Oooh. so exciting! XD There's more! More! MORE! lol
The Following Week:
A small crowd of people dressed in black formal clothing milled about the graves with solemn faces, a few tears streaming down the cheeks of those in deep grievance. Drooped shoulders and lowered eyes along with the monotonous black set the mood among those who had lost someone in their lives. Several new names were carved into the large stone block, honoring the dead lost in battle. The blank, ominous space that still occupied most of the block gave some the odd feeling of relief and angst. There were no names that filled the space, and yet, the space was still there waiting for them. Only more were to die in this world and cause more pain for those left behind. They looked away uneasily. Kakashi stood a little further off with his head bowed down, his grey hair hanging into his face. He stared down with great pain at the marble block set in front of him. He held a handful of wildflowers in a hand limply. The name on the grave read Atsui Suzue. He was barely able to believe it, but there it was, right in front of him. Her father had paid for the separate gravestone, and was now hushing his sobbing wife as they mourned for their last daughter. Iruka approached Kakashi carefully, not wanting to disturb the jounin, but the scarecrow barely noticed him. Or so it seemed.
"Have they found her body yet?" Kakashi asked dryly. He set the flowers onto the grave gently, arranging them into a fanned pattern and slipped his hands into his pockets.
Iruka shook his head and sighed deeply as though a heavy weight pulled down on his body. "No. . . I'm afraid that hers and one other's have not been recovered yet. We still have teams searching for them as we speak. I- I'm really very sorry," he added hesitantly.
Kakashi nodded slightly, still staring down at the grave. What had happened? He hadn't been there to save her. To protect her. Guilt added more to his emotional strain, which he bore in utter silence. He talked to no one about it. Hearing the words would only make everything hurt more. A survivor of the team who had witnessed the attack had confirmed her death, but when they returned to the same location her body and a few others had been moved. Luckily, most of them had been found in the days following. He didn't want to think about what the enemy side would do to her if they had taken her body.
"This is my fault," said Kakashi looking directly at Iruka. He wanted to be yelled at, punished and hated for her death to cover up the pain. The other ninja took a step back, surprised by his words.
"Wha? What are you talking about? How could this possibly be your fault, Kakashi?" asked Iruka incredulously, shaking his head.
"I had hurt her before and she wasn't able to do her duties. I know why the Hokage sent her on that mission. It was because of me! And if I had just done something at the time, she wouldn't have had to go, and she would still be alive." Kakashi rambled on mostly to himself and slowly his voice diminished.
"I know that you don't believe those words. . ." replied Iruka. "Please, Kakashi, don't blame yourself. This was uncontrollable-" he was cut off by Kakashi.
"I wish to be alone." The depressed jounin turned his back to Iruka and walked away struggling with his inner torments.
1 Year Later:
Three children ran through the graveyard, laughing and hollering in delight. They were playing a game of cops and robbers, but soon ended up falling over each other and gasping for breath. One of them sat up and pointed at one of the graves.
"Hey. . . didja ever notice that that grave always has flowers on it?" he said.
A girl crawled over to him and glanced in the direction of his finger. "Yah, and someone is always replacing the old ones with pretty new ones too. They must come here often."
The third child stood up and laughed. "I've never seen anyone do that and we're always here playin'! Maybe it's a ghost!" he made a face to the others as he spoke.
The girl pouted and furrowed her brow. "Is not! Stop trying to scare me! There's no spooks here!"
The other boy bit his lower lip and looked around. "This is a graveyard though. . . Let's go play somewhere else." The others looked at each other and nodded quickly. In the next moment the three of them were charging out of the graveyard with as mush energy and bravado as they had when they entered.
Present Time:
Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke stood on the bridge waiting for their teacher. . . like always.
"Damnit! He's always late!" cried Naruto throwing his hands into the air. It was just at that moment that Kakashi appeared behind them, a hand held up in greeting and smoke rolling away from his feet.
"Sorry I'm late. I got lost again," said Kakashi laughing lightly and rubbing the back of his head.
"LIAR!" screamed Naruto and Sakura in unison. Sasuke merely rolled his eyes and turned to await orders.
"So what are we doing today?! I hope we get a cool mission! None of this D Rank crap! C'mon, give us something good!" said Naruto. He usually went on this rant everyday.
"Hm. . . I thought we'd do some training today. . ." Kakashi started.
Naruto began talking loudly about the training instead of a mission. "What kind of training? Yes! This is a chance for me to beat Sasuke! Let's go!" He was laughing and getting himself all pumped up, ignoring Sakura as she yelled at him to shut up. Sasuke smirked and wondered what they would be doing too, looking out for any chance to enhance his skills and grow stronger. Their teacher was about to tell them about what they were going to do when he happened to glance up and see something that turned his face, or what showed of it, to a pale white.
"Eh? Are you alright?" Sakura asked Kakashi, tilting her head. She was more observant than Naruto who hadn't even noticed the change in his teacher's disposition, and Sasuke was already looking in the direction that Kakashi was. His one eye was open wide and looking intently at someone standing at the other end of the bridge. It was a woman dressed in foreign clothes, with long raven black hair let loose around her torso and obsidian black eyes that gleamed in the sunlight. Her skin was tanned from the harsher sun of another land and her ears were adorned with intricate earrings. She smiled with her full, pouty lips and raised a hand in greeting to the four at the other end, elaborate bracelets sliding down her arm and chiming against each other. She walked to them gracefully and stopped when she was about 15 feet away. The woman looked back at Kakashi just as intently, not saying a word.
"Who's that?" asked Naruto. The other two students were quiet and watched.
"Suzue?" said Kakashi in disbelief.
"Sorry I'm late," she replied.
Kakashi was still in shock from seeing her. He couldn't get his body to move. "I thought you had died. . ."
"I did."
The Following Week:
A small crowd of people dressed in black formal clothing milled about the graves with solemn faces, a few tears streaming down the cheeks of those in deep grievance. Drooped shoulders and lowered eyes along with the monotonous black set the mood among those who had lost someone in their lives. Several new names were carved into the large stone block, honoring the dead lost in battle. The blank, ominous space that still occupied most of the block gave some the odd feeling of relief and angst. There were no names that filled the space, and yet, the space was still there waiting for them. Only more were to die in this world and cause more pain for those left behind. They looked away uneasily. Kakashi stood a little further off with his head bowed down, his grey hair hanging into his face. He stared down with great pain at the marble block set in front of him. He held a handful of wildflowers in a hand limply. The name on the grave read Atsui Suzue. He was barely able to believe it, but there it was, right in front of him. Her father had paid for the separate gravestone, and was now hushing his sobbing wife as they mourned for their last daughter. Iruka approached Kakashi carefully, not wanting to disturb the jounin, but the scarecrow barely noticed him. Or so it seemed.
"Have they found her body yet?" Kakashi asked dryly. He set the flowers onto the grave gently, arranging them into a fanned pattern and slipped his hands into his pockets.
Iruka shook his head and sighed deeply as though a heavy weight pulled down on his body. "No. . . I'm afraid that hers and one other's have not been recovered yet. We still have teams searching for them as we speak. I- I'm really very sorry," he added hesitantly.
Kakashi nodded slightly, still staring down at the grave. What had happened? He hadn't been there to save her. To protect her. Guilt added more to his emotional strain, which he bore in utter silence. He talked to no one about it. Hearing the words would only make everything hurt more. A survivor of the team who had witnessed the attack had confirmed her death, but when they returned to the same location her body and a few others had been moved. Luckily, most of them had been found in the days following. He didn't want to think about what the enemy side would do to her if they had taken her body.
"This is my fault," said Kakashi looking directly at Iruka. He wanted to be yelled at, punished and hated for her death to cover up the pain. The other ninja took a step back, surprised by his words.
"Wha? What are you talking about? How could this possibly be your fault, Kakashi?" asked Iruka incredulously, shaking his head.
"I had hurt her before and she wasn't able to do her duties. I know why the Hokage sent her on that mission. It was because of me! And if I had just done something at the time, she wouldn't have had to go, and she would still be alive." Kakashi rambled on mostly to himself and slowly his voice diminished.
"I know that you don't believe those words. . ." replied Iruka. "Please, Kakashi, don't blame yourself. This was uncontrollable-" he was cut off by Kakashi.
"I wish to be alone." The depressed jounin turned his back to Iruka and walked away struggling with his inner torments.
1 Year Later:
Three children ran through the graveyard, laughing and hollering in delight. They were playing a game of cops and robbers, but soon ended up falling over each other and gasping for breath. One of them sat up and pointed at one of the graves.
"Hey. . . didja ever notice that that grave always has flowers on it?" he said.
A girl crawled over to him and glanced in the direction of his finger. "Yah, and someone is always replacing the old ones with pretty new ones too. They must come here often."
The third child stood up and laughed. "I've never seen anyone do that and we're always here playin'! Maybe it's a ghost!" he made a face to the others as he spoke.
The girl pouted and furrowed her brow. "Is not! Stop trying to scare me! There's no spooks here!"
The other boy bit his lower lip and looked around. "This is a graveyard though. . . Let's go play somewhere else." The others looked at each other and nodded quickly. In the next moment the three of them were charging out of the graveyard with as mush energy and bravado as they had when they entered.
Present Time:
Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke stood on the bridge waiting for their teacher. . . like always.
"Damnit! He's always late!" cried Naruto throwing his hands into the air. It was just at that moment that Kakashi appeared behind them, a hand held up in greeting and smoke rolling away from his feet.
"Sorry I'm late. I got lost again," said Kakashi laughing lightly and rubbing the back of his head.
"LIAR!" screamed Naruto and Sakura in unison. Sasuke merely rolled his eyes and turned to await orders.
"So what are we doing today?! I hope we get a cool mission! None of this D Rank crap! C'mon, give us something good!" said Naruto. He usually went on this rant everyday.
"Hm. . . I thought we'd do some training today. . ." Kakashi started.
Naruto began talking loudly about the training instead of a mission. "What kind of training? Yes! This is a chance for me to beat Sasuke! Let's go!" He was laughing and getting himself all pumped up, ignoring Sakura as she yelled at him to shut up. Sasuke smirked and wondered what they would be doing too, looking out for any chance to enhance his skills and grow stronger. Their teacher was about to tell them about what they were going to do when he happened to glance up and see something that turned his face, or what showed of it, to a pale white.
"Eh? Are you alright?" Sakura asked Kakashi, tilting her head. She was more observant than Naruto who hadn't even noticed the change in his teacher's disposition, and Sasuke was already looking in the direction that Kakashi was. His one eye was open wide and looking intently at someone standing at the other end of the bridge. It was a woman dressed in foreign clothes, with long raven black hair let loose around her torso and obsidian black eyes that gleamed in the sunlight. Her skin was tanned from the harsher sun of another land and her ears were adorned with intricate earrings. She smiled with her full, pouty lips and raised a hand in greeting to the four at the other end, elaborate bracelets sliding down her arm and chiming against each other. She walked to them gracefully and stopped when she was about 15 feet away. The woman looked back at Kakashi just as intently, not saying a word.
"Who's that?" asked Naruto. The other two students were quiet and watched.
"Suzue?" said Kakashi in disbelief.
"Sorry I'm late," she replied.
Kakashi was still in shock from seeing her. He couldn't get his body to move. "I thought you had died. . ."
"I did."