Masks

Disclaimer: Never owned 'Naruto', never will…

Some people wear masks because they look cool. Some wear masks because of their function, others because it's their job. Kakashi just does.

An amused smile flutters across Kakashi's face as he watches his students. Absently he scratches the fabric wrapped around his jaw, the same fabric obscuring his smile and the same fabric his students are after. He knows what they're up to. He knows they're plotting.

And that's perfectly fine with him.

The smile still lingering on his face he stands from his seat, the cool breeze curling through his silver hair. Calmly he pushes the flaps of Ichiraku Ramen Stand open, ignoring his bickering students.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

He hears them whining and he half turns, giving them a long practiced eye-smile.

"Ja-ne."

With that, he disappears in a swirl of leaves, the indignant and outraged cries of his three pupils echoing in his ears.

Kakashi just laughs. They'll catch up to him…eventually.

The copy nin walks on. He ignores the stares, ignores the questioning glances. His favorite book is firmly held in his left hand, fingers wrapped around the burnt orange cover. But he isn't focused on that. Kakashi is thinking. And as he does, his unoccupied hand leaves its residence in his pocket and wanders to his face, lightly brushing his mask.

Some people wear masks because they look cool. Some do it for their function, the ability to hide their image. Some do it as part of their job. Kakashi just does.

His has a deeper meaning.

For as long as people can remember, the infamous Hatake Kakashi, the copy-nin has worn a mask. He's always been wearing masks... It wasn't always a cloth mask per say. He has a long history of them.

It didn't start when he became a shinobi, that wasn't what caused it to happen. He'd been a decently happy kid when he was little. A famous father and a loving mother. It was some of the happiest times in his life, even if he couldn't remember them very well. His early, early childhood few knew about, and he cherishes the memories.

Then she died. His mother died when he was six. Thus the creation of his mask. His emotional one. One that would shield him from the outside world. A barrier between him and life.

He walks around the village, seemingly aimless as he wanders here and there. Eventually, Kakashi's feet carry him to the memorial stone. He thinks about how ironic that is, how so bittersweet… And as he stands above the polished surface he reflects. His one eye glances down at the memorial, taking in the finely etched names that are engraved it the rock.

His father's isn't there.

The events leading up to his father's death and the events after are some of the saddest memories he has. His father didn't die in battle. Didn't die a shinobi's death. Suicide. A coward's way out, a coward's death some said. But Kakashi knows one thing, Hatake Sakumo died an ignoble and lonely death.

Kakashi still thinks about it sometimes.

He started wearing actual masks after that. It was a safety measure. It still is.

When he was thirteen, his first true friend died. A mission gone wrong. A life sacrificed for his. His foundations shattered. He cringes every time he thinks about it. Every time he thinks about how selfish he was, how stupid he was, how naïve he was.

Kakashi took Obito's death hard.

A sad smile crinkles his mouth as he stares hard at the name. One of the greatest mistakes of his life. He vowed never to make another one.

The book that was once held in his gloved hand is no longer there, small orange object resting in his pouch. Kakashi is kneeling now, eye level with the monument. The silence in the secluded training ground is deafening. And the silver haired jounin thinks it's fitting, that it's made for the moment. The breeze hits his face lightly, cooling his body, soaking into his mask.

His third teammate died when he was sixteen. Rin was and is still one of Kakashi's greatest regrets. They grew distant, the death of Obito both causing them to withdraw. He remembers sensei trying to get them to stick together. But it wasn't much use. The love that Rin had once felt and the connection that Kakashi had once had was gone and broken with the death of Obito. Looking back, Kakashi thinks that the silly Uchiha was the glue that kept everyone together.

Rin dies on a mission to Kumogakure. Her body is returned in three separate bags.

Kakashi tries not to think about it.

His masks piled up after that. He joined ANBU shortly after. To get away from the world. The pain. Now Kakashi thinks he just did it as an excuse. An excuse to have a mask.

He spent the next eight years in ANBU.

It was the bloodiest time of his life. He saw death everyday. He did it. Breathed it. Lived it.

Kakashi thinks it's what made him what he is.

Two years after he joined ANBU, his sensei is appointed Yondaime Hokage.

It is one of the happiest moments in his life. Kakashi still remembers standing next to his sensei as Sarutobi Hiruzen passed the power of the Hokage on to a new generation.

It is not to last. Kakashi's face splits into a sad smile.

Minato Namikaze died at the young age of twenty-seven. A year after he is elected as Hokage and three years after Kakashi enters ANBU. He died in his prime.

The silver haired jounin looks back and remembers. The scars, the blood, the sorrow. He tried to commit suicide a week after his sensei's death. Only timely intervention prevented it.

Kakashi chuckles, a low and sad sound, and he thinks about how confused he was.

The Kyuubi. Sensei. Naruto…

He spent another five years in ANBU after that. Until the killing became too much. His masks became too much. The emotions became too much.

He retired from ANBU at the age twenty-four.

Two years later, he meets them.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

The one eyed jounin's head snaps up. It's Naruto, looking a little worse for wear and panting. For a second Kakashi see's a ghost, the image of his dead sensei floating in the back of his mind. He is so stunned by the look that his blonde pupil is a bit spooked.

"Kakashi-sensei…are you alright?"

The older man nods, rubbing the back of his head.

"Maa…sorry about that Naruto, got lost…"

Kakashi inwardly curses himself at the shoddy excuse as his blue eyed student nods uncertainly.

Standing, the one-eyed jounin brushes himself off. His thoughts of masks are brushed to the side for now and he focuses on the growth stunted child in front of him. He has an idea.

"Naruto…"

"How about we go train? I'll teach you a new technique…"

The blonde genin looks at Kakashi and the copy-nin sees the mask, can see the surprise quickly covered up.

"But…"

He quickly shushes the boy and his mouth snaps shut, a wondrous looking flashing across his face.

With that Kakashi grasps Naruto's shoulder, leading him down the path to the training grounds.

And they both walk off, confused for different reasons. Naruto wondering what's happened with his sensei's sudden change of heart and Kakashi wondering why he's never done this before.

Maybe they could talk. It was always good to have someone who understood what it was like.

After all, they both had masks.

-Fin-