Rating: K+ Gore. And slight mention of Soap Operas.

Beta: WhyMustIWrite Read her story Crisis!

Disclaimer: My time machine broke, so I have no way to convince you that I really own Naruto. Besides, I'm a girl and all the Japanese I know is hijacked from jutsu names.

Author's Note: KakashiKrazed pointed out that I had Iruka going on a mission. The first chapter of this story is set immediately before the (first) Sasuke Retrieval Arc, while the second comes almost immediately after said arc. If you remember, at the Ramen Bar Iruka mentioned to Naruto that he was going on a mission soon, and the mission he leaves on is the one mentioned in the story. (Have I bored you yet? And who reads A/N's anyway?)

Edit, 9/04/10- Inserted actual text from That Night for the flashback. Fixed a few sentences.

A Difference of Opinion

Chapter Two: Resolve

Hatake Kakashi scowled at the bent corner on Icha Icha. He couldn't even read without guilt echoing through his mind. That jutsu- it could kill someone, the chūnin's voice shouted accusingly in his head.

And what had he done? Laughed. He remembered in the nominations for the Chūnin Exams just how defensive the academy sensei was of his ex-students. Kakashi had felt insulted. Did the chūnin think he wasn't a good teacher? With Orochimaru's appearance, not to mention his attack on Naruto, he had thought that Sasuke would want to protect those precious to him. He had thought that the ties that bound Team Seven were stronger than anything that could possibly be thrown at them.

He was wrong. He ran his hand down the memorial stone, resting his fingers one by one on the names engraved there.

Namikaze Minato, Yondaime Hokage. Tsumero Rin. Uchiha Obito. A long list of names- even longer if you included those who were not carved on this last thing he needed was another name on the list. Last night, he had woken up from nightmares of a chidori'ed Naruto- nightmares he felt would haunt him for a long time to come.

"I'm a failure, Obito," he whispered after a moment, "I put too much trust in myself. I know it sounds crazy, but when he- Sasuke- smiled, I saw you. True, he rarely smiled, but when he did the resemblance was so scary . . . But I guess that's because he was your nephew. I suppose I thought of it as a second chance. And I blew it."

"Yo! Kakashi!"

He looked up. Two purple-haired kunoichi walked into the clearing, both holding flowers. "Here to see Hayate, Yūgao?" She nodded, kneeling by his engraved name.

"Kakashi, Iruka's back," she said after a pause.

Kakashi winced, recalling their starlit conversation only three days ago. "He's going to kill me when he finds out what happened." And rightfully so.

The kunoichi who had spoken first, Anko, shook her head. "I don't think he will."

"He tried to warn me about Sasuke, about his coming defection. I... I practically laughed in his face and called him an idiot." He looked back at the names engraved in the black marble. I'm a failure.

Anko said nothing for a long moment. Her hand reached and stroked the Cursed Seal on the back of her neck. At last she spoke, her normal boisterous tone subdued. "Don't underestimate him, Kakashi. He's surprisingly forgiving."

"For teaching someone how to kill his son?" he asked bitterly.

Anko flinched and looked away, eyes dark with guilt. "Kakashi, if he can find it in his heart to forgive me after what I did to him... I think he'll forgive you. Sasuke's actions are not your fault."

"He already hated my guts. The Chūnin Exams. This incident. But, most of all..."

"Most of all?"

Kakashi said nothing, his mind wandering back to... that night...

/|\

Kakashi let the scroll fall from his hands, eyes wide with disbelief. Not dead... sealed... Minato-sensei, what the hell were you thinking? You killed yourself in vain! Rin... Kushina... Bat... damn you, Kyuubi!

Kakashi leapt to his feet, drawing his tantō, his eye locking onto the Kyuubi. With a shout of rage and sorrow he leapt forward, the sword's edge falling like an executioner's axe. The blade sliced, hitting flesh and bone with a meaty thud. There was a scream of pain as blood splattered onto his face. Kakashi's eye widened in shock.

"What the hell do you think you're doing, you stupid kid?" he roared. The kid lay in a hands-and-knees position, protecting the demon brat with his body. The sword's edge was buried deep into his back, but defiant eyes black with wrath glared at Kakashi, briefly reminding him of coals in the flame.

\|/

Kakashi sighed and leaned against a tree. He was now ashamed of his attempted murder, but he had the feeling that Iruka had held him in contempt after that day. He had never liked Kakashi, and that incident only served to lower his opinion of the jōnin. An opinion he entirely deserved.

A twig snapped, and it became clear that someone was approaching. "Not you're in for it," Yūgao muttered as Umino Iruka stepped into the clearing.

Iruka walked through the forest, towards the memorial stone. Two white roses were in his hands- one for his father, the second for the Third. He rarely visited his parents, Hayate and the Third this early in the morning, but had nothing else to do as the hospital wasn't open yet and he couldn't sleep. He tried to stifle a yawn. The mission had been a simple retrieval on the outskirts of the Fire Country, a day and a half away.

Upon his return to the village around noon, he had heard from Teuchi the news about the disastrous retrieval. Unfortunately, he'd had to fill out the mission report and do his shift in the mission room, leaving him unable to visit Naruto until later that night. He had remained by the unconscious genin's side, refusing to leave until Tsunade had threatened to make him a temporary patient unless he went home and got some rest. He executed the first part of the command perfectly, but had suffered from severe insomnia all night. What little sleep he managed to get was punctuated with nightmares- Naruto lying dead at Sasuke's feet, Sasuke turning into Orochimaru, Orochimaru in turn-

His chest flared up with a stab of pain, wrecking his train of thought. He clenched his fist and kept walking. He emerged into the clearing, and caught sight of the the figures already paying their respects at the memorial stone. Yūgao looked at him and gestured to a nearby tree. Kakashi. The chūnin felt his nails digging into his hands. Arrogant, stuck-up-

Then he actually looked. The jōnin's uniform was dirt streaked, blood stained, and rumpled. His visible eye was red with sleeplessness. His shoulders were slumped with depression, and his hair was actually conforming to the laws of gravity, bits of leaf and twig stuck in them.

In that moment, he understood. They were a lot alike, Kakashi and Sasuke. When he had divided up the genin teams, he had chosen to place the Uchiha with Kakashi because the copy nin, true to his name, was an expert in wielding the Sharingan.) But now he realized that both of them had lost all the people precious to them at a young age, both were geniuses under a greater shadow- White Fang and Itachi respectively- and both were hurting. Sasuke wanted revenge, ached for power to make for all he had lost. Kakashi, too, had been in that black hole. He knew what it was like to feel alone and powerless. He, too, had been tempted by that lust. But Kakashi had returned to the light, while Sasuke had not. And even if Kakashi could have made Sasuke understand that revenge was most hurtful to those who wielded it, it may have made no difference. In the end, Sasuke had made his choice freely and it was not Kakashi's fault.

For a moment, he wondered what it would have been like had their places been switched. What if it were Naruto, and not Sasuke, who had wanted power, power to become respected and acknowledged as penance for all those years he spent alone. Iruka was afraid that, if that had been the case, he would not have wanted to see the signs, trusting in their bond, trusting in their friendship. That would have gotten whoever was Naruto's retrieval badly hurt... or worse. He had no right to get on Kakashi's case for making the very mistake he himself would have made.

He lowered his eyes in shame at his misguided anger at the jōnin. It had been Sasuke's choice to run. If anything, Iruka should have tried to talk to the boy himself, instead of trying to dump it on Kakashi. He was the failure, not Kakashi.

He approached the jōnin. The copy nin looked up with the usual bored, lackadaisical look in his eye, but deep down, there was sorrow.

Iruka met his gaze for a moment, then looked away. He said nothing, but left the two white roses on top of the memorial stone. The silence seemed to grow. Finally, he shifted uncomfortably. "Thank you."

The copy nin blinked, looking at the chūnin in shock. Whatever he had expected, it had certainly not been that. "Excuse me?"

Iruka shuffled in discomfort. "Thank you. For looking out for them."

The copy nin briefly wondered if the teacher was crazed with anger. All signs pointed to it. "I don't understand. I taught Sasuke the Chidori. I failed to pick up on the signs, and in the end he very nearly killed Naruto!" Just like you said, he thought bitterly.

The chūnin said nothing, eyes fixed on the memorial stone. "You were there, weren't you? You were alone. You wanted something to fill that void in your soul, something to make up for all you had lost. You had many chances, didn't you? Naruto... he was alone for the first six years of his life. Nobody would have cared, no one would have missed him. A flash in the dark is all it would have taken."

The jōnin looked away, face burning in shame. It seemed that neither of them had forgotten that night.

However, the chūnin had more to say. "But you- you kept those wounds open, let them heal. You didn't keep them closed and let them fester in hatred, unlike- unlike Sasuke. Sasuke . . . he made his choice. Maybe words from you would have delayed it- by the fire, I should have said something myself- but in the long run, it was his choice and his alone. Nothing you could have said, nothing you could have done, would have changed that."

Kakashi cocked his eyebrow skeptically.

Iruka met the jōnin's eyes. "All that aside, it remains that you did your best to hold Team Seven together. When I look at Naruto, I can see how much stronger he's gotten, how much his comrades mean to him. Sakura- she doesn't try to fit in anymore. She's trying to be herself. That is what I have to thank you for, Hatake Kakashi."

A long silence passed. For a moment, Iruka wondered if his words had any effect on the jōnin. Anko and Yūgao waited breathlessly, eyes locked on Kakashi to see his reaction, silently agreeing that this was far better than civilian soap operas. Finally, the still morning air was broken by three words from the copy nin. "Thank you, Iruka." It crossed the chūnin's mind that this was the first time he had ever heard the jōnin use those words sincerely, let alone to an academy teacher. Of course, that thought was banished as the jōnin continued. "But that doesn't mean I'm letting you off the hook for destroying Icha Icha."

"Destroyed? I dented the corner, for heaven's sake! That's nowhere near destroyed!" Iruka spluttered.

"Its complexion will never be the same," pouted Kakashi.

The chūnin rolled his eyes. "Perverted jōnin," he muttered.

"I do believe that is the highest compliment anyone has ever paid me," mused the copy nin.

Iruka sighed and glanced at the sun's position. Drat. He was going to be late. "See you, Anko, Kakashi, Yūgao."

"One question before you go, Iruka?"

The chūnin turned, eyes questioning.

"What happened between you and Anko?"

The kunoichi flinched and looked down, shame coloring her face. Iruka's hand went to his chest unconsciously, eyes glazed over with memory. Kakashi had seen that glazed look before. It was the mark of one who was remembering something painful. When at last he spoke, his voice was low. "That's not a story I am willing to tell just yet." Anko visibly relaxed, eyes still lowered in shame.

The copy nin watched the chūnin leave, then looked back to the memorial stone. He did feel better, surprisingly. There were things he could have done, but the teacher was right. In the end, Sasuke had chosen the darkness over the light. As much as it hurt, he had to let his mistakes go. But someday, they would meet again- sensei and student. And when they did . . . he would bring Sasuke back.

He released a slow breath. Maybe he could visit Naruto in the hospital again. He'd heard there was a special on vegetables at the market. Grocery shopping and student support. He loved multitasking.

And whatever had happened between Anko and Iruka, it most definitely was not his business.

End. Well, that went better than I expected. And if you want to know what happened between Anko and Iruka, check out my story Regrets. For the full story of what happened between Iruka and Kakashi the night of the Kyuubi Attack, That Night is the one to go for.

Read Why's stuff. Trust me, worth the time (including the time it takes to type a little thing called a review. Do it nao.)

Naruto loves ramen, I love reviews.