Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. Life is unfair like that

A/N: This story keeps deleting somehow...I think my sister has discoverd my account and enjoys messing with me. Oh well.

I have noticed something interesting! Like Tenten, Gaara and his siblings do not have a last name.

Just a random observation

It was a perfect night, thought for many days it had rained nonstop, a constant downpour that dampened everyone's spirits and heightened the sense of tragedy in Konohagakure. But tonight the full moon shone like a lantern in the star-hung sky, illuminating far below the memorial stone and the young man with silver hair.

Kakashi leaned against the stone, absentmindedly scratching behind the ear of one of his Ninja Dogs, trained by him since he was five and summoned whenever he wished. Since his father's suicide five years ago they had become his almost constant companions—a young boy's substitute for the parents he no longer had. They lay scattered around him now, completely at ease.

On a whim, he reached for Obito's goggles, which still sat on top of the memorial stone. He pulled them down to rest on his face, covering his mismatched eyes.

"What do you think?" he jokingly asked the nearest dog. "Is it me?"

The dog grinned, in that way dogs do, and rolled onto its back, offering up its tummy for scratching. Kakashi laughed.

"I guess that's a no."

He leaned back and looked up into the sky, smiling through the sudden tears. One dog whined, and pressed its nose into Kakashi's hand to comfort him.

"Just a bit of dirt in my eye," he muttered, echoing Obito's excuse, though he knew, as he himself had pointed out to Obito, that the goggles protected his eyes from dirt.

"There is no shame in mourning a fallen comrade, Hatake Kakashi."

The dogs sprang to their feet, snarling and howling, circling the dark form of a man who had appeared out of nowhere. Kakashi stood too, drawing a kunai knife.

"Calm down," said a familiar voice. "It is only me, Orochimaru." He raised his hands in the universal gesture of peace.

"Oh." Kakashi was embarrassed to be seen like this by one of the village's most respected shinobi. He turned his face away quickly the hide the tears on his face.

"Is there something you wanted, sir?" he asked, attempting to distract Orochimaru.

"No, no." He waved a grey hand dismissively. "Merely to talk to you." He attempted to take a step forward but found his path blocked by the dogs' bared teeth. "Um…do you mind calling them off?"

Kakashi did mind, but he couldn't say so. "Oh, of course. It's alright, boys. You can go home."

The eight dogs vanished in puffs of smoke.

Sasori breathed a sigh of relief, high above in the treetops. The disappearance of the dogs gave him the opportunity he needed to slip in closer, to overhear the conversation going on below.

Alright, Orochimaru, he thought. Let's see what your game is…

"My dear boy," Orochimaru said softly, turning Kakashi's face towards him. "Your friend has gifted you with incredible power."

"I don't want it." Kakashi replied instantly. Orochimaru chuckled.

"I know." He tried his best to give the boy a sympathetic smile, to get him to open up and give him some feelings he could manipulate. It worked.

"It just…feels wrong. I mean, Obito…he waited so long to awaken his Sharingan, and I…" Kakashi sighed. "I just rubbed my own genius in his face. And all the time, he was the better shinobi."

Orochimaru smiled again. "I don't think that's true. You survived, didn't you?"

Kakashi sniffed pathetically. "Only because he gave his life for me. I'm the one that should have died. I would have left Rin to die at enemy hands if Obito hadn't shamed me out of it. I deserved to die for that, I would have died, but Obito…he was the one who went after Rin, I only followed him. And then, he died to save me; he even gave me his eye to replace the one I lost." He tore the goggles off angrily. "I took his life and his Sharingan, and you want me to consider it a gift!" He glared up at Orochimaru in barely masked rage, all traces of stoicism gone.

Oh, I have chosen well, Orochimaru thought. His anger will suit my purposes nicely.

"Would you have died to save Rin?" he asked softly.

Kakashi looked shocked. "Without a second thought."

"Would you have died to save Obito?"

"Yes…"

"Then why does it seem wrong for him to do the same for you?"

Inwardly, he smirked to himself, pleased at how easily he had managed to manipulate Kakashi into revealing his own feelings. This prey was easier than any other—he was so conflicted, so unsure of what he had done that he would play right into Orochimaru's hands.

"I was the team leader," Kakashi said finally. "I was responsible for their lives and the mission. It was my duty. And now he's dead because I failed to do my duty."

Guilt…this is good, very good…

Orochimaru tried his best to look understanding.

"Kakashi," He put his hand on the young shinobi's shoulder. "Don't ever regret what you did. There are times when we ninja are forced to make difficult decisions, ones where the cost may be more than you ever thought it would be. But you made your choice, as did Obito, and no one can blame you for that. It wasn't your fault, Kakashi," he finished in a gentle tone.

Kakashi nodded slowly.

"And between you and me," Orochimaru whispered conspiratorially. "There are ways to thwart death."

And then he was gone, moving through the forest at high speed, back towards the village, leaving Kakashi behind him, alone and confused.

The bait is set, he silently congratulated himself. He'll do exactly what I want, and I'll finally have the Sharingan!

Sasori studied the young boy, Hatake Kakashi. He understand Orochimaru's plan now almost too clearly, and against his will he pitied the young boy.

He doesn't understand any of this, he thought. He could see behind the stoic front; Kakashi was profoundly confused by the legendary Orochimaru's sudden interest, and angry at being tricked into revealing his own doubts and guilt.

Oh well. This isn't my problem.

He melted silently back into the shadows for the long journey home, where his leader waited for his report.

"You can come out now, Pakkun."

The ground at Kakashi's feet split open to reveal one of the Ninja Dogs, a small pug called Pakkun.

"What do you make of that, eh Kakashi?" Pakkun asked, shaking dirt off. He was the only one of the dogs with the ability to speak, and was therefore well-suited to this sort of spying work.

"He want something," Kakashi thought aloud. "He wants something from me; otherwise, he would never have given me a second thought."

"I agree. He's too smooth, too patronizing. There's something about him that doesn't smell right."

Kakashi chuckled. "Always trust the nose, hmm?"

"Exactly."

"He could just be trying to be kind."

"Could be."

"Yeah."

"Better safe than sorry, though."

"How cliché." The humor faded from Kakashi's face. "He's good, though. Did you see how easily he got me to explode?"

"Yeah…that was a bit of a shock. I think you should ask your Sensei about him."

"Good idea."

"All my ideas are good. Now can we go home?"

Kakashi laughed again. "Of course."

The slipped off into the night, taking care to avoid being seen, detected, or tracked—just in case. Kakashi, however, couldn't shake the feeling that something was stalking him, haunting his every move, though neither he nor Pakkun could find anything out of the ordinary.

Because who really would consider a snake out of ordinary in a forest?