Kakashi lay dying, sprawled at an undignified angle from the impact of that deadly zanbato. As he lay, he thought of many things. His life did not exactly pass before his eyes, but he remembered things as he lay on his back in the mud. The day itself was gray and a cold drizzle was falling, soaking his clothes and hair. , his focus slipping away from the real world to an infinite Something. Around him, his companions reacted. Sakura, he noticed with detached observation, was charging his attacker, her face contorted in rage and grief. Tears like shining pearls flew through the air as she ran headlong. Naruto was still shocked, unable to accept that someone who stood so high in his estimation could ever fall after so many battles.

Kakashi's eyes glazed over, and he took no more notice of his former teammates and pupils. Everything seemed clearer and brighter than he'd ever seen, every color sticking out like sunlight on a snow-covered field. The sky had gone from gray and cloudy to a brilliant, piercing blue. The grass he lay on was very soft and greener than a spring leaf. Behind a veil that no bloodline limit could pierce, no Byakugan could expose or Sharingan analyze, his eyes fixed on a shadowy figure that slowly grew more distinct than the surroundings.

"Kakashi...Kakashi!"

The figure bent over him, coming sharply into focus. She was dressed in blue, a simple cloak with armholes cut, and her bare arms were pale but warm. The woman's face was concerned but not distressed, and her features made it impossible to guess her age, between fifteen and fifty. She kneeled beside him and placed his head in her lap. Kakashi didn't say anything. Her eyes were downcast, but he could tell she was thinking of what to say. She silently cradled his head, holding him so he would be shielded from the brilliant light of this other place. Would she say that his time had come, he wondered with vague curiousity. She reached, and placed her hand on his forehead.

A long moment went past on padded feet.

"I really hate it when you do this, you know. I have my pride, too. I;d refuse to let you die in so inglorious a fashion." As she said this, she gently smoothed his hair away from his face. Kakashi felt her cool fingers linger reluctantly next to his sharingan eye.

"I didn't 'die ingloriously', as you say. I shielded Naruto and Sakura, and now they can take Kabuto out." He spoke defensively, but with the same flatness that characterized him in life.

"Do you want to die? Or are you still so worried for your teammates? Their guardian spirits weren't here, so they're safe." She whispered, even though it was impossible for anyone but Kakashi to hear her. He strained to catch every word, and finally spoke.

"That's good. I'm not worried for them- they've grown so much now."

"So much you feel like they no longer need you? I can think of people who need you."

"I never could see your eyes clearly before. They're brown?"

"You're wrong, and that's a good thing."

"Why can't I remember this place when I'm awake?" he asked, knowing the question sounded petulant and wistful. But somehow he felt like a child in this place. He could not keep his voice calm and measured any more than a baby.

"I'm just a guardian spirit. If you humans thought about us too much, you wouldn't get on with the business of living."

"Are you always around?"

"I walk with you in the darkest places," she said, pulling out a vial from inside her cloak. "I held you when your father died, and I ran at your heel when you went to rescue your team. When you feel completely alone and your strength fades, I stand next to you until you find it again."

"I remember...sort of, " he confessed, "I overreacted when Rin died...there was black water, choking me, and a roaring in my ears. I wanted to die, and someone pulled me from the water." She nodded and anointed his eyelids with a greenish oil.
"Now, I've stood by you many times, Kakashi- perhaps there's only one other human besides you I've sat the Watches with so often. Sometimes you want to go back, and sometimes you want me to take you with me. Not my decision."

"Who decides, then? Can I talk to that person? Why are you my guardian?"

"Someone, No, and Yes, respectively. Each of us is assigned two, and we guide them until they die, which you haven't. The other still walks the earth as well." She lifted his limp head on one strong arm, and for a minute Kakashi thought she was going to kiss him. Almost unconsciously his lips parted, and he realized that in this dreamland (if it was a dream), he wore no mask. She didn't kiss him, though. She gently blew into his nostrils. It didn't smell dead and warm, as exhaled air usually would. Instead her breath was cool and fragrant, pleasantly reminiscent of flowers. Kakashi deeply inhaled with delight, involuntarily breathing with more determination than before. The world lost its crystalline quality and became gray again. The knifelike pain returned, setting in his chest wound and sending small shoots of intense agony throughout his body. He tried unsuccessfully to fight the returning sensations and cursed to himself, realizing that each effort would only ensure his failure...

No choice but to allow himself to be swept away, with a last regret, that he never could make out what color his guardian's eyes were, although he had never seen her so distinctly before.

"No!" But his vision was fading, the spirit was already becoming cloudy, blurring out of focus. "Guardian spirit...who is your other charge?" Despite the increasing fogginess, he could make out her smile. "His name is obi-"

Kakashi never heard the rest. He sank back towards the world of living things, from peace and tranquility to pain and time. He focused and saw Sakura kneeling beside him, healing his wound while fifteen Narutos squared off and dog-piled on Kabuto, who he could already see had gotten away, leaving a clone...

"Kakashi-sensei! Kakashi-sensei!"

Kakashi abruptly wondered what the fuss was all about before the darkness claimed him.