A/N: I did another thing, but didn't bother asking for a beta. I'm lazy like that. Also, wanted the maximum effect of this ending to show. So. Enjoy another snippet from the impressive Silver Queen's fic "Dreaming of Sunshine". And yes, I am a horrible person this time too. ;)


In the beginning, they hadn't understood his compulsive need to spend so much time by the stone.

They'd understood that he had lost people and that he was still mourning - if there was anyone who understood, it was Sasuke, and Shikako had always accepted it and prayed she never would, but she still remembered the genjutsu of watching so many people die, and Naruto had not had a lot of people to begin with, he'd constantly done his hardest to earn his loved ones and had his world shatter piece by piece as they died on him - but they hadn't felt the same need to stand there and stare at the names carved on the stone for hours and hours.

As they'd grown older, they'd accepted it more and more, because they understood that Kakashi had lost so many throughout time, he'd not learned to let go yet.

Shikako had once mentioned to her other two teammates that their sensei just needed to come to terms with the past, that they had to let him look to the future on his own, because he was already heading down their way, catching up with them. They just needed to give him time and be who they would always be, with each other.

Kakashi would catch up, she promised. He would be late, but he'd be there, and that was what counted.

Sasuke had thought he understood, but at the same time didn't, because how could Kakashi be standing there when the murderers of his loved ones were still at large? Or had he already gotten his revenge? Did he stand there, now, because he had nothing left to fight for?

Shikako had debunked that thought, too, because Kakashi has them. He has Gai. ANBU. Friends. Konoha. He's not alone.

So Sasuke had been forced to admit that he didn't understand. He wouldn't. Couldn't. Naruto and Shikako would never let him fall that far down. They swore it up and down.

Naruto had also promised that when Kakashi caught up, they'd never let him fall behind again. Sasuke had accepted that and Shikako had smiled at him. And they'd left that discussion as an unnecessary one, because Kakashi would catch up, and they'd be whole and happy and none of them would ever be alone.

Sai and Tenzo gets pulled in and team seven teaches them the way they work, they teach them how to smile and feel like it's true. They show them what a team is, and they include them into theirs. They start to belong.

Then a war breaks out and they're fighting so desperately to protect everyone, they're guarding each others back and praying they won't be separated.

The team is split in half. Naruto and Sasuke and Tenzo, and Sai and Shikako and Kakashi. Somehow, it makes perfect sense in strength. Maybe not as much in tactics, but the latter trio is the shadow for the former, and they make it work.

It would have continued to work so perfectly, they could have won the war for Konoha just like that, but on one of the runs, something goes wrong. They're caught in a trap, and it's like they were expected there at that moment, and Shikako and Kakashi seems to reach that conclusion at the same time, because they're both reaching for Sai to get him and themselves out of there, to warn Naruto, Sasuke and Tenzo to abort the mission, or at least to retreat to safety.

Kakashi takes Sai, but they're halfway to the meeting place when the enemy starts catching up. Shikako can sense them nearing, so she tells Kakashi she's going to set some traps and then she'll catch up. He pauses, torn between ensuring her safety and running ahead with Sai, who needs medical attention.

He relents when she points out that she's not half good enough to do anything for Sai and that if they want him capable of continuing doing missions, he has to go right now, but they can't let the enemy catch them. And hasn't he seen what she could do with seals already?

Shikako mentions nothing about the amount of the enemy nearing, though she thinks that if he doesn't go now, he'll sense it, himself.

So she's extremely thankful when he does leave. Not as much when he also leaves two summons behind to guard her back. Can summon die? She settles for hoping they can't or that they're smart enough to return if it gets that bad, because there's no time to debate that thought right now, just time to calculate how to do the most damage to the enemy.

The results are seen and heard wide and far, but when two wounded dog summons arrive, panting for breath, with a body slung over one of them, none of that matters to team seven.

All that matters from then on, is that name carved onto that memorial stone. Kakashi no longer stands alone for those long hours of silence.