The Beekeeper

Wrap yourself around the Tree of Life...

As Yamato raced off, half-carrying and half-dragging a dazed Naruto behind him, Kakashi pulled himself to his feet and looked at the two bodies facing him. The stockier one with the thick neck, he knew, was the Asura Path, while the one who looked like an older Naruto – gods, Tenzo, please keep him safe, don't let them get him – was the Deva Path, the one that had just unleashed that massive earthquake. The Asura Path grinned at him.

"You care brave, Kakashi Hatake," intoned the Deva Path. "But you cannot stop us."

"Perhaps not," said Kakashi, "but I can try."

"You cannot stop us, Kakashi Hatake," repeated the Deva Path. "You are no match for us. The Hokage is dead. Your village is on its last legs. You cannot hope to defeat us. We will find the Jinchuriki."

It was the way the Deva Path said 'the Jinchuriki' that did it for Kakashi. He could not remember the last time he had felt so angry.

Is that all he is to you? 'The Jinchuriki'?

"Mangekyou Sharingan!"

A trickle of blood streamed down Kakashi's face as the Deva Path was sucked up into gods-knows-what dimension the Mangekyou Sharingan led to. The Asura Path roared and fired a missile, and Kakashi gritted his teeth and used what little chakra he had left to suck the missile into wherever the Deva Path was now, and lightning coursed down his arm, every hair standing on end, as he prepared his final Raikiri and tore the body cleanly in half. With the Deva Path gone, there was no chance of it being resurrected. For good measure, he tore out the black rods, inwardly screaming as their vile chakra burned his hands.

His vision began to blur, and he collapsed to his knees.

This is it, he thought. This is the end.

He crawled wearily through the rubble, forcing himself up a slight slope towards the cliffs nearby, looking for a groove somewhere that he could hide in. The scattered rocks dug into his hands and knees. Somehow, the pain didn't matter anymore, and he realised it was because his body was starting to go numb, and his arms could no longer support him. Every muscle in his body strained to keep him upright, but it was no use. His arms gave way and he collapsed to the ground and rolled back down the slope, and as his cheek rubbed against a stone, his mask came down.

He could not remember the last time he had exposed his face to the open air. Somehow, it didn't matter anymore. There was nothing more to hide from.

Out of the corner of his eye, he could see three figures approaching, one slightly bigger than the other two, and they were the last thing he saw.

XXXXXX

"Kakashi?"

Voices. That sounds like Shikaku Nara.

"Kakashi?"

That accent...that must be Inoichi Yamanaka.

"Fucking hell! His mask's come off!"

Chouza Akimichi. All three of them. Wonder where their kids are. Always more well-adjusted than my own dysfunctional team. My team. My students. My students that I failed. Sasuke, a wanted traitor. Naruto on the run. And Sakura...I don't know where she is. That girl...I underestimated her. I didn't teach her enough. Sakura, wherever you are, don't die. I don't want to see you and Naruto and Sasuke in the afterlife. Not yet.

"Kakashi? Hello?"

I didn't know how to handle her or Naruto. Not enough like me. Too emotional, too immature. Just like Obito. Another person I failed to protect. At least he gave me this eye. My final gift from Obito, that Rin implanted into me, I used to get rid of those two bastards. They destroyed my village, my home. I saw people I've known all my life die. I heard reports. Tsunade, dead. Anko, dead. Ebisu, dead. One by one they fell. Gai, dead. My old friend Gai, who said he was planning to find a woman and get married after the war, maybe have some kids, teach them martial arts...at least, I heard, he went down fighting.

Gods, I'm exhausted.

"Inoichi! How is he? Is he OK?"

Maybe I'll see them all, wherever I'm going. Heaven? Hell? I don't know. Hell, probably. But part of me wants to see them all again. Obito, dead under a rock. Rin, dead at my own hands. I am scum, I broke the rules, I did not protect my comrades. I kept telling myself that. Maybe that was why I was so harsh on those kids. Didn't want them to be so weak they would come home from their first C-rank mission in bodybags. Especially Sasuke. So like me. He ran away and by the time I came to bring Naruto home from the waterfall, he had gone. Somewhere, he is out there, fighting for the other side. I wondered if I'd die at his hands like Sarutobi did with Orochimaru.

"Hold your horses."

He said he'd kill everyone I loved. The shinigami came for them before he was even born. Mum. Dad. First her, then him. He was never the same after she died. Never smiled. Always on missions, trying to forget. Maybe he wanted to die all that time. Maybe it was only a matter of time before he did take his own life. I had nightmares for weeks after I found his body hanging from the ceiling. I closed up. Couldn't let anyone in...so it's true, when you're dying, your life does flash before your eyes. I am a genin, a chuunin, a jounin, I am in the Land of the Waves, I am in Sunagakure...Rin...I keep seeing your face...I always kept those weapons you gave me. I didn't want you to die. I don't think I've cried since I cried for Obito all those years ago. Couldn't cry anymore. A good shinobi must control his emotions.

"Any luck yet?"

I'm so tired. So cold. Can barely feel my arms, my legs. Are the Ino-Shika-Chou still there? Are they even real?

"I'll keep trying, Shikaku. I think I have something, but it's very faint."

Black. Everything is black. No...there's something there...a tiny little pinprick. A flame, maybe. I am walking towards it. Even though I know I cannot move and my body is out of chakra and my eye is bleeding and I might not even be alive anymore, I feel as though something is pulling me towards the light. Perhaps the shinigami has come for me. Well, shinigami, if it means keeping Naruto alive, can you use me instead?

"Oh, shit."

"Inoichi? What's wrong?"

"I'm not getting anything."

I can see something...someone. A campfire. A man sitting there. Even from this distance, the flames are warming my naked face. So long I kept it hidden. I did not want to give any of myself away. If you give too much of yourself away, it's dangerous. Because you will only end up hurt. I could have married, had children, gods know I had enough women...but what if I lost them? Like Obito and Rin? And somehow, knowing my rotten luck, it would be my fault.

That figure is waving. He looks familiar...Dad? Is that you?

"What?"

I'm coming, Dad.

"He's gone."

It's me, Dad, it's Kakashi. For once, I did something right. Even if I'm dead now...something tells me Naruto is going to be alright. He always lands on his feet. Just like Sensei. You'd have liked Sensei, Dad.

"No. No. Please gods, no. Fuck. Not you too."

We've got a lot of catching up to do...

"Chouza! Get a hold of yourself, man!"

Everyone I loved died. Too much pain. Too much sadness. No more.

"Not you too!"

I'm not in pain anymore.

"Shikaku, Chouza, come on. We'd better go."

It's over.