Kakashi's thoughts run in riddles through his head, inscrutable and foreign to himself; he's never felt much, or maybe he's always felt so much that to pick out a single emotion was impossible, but as he's holding Gai's limp, bandaged hand now, there's one emotion that swallows up everything else. Rage, hot and blinding. He's mad at himself; he's mad at Gai, at Obito, at Rin, at all the other insignificant kids who never stood out but somehow still ended up in the line of fire, trying to protect him.

It's going to end, and this time it won't be with another name etched into the stone. Kakashi is going to put a stop to this; he's going to do his duty; he's going to vanish into Anbu. Gai will just have to find another rival.

He lets go of Gai's hand and slips out the window without looking back. Gai will be alone when he wakes up.

It's better this way.