Before Konoha's Memorial Stone, Kakashi came to mourn his closest friend as he always did, patiently rambling about his three students.
"Obito, Naruto has been away training with Lord Jiraiya for eight months now. Honestly, the village feels a lot lonelier without that professional troublemaker around. But even mischievous boys have to grow up eventually. I hope he becomes a Ninja who can stand on his own soon."
"It's also been over eight months since Sasuke defected from Konoha. After he attacked me in the Uzumaki Clan's Mask Hall, the village issued a Bounty Order for him, but we still haven't uncovered his whereabouts. There are only vague rumors that he's been in contact with Akatsuki, the organization Uchiha Itachi belongs to. If that's true, the entire shinobi world will turn against him. I'm truly worried about his future."
"Sakura has been training as a Medical Ninja under Lady Tsunade for over half a year now. Ever since she learned that Sasuke had appeared in Konoha and injured me, her teacher, she's been blaming herself. That child even said she'd end Sasuke's life herself someday. Hearing that left me with all sorts of conflicting feelings."
"I've never liked looking back, but lately I keep wondering: if that incident thirteen years ago—oh, strictly speaking, it would be fourteen years now, wouldn't it?—if the Nine-Tails had never attacked Konoha, would my three students' lives have turned out differently?"
"Naruto goes without saying. He was the most direct victim of the Nine-Tails' attack. But the Nine-Tails Incident also made the village leadership turn against the Uchiha, setting the stage for the Uchiha Coup. Although Uchiha Itachi wiped out the Uchiha for reasons of his own, Sasuke was left carrying a blood feud because of it."
"And Sakura... caught between those two, she was