It's like this;

He's found them, and it's like the Valley of the End has happened all over again. Naruto is on the ground, bleeding heavily, and Sasuke is right above him, head-to-head, mouth-to-ear, whispering pointless shit they both know Naruto can't hear.

Kakashi notices things tend to repeat in his life.

"Sasuke." Kakashi whispers, trying not to surprise his student too badly. Sasuke doesn't look up, and Kakashi gently takes him by the shoulder, turning him until they stand face to face. What he sees there makes him recoil, hissing in a breath in surprise and anger.

It's like this;

Sasuke... he's got the Mangekyou. The famed sharingan, dream of every Uchiha, power only a murderer unbound by the ties of humanity could have.

Sasuke killed a loved one. Now he's just another missing-nin. Another loss, another blood red mark on a growing list of sins, lies, deceits.

"I... I'm sorry." Sasuke whispers, and Kakashi stares at him for a moment, before looking away.

"Aa."

It's like this;

Kakashi is confused. A part of him wants to shake his student and scream at him that stupid little terms and phrases like 'I'm sorry' won't fix a damned thing, but other parts want to hug him and tell him that shit happens and moving on is the best thing to do.

Fuck, Kakashi was never any good at making choices, there were other people in his team in charge of stuff like that. So he does what he always does when things stop making sense.

He asks himself,

What would Obito do?

"Help me, Sasuke." Kakashi has a little trouble picking Naruto up, he's heavier than before.

"No." Sasuke whispers, and Kakashi sighs softly, managing to pull the limp body into his arms by himself. The jounin gets up and starts to walk in the general direction of Konoha. When Sasuke doesn't follow him, he pauses for a moment, just long enough to call out softly,

"Naruto won't be here to bring you back, so don't do anything stupid."

It's like this;

Kakashi doesn't bother checking to see if Sasuke is following him. It doesn't really matter anymore, what more damage can that kid concieve of?

What was the point of trying to teach the Uchiha? Maybe he thought Naruto could stop Sasuke from ripping himself apart.

It worked, kinda.

"Fire and Ice..." Kakashi says to himself, unconsciously talking aloud, "Naruto always negated Sasuke's power, I wonder..." He trails off, looking down at Naruto for a moment, "Hn..."

"What do you wonder?" Sasuke asks, quietly, coming up beside the jounin, "Do you wonder if I will go crazy again, go back to the sound, burn down Konoha? I... I could, you know."

"... Aa."

"Don't want to think to closely on it, eh, Kakashi? It's okay, neither do I." Sasuke is quiet then, contemplative. Kakashi doesn't mind. He has some things to consider himself.

It's like this;

I truthfully don't know what he will do, Sasuke was always a master of words and masks, I myself am vaguely surprised he's even coming back. There's nothing there for him now, besides interrogation, possibly torture and death at the hands of a village that doesn't really want a dark avenger anymore.

"Do you think... I'm making a good decision?"

"About what?" Kakashi slows a bit, Sasuke seems weary, and he is injured too.

"Going back to Konoha."

"It's the responsible thing." When this doesn't seem to help Sasuke any, he adds, "Thats something you could get used to."

"What?"

"Responsibility."

It's like this;

Sasuke smiles a little and nods. He says something else, about having a lot to catch up on, but Kakashi isn't really listening.

He's too busy finally having a moment to be proud of his student for something besides fighting prowess.