive me of the sin in my life, please make me new."

It's painful to remember, but it's even more painful to forget. All we can do for the hurting people who remain is pray for them… and recall the ones who died young and remember them.

This is for the lives lost.

~ Timber Wolf