Slowly the silver-haired opened up his eyes. The sun's warm rays were blending him, causing him to blink several times. The light hurt and to protect his tired eyes, he put a hand to his forehand, trying to shield him and cover him in darkness again. He soon began to stretch out his weary muscles, which were aching only more after his restless nap on the couch. With a huge moan he helped himself up into a more casual sitting position. Holding his head in his arms Kakashi found himself reminiscing about yesterday's event.
"Why didn't I go to bed?," he mumbled absently, while his hand pressed hard on his nape, massaging all the way down to his right shoulder blade. The pain he felt in his sore limbs wasn't nearly as bad as the realization, which hit him at the very moment the green book caught his sight. Kakashi immediately remembered every single word which was kept for eternity in that diary. Hectically he stood up and rushed to the next window. It took him one small glance to feel at least slightly relieved again.
"Good. It's still early."
Kakashi would have never forgiven himself if he had overslept on the special day when all of the shinobi would be honored for giving their life for Konoha. Falling in battle. Not an uncommon thought, especially at the time of war.
"Why am I always the one to survive?", Kakashi merely whispered the words, but the meaning behind them was born out of strong emotional conflicts. This war had been his second and both times he had returned without a single bone of his being broken. His friends, however, didn't only have to suffer broken bones. They weren't returning at all.
Even though Tenzou or rather his corpse still hasn't been found, it would also be a ceremony for him. An act to show him gratitude, to honor his will to fight and sacrifice, a sign that he wouldn't be forgotten.
Kakashi has been unsure for a while if he was able to participate at the ceremony. He still didn't think of accepting his death. But if he wouldn't return to him, how could he not say his last goodbye to him?! Moreover, it wasn't only for Tenzou, there were dozens of other shinobi who have died horrible deaths. How could he try to act that blind only because he wasn't able to overcome the pain Tenzou's death brought with it. It would have been disrespectful. And his old friend would have scolded him for that.
An unexpected knock on his front door let Kakashi escape from his bitter thoughts. He hurriedly put on different, more suited clothes and made his way back to the door.
„Are you ready to go?"
For a second Kakashi thought that it was probably only Pakkun checking on him, maybe even forcing him all the way to the ceremony, but quite quickly he realized that Pakkun probably wouldn't have, well, knocked on his door like this human being just did.
But as soon as he saw the bandana on his head and the senbon in his mouth, he quickly realized who was going to take care of him.
"Did Tsunade-sama sent you?" He asked bluntly.
But Genma simply shrugged it off. Words couldn't deceive nor hurt this man.
"Isn't she right to be worried?" He smiled slightly and raised his hand. "Come on. Let's go."
The graveyard. A place Kakashi had known and visited for a pretty decent amount of time. It had a familiar and usually soothing feeling attached to it. A place of grief and sadness, a place of silence and sorrow. Today the feeling had vanished. A lot of people were standing around a newly created monument. The Great Fourth Shinobi War was honored by a carved piece of stone, formed into something Kakashi couldn't even describe. For him it was just a stone, while others called it "art".
However all these people were standing around it, talking to each other. All in all they were probably just whispering, but the mass of people made their voices sound unbearably loud. Kakashi couldn't stand it. It was wrong.
Finally Tsunade appeared on a slightly elevated platform and saved him from the muttering around him. Genma had placed himself close to him. Kakashi knew that he wasn't far behind him and that he had an eye on him during the whole ceremony.
He smirked sadly, "I wonder if they already mark me as a threat to the village."
Soon Tsunade's speech began and Kakashi had trouble following all her words, not like he wasn't interested. It was just...he had already heard a similar speech in his lifetime. Having to listen to one again was harder than he had expected. Her voice was strong and her words used wisely. She was full of empathy and still managed to cheer the village up instead of drowning them in misery. It was a good speech. One that was really needed. In these darker days.
Kakashi focused on the crowd instead. He could see a lot of well known figures. Even his former Team 7. The whole team, Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Sai. They did very well in the war and not only did they survive, but they found each other again. Especially Naruto and Sasuke. It equaled a miracle that they managed to form a bond of trust again, but at the face of pure destruction they found the strength to do so. They were incredible. All of Konoha's next generation were exceeding their old and already rusted parents. Konoha was in good hands.
"At least some good news."
"To end the ceremony I'd like to remember the brave heroes of Konoha by calling out their names, one by one. To celebrate their great sacrifice, which allowed the rest of us to live in proper peace. In a world where we'll continue living with their strength in our hearts."
It was a long list, but nevertheless each name was invoked and followed by a silent second of condolence. It took quite some time till the list came slowly to an end.
"Yamasashi, Aoi"
Yamasashi. Kakashi didn't knew that man in person, but he knew exactly the name which would follow. He bit on his lips and turned his head to his side. The second didn't seem to want to end.
"Yamato."
A short silence followed, Kakashi's eyes were still focused on the fresh grass they were standing on, when suddenly a soft, almost shallow voice stirred him up.
"It's Tenzou. Not Yamato," the voice complained.
"Great," the silver-haired thought, his words full of self-hatred, "Now I'm starting to hallucinate."
It draw closer, he could hear that hurtful familiar voice coming from behind him.
"Kakashi...-Senpai."
Kakashi shut his eyes close, his head still faced the freshly mowed meadow and his hands slowly turned into fists. Trembling fists.
"It's not real. I'm imagining things. Maybe it wasn't a good idea to come after all," he was repeating these lines over and over again. Trying to force himself into believing it. It was painful, but it was also the only way to make him see the truth.
Suddenly he felt someone grabbing his arm, nails digging deep into his flesh, it hurt and he opened up his eyes in confusion.
"It can't be," he breathed, excitement conquered his body. He instantly turned around, but as soon as he saw who had grabbed him, his heart froze, even though it just had started beating madly.
It was Genma, who had been standing at his side all the time.
"He probably wants to know if I'm okay," he thought bitterly, " Well, that's a question he shouldn't waste his breath on."
But the former anbu didn't lessen his grip on Kakashi. In fact, he didn't even look at him. He was facing the opposite direction of where the ceremony was held.
"Kakashi, ...look," his voice was shriller than usual, and his characteristic senbon had dropped out of his mouth.
There was a man standing not far from them. He held his right side and could only move very slowly. His brown hair was horribly ruffled and his clothes were dirty and halfway torn apart. But he continued walking towards them, with every step his voice became clearer. The picture in front of Kakashi as well. It was him. He returned to him, safely.
Without further thinking Kakashi escaped Genma's grip and rushed into the direction Tenzou was coming from. He couldn't believe it, but it was really him. The realization hit him harder with each step he draw closer to him.
It took Kakashi only mere seconds to stand right in front of his former kohai. Not enough to think about how he should react. In fact it was just not enough time to figure out any of all of these emotions crawling back from out of the depths of his heart. Apart from joy, regenerating hope and endless relief there was another thought, striking him right where it hurt the most.
"I abandoned him, when I decided to stop searching, I..."
After he took a good glance at the man in front of him, this specific though grew worse.
"How could I leave him?"
Tenzou was in a bad shape. Not only was he injured and tired, he probably hadn't eaten in a while as well. And hell, Kakashi didn't know anything about what they did to him back during the war.
A hint of surprise mirrored on Kakashi's face. Tenzou was grinning widely at him. Suddenly nothing mattered anymore. Nothing but him.
"Kakashi," his voice was barely a whisper, but it was the most beautiful sound to Kakashi.
"Senpai, I'm back."
As soon as the words were out of his lips, his feet stopped working. Tenzou collapsed. But this time, Kakashi was there to catch him in his fall. He slowly fell into his arms, his sight got blurry and he immediately fell asleep.
Tenzou awoke in a hospital. Next to him was Kakashi, sitting asleep on that characteristic aluminum chair. It was like that scene he had in his mind for such a long time. It was a perfect copy of that long past memory. Tenzou smiled and tried to sit up straight. It hurt. Every single bone in his body was screaming at him. "Urgh," he groaned and pressed his hand hard against his stomach.
He slowly breathed in the dusty hospital air, in and out, trying to relax his muscles. With his other hand he grabbed for a glass of water, which was standing right on a desk to the left side of his bed. Before he reached it, Kakashi snapped it away and hold it in front of his lips. The brownhaired flinched slightly out of surprise.
"Here," he smiled. Kakashi held it close to his lips, his shy kohai wasn't sure if he was supposed to take the glass from him or drink just the way he held it right now.
Kakashi's smile grew wider, it was the same indecision he had known from his kohai all along. With a smooth move he put the glass in his hand, softly wrapped Tenzou's fingers around it and then he led go off him.
Tenzou smiled shyly. After he took a big sip of the cooling water he asked his senpai, his voice shivering.
"How long?"
"Your funeral had been two days ago." Kakashi said without wasting time.
But Tenzou shook his head.
"No," his words were so small, "How long have I been gone."
Kakashi stayed silent, but Tenzou's pleading eyes were looking right through him.
"Long enough." It wasn't what Tenzou wanted to hear. But it still was the truth.
Tenzou stared at him silently, his face wasn't easy to read.
"I'm sorry," he said suddenly.
Kakashi's mouth stood open in surprise. "What?," he blurted out.
Tenzou tilted his head and his eyes began to soften.
"It's just like back then, you remember? My promise." He waited until Kakashi understood what he was talking about. The silver-haired nodded silently. Pakkun had already remembered him...
"I'm sorry for worrying you."
"Don't be," Kakashi interrupted him, his voice was strict and a slight hint of anger could be heard.
"No," Tenzou whispered, his voice only a chill in the air, "I know what it's like," he tried to explain," What it's like to be the last one."
He stopped and looked right into Kakashi's soul. The older shinobi knew that his kohai had a very good understanding of how he works, but his following words were so much more than sympathy, more than just pure coincidence.
"There is something far worse than dying, and you know exactly what I mean." Tenzou searched for something to hold on to," It's being left behind by the one's you hold dear," the only thing he could find was Kakashi's hand. "The one's," he continued softly, his hand grabbing Kakashi's without having to ask for permission. Kakashi's hand was warm and he gripped it tightly. "The one's you love."
Ohayou,
Well this is the end. I hope you still enjoyed it although I'm sorry for ending it kind of abruptly. I have a lot of stuff going on in rl, studies and a non fanfiction story which takes a lot of time and energy. I haven't abandoned my other projects and hope to continue them soon. Thank you for all your support and even though I know my writing (especially in english) is lacking quality in these last chapters I really hope you had a pleasant time with me :)
~xJKxD
