In the dense forest, Kakashi carried a few pieces of firewood, utterly listless.
Gathering wood was just an excuse for the others. The real reason was simple: he was so stifled he felt ready to go mad.
Aside from rescuing Rin Nohara, he had no idea what else he could do.
Ever since he was little, Kakashi had felt like his life was one unbroken tragedy. His father, Sakumo Hatake, had taken his own life when Kakashi was young. From then on, Kakashi had remained lost, even harboring a trace of resentment toward his father that he could not quite explain.
Which mattered more, comrades or the mission?
He had actually known the answer for a long time. Of course comrades mattered more.
Yet ever since graduating at five, he had always put the mission first. In the end, besides following the path his father had held up as a guiding principle, there had been a hint of revenge in his heart as well.
Didn't you take your own life because your comrades died?
Then I'll do as you said. The mission comes first.
That lasted until he met Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara again, the two classmates he had disliked back at the Ninja Academy.
Obito and Rin's kindness, and the warmth they offered him time and again, finally thawed a corner of Kakashi's frozen heart.
Later, he met Yan Uchiha as well. The man bore the Uchiha name, yet he was less like an Uchiha than anyone else.
Only on that day did Kakashi truly understand why his father had chosen that final path.
It had not been for himself.
It had been for the village.
Before his father took his own life, the young Kakashi had pressed him, asking why he would not Release everything clearly.
Sakumo