Let Me Keep Them

Prologue

"Some people hide their sadness very well."
                                                                                     -Khaled Hosseini

Iruka's P.O.V.

Iruka walked slowly to the memorial stone. It had only been a few days since the attack, and the memory was still fresh in his mind. Watching, as the huge, nine-tailled demon rose above the village. Watching, as his parents ran to their deaths. As many times as Iruka had told himself he would be a great shinobi, maybe even a sensei at the Academy, all he had done was sit and watch. He watched as the beast tore his parents, the Fourth Hokage and his wife, shinobi, and hundreds of innocents apart in only a couple of hours.

And all he had done was watch. He was supposed to graduate the Academy - if he passed his exams, which he was confident he would - in only a couple of weeks. But was he really worthy of it?

Iruka was just about to walk into the clearing that held the memorial stone when he saw another boy already standing in front of it, as still as a statue, and instead hid behind a tree.

The boy looked older than himself, likely only by three years at most, but something about him made him seem much older. This was something Iruka could tell, even with the boy facing away from him. He had gray-silver hair sticking out from behind a shinobi headband that seemed to be pulled down at an odd angle. A piece of gray fabric was rather high at the back of his neck, likely pulled up and over his nose. He wore a simple uniform, consisting of seemingly thick black pants, similar to that of which most shinobi wore, and an odd sort of black shirt-like material under a gray armor material. His sandals were black, and he had katana strapped to his back. His weapons pack was strapped to his right leg.

The outfit was familiar, but Iruka didn't realize his rank until he saw the tattoo. A rather simple red design on the boys left shoulder, and a white-and-red wolf (dog?) mask lay face-up at his feet. He was part of the ANBU.

Iruka considered leaving. This boy was likely mourning a loss, as he was, and he didn't want to intrude on that. As he took a step back, a bush to his left rustled loudly in the silence.

Iruka flinched, and he saw the boy tense up, immediately taking a kunai and throwing it expertly in Iruka's direction, the blade landing inches from his nose.

Iruka's breath caught in his throat. A sense of fear came over him. He carefully and slowly walked out from behind the tree, briefly raising his hands to show he meant no harm.

The boy now faced Iruka, and he saw the headband was pulled down to cover his left eye, and there was a gray mask pulled up, covering his face. All you could really see was his right eye, which was a dark onyx black.

"Sorry." He said quietly, walking towards Iruka. He went straight past him, pulling his knife out of the tree and placing it in his weapons pack.

"It's alright." Iruka replied with a smile. "I was heading to the memorial stone. But I can leave, I don't-"

"No, go ahead." The boy cut him off. "I should go, anyway. I've been here for hours."

Hours? Iruka thought. That's a long time, I've only stayed for about thirty minutes before...

The boy walked past Iruka again, heading back towards the stone. "Every day." He muttered to himself, probably not for Iruka to here. "Just can't seem to get rid of you, huh Obito?"

Iruka followed, standing at the front of the stone. "What's your name?" He asked.

The boy started, saying silent for a moment.

It would make sense if he didn't want to answer. He only just met me.

"Kakashi." He finally replied. "Kakashi Hatake."

The last name sounded vaguely familiar, but Iruka couldn't quite place where he had heard it. He was pretty sure it wasn't a large or powerful clan, like the Hyugas or the Uchihas.

"I'm Iruka Umino." He told Kakashi. "My parents died fighting during the attack, who are you here for?"

Kakashi was quiet for a moment before pointing to a name. "He died about five years ago."

The name read, Obito Uchiha.

"Your friend was an Uchiha?" Iruka asked, dumbfounded.

Kakashi laughed bitterly. "Probably not like one you're thinking of. He'd only just awakened his Sharingan, and he was thirteen."

If he had died five years ago, that would mean Kakashi would have been young, probably eight to ten years old. He was already a Genin at that age?

"What did you mean by... Every day?"

Kakashi frowned. "It was nothing. Just meaningless chatter." He was quiet for a moment before her asked, "How old are you?"

Iruka felt his face heat up, embarrassed at how low he was compared to Kakashi. "Twelve. Exams to graduate are in a few weeks."

Kakashi nodded. "Fourteen. Good for you. What do you plan to do when you graduate?"

Iruka gave a small smile. "I'd like to teach after I become a Chūnin."

Iruka thought he saw a faint smile under the fabric of his mask. "Good. I believe you would be a good sensei."

A light blush flooded over Iruka's face at the compliment. It had to be an empty one, after all they'd only just met, but it felt nice to have someone say they believed on him, whether it be fake or not.

The two stood in silence for several minutes, before Kakashi reached down to pick up his ANBU mask, securing it to his waist. "I should be going." He said quietly. "I have somewhere to be. Perhaps I'll see you another time, Iruka."

Before Iruka could reply, the gray haired boy was gone. But Iruka really did hope he saw him again, however unlikely.