Shinobi rule twenty-five stated that under no circumstances were shinobi ever, ever allowed to shed a tear or otherwise show their emotions. So Kakashi stared impassively at the freshly dug hole in the ground, refusing to think of it as a grave. Because it wasn't a grave. It was just a hole in the ground. It didn't have a headstone, or a coffin, or even a shroud for the body--no, for Kabuto. Kakashi refused to think of him as just another casualty of this pointless, one-sided war. He wasn't like the masses dying on the other side of the village.

Now, with that hole in the ground, he had to somehow turn this into a proper grave. One befitting of the corpse that would inhabit it. A headstone would be needed, then. Maybe a coffin, though he didn't know how he'd be able to do that. A winding sheet, at the very least. First, though, a headstone. It'd have to have something fitting, though Kakashi couldn't see a way around the name issue. If any Konoha-nin ever found it, they'd be sure to defile and destroy the body if they knew who was in it. Kabuto couldn't be named, then…

The Copy-nin found a suitable stone not far from the hole in the ground. He dug it up, and hauled it back to the site, and set about to reburying it. He then took out a kunai, and thought for a long time about what he would inscribe on it. It had to do him justice. Kabuto was--had been--a remarkable person, ninja, spy; anything he wanted to do, he excelled at. That surely deserved mention, didn't it?

Kakashi heard someone step up behind him. He didn't turn around, because he had a feeling who it might be. A feeling, nothing more. Under normal circumstances, he never would have just stayed with his back to a potential enemy, but he was still trying to think of something to put on the tombstone.

He glanced out of the corner of his eye to see a black cloak with red clouds. So it was him, then. Kakashi ignored him, and dragged his finger over the point of the kunai, giving it a bit of a chakra edge. It'd cut through the stone faster.

Silently he painstakingly wrote each letter, each word, each line. Kakashi knew that if Kabuto was still here he'd probably scoff at such time and energy wasted on a grave; after all, why bother? Everyone died, and if everyone died, everyone would have to get their own tombstone. That added up to a lot of them, which would just be a monumental waste of energy. In ten years, no one would remember them, anyway.

But Kabuto wasn't here. He wasn't going to be here ever again. So Kakashi did things his way.

When he was done, he stood up, and admired his handiwork. Now the hole in the ground had a rock in front of it, with some words written on it. The jounin turned to look at Kabuto's body. It had been covered. A shroud had been donated.

Sasori looked at him out of the corner of his eye, daring him to comment about the new use he found for his uniform. Kakashi thought it oddly fitting; Kabuto had served the Akatsuki--indirectly--for much of his life. "I see you're not crying, Copy-nin," Sasori said slowly, shifting his eyes to the covered body at their feet. "I would have thought that something such as Kabuto's death would be deserving of at least a few tears."

"I've already used them all up." Kakashi replied airily, smiling to himself. Sasori let the matter go, and instead continued to stare down at the corpse that had been his favorite spy. He obviously wasn't going to move Kabuto into the hole. Kakashi didn't exactly want to, either. He was sure once he started filling in the hole he'd break down completely.

Kakashi just silently bent down and picked the body wrapped in the Akatsuki cloak up, gingerly and gently, as if doing so mattered anymore. It was already quite cool to the touch. He walked stiffly the few steps to the side of the hole, and then jumped down into it, waiting for the moment where his body would set down Kabuto's body and then they'd bury him. But his body wouldn't listen to the rational part of his brain. He just wanted to continue holding Kabuto, for the final time. Kakashi unconsciously gripped the body a bit tighter, shakily lifting one hand to trace the red seam down the fabric. Underneath, this would be where his hairline was, and his where his glasses would rest if he was wearing them, and his nose, and his lips… Kakashi sighed sadly, and hugged Kabuto close to him. This would be the last time he'd ever get to hold him. Finally, the rational part of his brain said that he'd never leave if he got too attached to the moment. Kakashi carefully and gently set Kabuto down, and climbed back out of the hole, trying to resist going back in for one last goodbye.

Sasori saved him the trouble of having to bury him. He'd already grabbed a shovel, and was already carrying the first shovelful over to the hole. When the first bits of dirt hit the black-clad body, Kakashi had to turn away.

"Kabuto…he really was a good kid. You know, before Orochimaru found him, he'd always send me reports from here. With actual information. Most of it concerned you. And then, once he went to Orochimaru, I never heard a thing about you again." Sasori said slowly, as he continued shoveling the dirt into the grave.

"He…he did that?" Kakashi whispered, closing his eyes.

"Yes. Maybe some day you'd get the chance to read a few of them."

"Kabuto…he was…" He couldn't get out any more than that. He simply couldn't. Kakashi felt the tears slide down his cheeks, and he hastily brought up a wrist to wipe them away. His hand then stayed on his mouth, trying to keep some semblance of silence and dignity. "H-He was…"

"I know." Sasori put the last pile of dirt on the mound, tamping it down slightly. "I've never attended a funeral before, so I'm not sure if there's something else to do. Unless you want to say a few words?"

Kakashi opened his mouth to speak, but instead just cried harder. He quickly shut his mouth again, and shook his head.

Sasori nodded, and stared at the headstone as he spoke next. "I suppose I'll do the honors. Kabuto…I'm sorry. I hope you're finally at peace. Thank you for all of your help, even if most of it was involuntary. You were still one of my best and favorite spies. It was a mistake to send you to Orochimaru, and I…I'm sorry for that."

Sasori's take on Kabuto was completely different from his own. But that was to be expected. Kakashi had known a whole different side of the medic, of course. Kabuto had been fantastically good at his job, completely separating his work and 'life' in Konoha until Kakashi began to tear the walls down for him. Still, he couldn't help but wonder…if Sasori had never sent him to Orochimaru…would he still be alive now? Would he have turned out differently?

"I thought you couldn't cry any more." Sasori said in a flat voice. He said it with an air of continuation, so it took a few moments for it to register in the Copy-nin's mind that he was now talking to him again.

"I…thought I had. Don't patronize me right now, Sasori."

"…When Konoha retaliates against Ame, maybe if you survive long enough, I'll show you his mission reports. Otherwise I'm going to burn them. But he really was quite devoted to you, you know."

-.-.-

"My love lies here,
He cheated all, even death.
But death, as we know, does not lose easily.
My love was mortal; he died.
I miss him."

-.-.-

A day later, in the midst of the chaos that was post-war Konoha, no one noticed a new name appear on the Cenotaph. Yakushi Kabuto, scrawled near the bottom in an uneven handwriting.

-.-.-

CREDIT: So effing much of this funeral was created by/thought of by/leeched off of Eithne (eith on here--go read nao plz -insert command here-). Here's the credit where it's due. (She's the KakaKabu goddess, by the by. I couldn't have thought up even half of this stuff without her.)