He had been caught; Kakashi realized it the instant Itachi's body flickered, dissolved into black nothingness where there should have been solid flesh. His genjutsu remained perfect, Itachi's breath hot on his skin even as his body rippled, and Kakashi let out a curse for his foolishness. Still, however, he tried to escape that impossible trap, focusing on his own chakra as Itachi stripped his weapons away, as somewhere in his mind it registered that Itachi remembered just where to look even after all those years.
His body pulled forward when Itachi yanked his belt, his head pressed back against the wall. And it was there, eyes pointed upward staring beyond the wreckage around them that he heard Itachi's words, Itachi's hope for him, and let out a bitter laugh.
"Hokage? You put too much faith in me, Itachi. I'm not a person suited for that role." Yet Kakashi knew the title had been in his future, mere moments away before Loki drew him from the timeline. Tsunade still showed no signs of recovery, and with Danzo dead, the village had indeed turned to him. But none of that mattered anymore when it came to Sasuke. "And it's too late. Sasuke's done too much."
Muscles tightened at the foreign touch, pulling away from the oddly powerful sensation. Because he'd never been touched in such a way, Kakashi supposed. Already ensnared, he bowed his head to meet Itachi's eyes. Itachi deserved that much, at least: an unflinching gaze, a mark of accepted responsibility as he fleshed out those details the Uchiha had never known.
"He killed Danzo and attacked the Kages. Do you think they'll accept the pardon of one Hokage?" Of one so frail and failing as Hatake Kakashi? Yet even then, the illusion of hope could hold. Accept it or not, if Konohagakure found Sasuke first, saved Sasuke first, what could the other Kages do? Pain's destruction had left scars, but the village still recovered quickly. There had been no deaths that day, none that lasted. The power of the Leaf still held in the ninja world.
But not in Sasuke's soul.
"He wants to destroy the village. He tried to kill Sakura, and me. Even Naruto understands that we can't just bring him back." And that had been the hardest truth for Kakashi to accept, hadn't it? Naruto's unshakable faith, his staunch determination to deliver on his word had finally cracked within the darkness of Sasuke's new philosophy. "Naruto isn't going to save Sasuke by bringing him back. He's planning on dying with Sasuke.
"Do you understand now?" Kakashi gasped hard then, each word ripped from his lungs, forced out into the open where he never wished the truth to be. "Everything you planned, everything I wanted, it's all for nothing. All I could do was promise to stand by, and leave Sasuke in Naruto's hands. I can't stop Madara, I can't save my students, my friends. I can't do anything else--and I'm tired of it, Itachi. I'm tired of being so powerless."
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winterfish
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Date: Monday, 4 October 2010 01:22 am (UTC)His body pulled forward when Itachi yanked his belt, his head pressed back against the wall. And it was there, eyes pointed upward staring beyond the wreckage around them that he heard Itachi's words, Itachi's hope for him, and let out a bitter laugh.
"Hokage? You put too much faith in me, Itachi. I'm not a person suited for that role." Yet Kakashi knew the title had been in his future, mere moments away before Loki drew him from the timeline. Tsunade still showed no signs of recovery, and with Danzo dead, the village had indeed turned to him. But none of that mattered anymore when it came to Sasuke. "And it's too late. Sasuke's done too much."
Muscles tightened at the foreign touch, pulling away from the oddly powerful sensation. Because he'd never been touched in such a way, Kakashi supposed. Already ensnared, he bowed his head to meet Itachi's eyes. Itachi deserved that much, at least: an unflinching gaze, a mark of accepted responsibility as he fleshed out those details the Uchiha had never known.
"He killed Danzo and attacked the Kages. Do you think they'll accept the pardon of one Hokage?" Of one so frail and failing as Hatake Kakashi? Yet even then, the illusion of hope could hold. Accept it or not, if Konohagakure found Sasuke first, saved Sasuke first, what could the other Kages do? Pain's destruction had left scars, but the village still recovered quickly. There had been no deaths that day, none that lasted. The power of the Leaf still held in the ninja world.
But not in Sasuke's soul.
"He wants to destroy the village. He tried to kill Sakura, and me. Even Naruto understands that we can't just bring him back." And that had been the hardest truth for Kakashi to accept, hadn't it? Naruto's unshakable faith, his staunch determination to deliver on his word had finally cracked within the darkness of Sasuke's new philosophy. "Naruto isn't going to save Sasuke by bringing him back. He's planning on dying with Sasuke.
"Do you understand now?" Kakashi gasped hard then, each word ripped from his lungs, forced out into the open where he never wished the truth to be. "Everything you planned, everything I wanted, it's all for nothing. All I could do was promise to stand by, and leave Sasuke in Naruto's hands. I can't stop Madara, I can't save my students, my friends. I can't do anything else--and I'm tired of it, Itachi. I'm tired of being so powerless."