Kakashi had been staring at the memorial stone for far longer than he cared to admit.
This time, however, he was not feeling remorseful and guilty at the names of his teammates or his Sensei, nor was he recollecting the memories of a time that was so much easier, even with the war going on.
This time he focused on three names, in particular, Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno—the only team he ever took under him. And the name of three people he had failed once more. Why had he been so eager to show his students the real world? Why did he think he could protect them? It wasn't like he had been able to keep anyone precious to him safe in his entire life. It had all started with that disaster of a mission, along with the stupidity and greed of a single person that robbed Kakashi of his students.
-x-
Kakashi took no note of the crowd around him, neither the thugs nor the people of the village. What he cared for most was the three dead bodies, two filled with needles and one mutilated by a large blade. It had been a long time since he had felt such rage at other people, most of his hatred was always focused on himself. Another thing he had never thought was that his self-loathing could ever increase to new heights after that incident, but he had been proven wrong once again.
Absentmindedly, he noticed the villagers and thugs look at him in fear and apprehension, after all seeing such gruesome scenes was not familiar to them as it was to him. He also brought down his headband, somehow his Sharingan had evolved into something even stronger which took exponentially more chakra from him just to be kept active, although he had to say the effects were great for the cost—both of his enemies' bodies had been cut in half with the other part nowhere in sight.
It seemed he had lost control of his emotions and his Sharingan had acted on pure carnal instinct. Again. He would have given the duo a far more gruesome death if they were still alive. After all, being an ANBU captain for so long taught one things that were horrifying, but also extremely effective in certain situations. He spared another glance at the horrified villagers and disappeared from the bridge with a Shunshin.
Someone needed to tell the Hokage that the village's jinchuriki and the last Uchiha were dead, and the memorial had 3 more names to be added.
-x-
Itachi had stood there for a long time.
He still couldn't believe what had happened. His entire plan, his life's goal, and everything he had done had all gone down the drain because some old, drunk bridge builder thought he could make a change. And he snapped once more in his life, he killed the entire fishing village down to the last child, bitterly recalling the last time he did so.
But this time, he shed no tears. He'd run out of them.
Everything he'd done went down the drain; his sufferings, the death of his clan, his torture of Sasuke to make him stronger, everything useless. From the corner of his eye, he could see Kisame frowning, but making no attempt to stop him.
Not like he could even if he wanted to, thought Itachi.
He had no goals left. His little brother, the one who was going to bring the Uchiha clan back to glory, was now dead. The jinchuriki of the Kyuubi, Uzumaki Naruto, was also dead, foiling the Akatsuki's plans. The Yondaime's seal was too spectacular, the bijuu was dead once and for all. Itachi had no future now, and he didn't plan to have one either. Using Amaterasu to burn down the entire village, Itachi shut his almost blind eyes. He didn't need an external weapon or another person to kill himself, even if he was quite sure Kisame would be happy to help. They never really got along in their short time together, and the fish-man was smart enough to figure out something was wrong after such an incident.
He used Amaterasu one last time to set himself on fire and destroy his Sharingan, and the Uchiha killer followed his brother to the Pure Lands, marking the official death of the Uchiha clan in the history books.
-x-
Kakashi was resting on the bare grass, still pondering about the aftermath of the rogue mission and the various reactions he had received. Not many people knew exactly what had happened; the information had been kept strictly under a need to know basis by the Hokage—only the council, clan heads, and a few of the Hokage's trusted shinobi knew what had actually happened.
Still, the rumours had spread, as they always did.
Many people knew something had gone disastrously wrong on the latest mission of the 'friend-killer' Kakashi, no one knew how wrong though. And it was worse than anyone could have thought; with the last Uchiha and their resident war-deterrent dead, they had lost their last line of prevention against a fourth shinobi war. If any of their major enemies like Kumo or Iwa, or even their tentative allies like Suna, received news about Konoha losing their bijuu, then there would be nothing that could stop the attack.
Not that Kakashi cared about that, the only thing on his mind was the dead bodies of the children, his students, their eyes lifelessly staring back at him. He had sometimes wondered whether the only reason he was in this world was to suffer. His father died when he was 6, his team dead at 12 when he had just started to like them, his sensei, the person who had raised him for almost his whole life and was like a second father to him, died soon after. And just when he'd gotten his own team, one he had started to like too, they too died, leaving him all alone once more.
But this time he didn't plan on living several more years in misery. He had made sure his team had their names on the memorial stone. Even Naruto.
Oh gods Naruto, Minato-sensei and Kushina-san must hate me so much right now, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. Naruto, who was almost universally hated in the entire village, had finally received his respect. But it was in death.
Kakashi spent the night there, alone with only his thoughts and bottle of alcohol.
-x-
The Sandaime surveyed the village from the top of the Hokage tower.
The village he had spent all his life serving and protecting, that same village that had spit on the face of his successor's son and sacrifice, and the same village which now faced destruction the moment the news of Kyuubi being gone spread to the other villages. And the Sandaime had no doubts that it would spread; the jinchuriki, along with the Uchiha boy to a lesser extent, were important village assets.
Many kept tabs on and the fact that Kakashi returned alone after a mission that had led to a village, which was barren now, killed to the last animal, would have alerted anyone with even a semblance of a brain. And there was no way he could win another war now. He was past his prime, his successor dead, all his students gone, and no one in the younger generation to take up the mantle of a leader. The village, the dream of his teachers, would no longer exist, and there was nothing he could do about it.
He bowed his head, suffering from the thoughts of a different, brighter future.
-x-
Jiraiya was speeding back to the village, to Naruto.
He had already failed his godson in life, he would be damned if he was not there for his death either. Not that it would matter, the child is dead and you did nothing about it, his brain supplied unhelpfully. Not that Jiraiya could deny it; he had failed the boy and his student horribly, and there was nothing he could have done to fix that.
This would just be another one of the many failures in his long list, at the top of the list along with Tsunade and Minato. Another what-if in his life he would never get the answer to, and something else he would forever regret. All he could do was pretend, as he always had, but sometimes he wondered, how long could he keep pretending for?
-x-
Kakashi stared at the tanto in his hand, the very same one he had found with his father when he discovered the body. Several empty alcohol bottles lay on the side, but Kakashi's head had never been so clear before. He finally knew what had gone through Sakumo Hatake's mind all those years ago, and then without thinking any further, the sword swung down and Kakashi knew no more.