What you recognize I don't own and I got permission to adopt from Jessie Immortal so up to a certain point it's his after that it's all mine

"Man! I can't believe Kakashi has the balls to complain about me being late!" Obito whined loudly. "I actually got here before him!"

Rin giggled slightly, but was too concerned for her third teammate to really laugh. "Maybe he's sick or something," Rin said, though she knew that wasn't a good excuse. Kakashi, sick or not, always showed early for training. Something had to be wrong.

"Well, there is a first time for everything!" Minato tried to smile at his students, concealing his own worry for the silver haired Hatake. They were scheduled to meet an hour ago (Obito just showed up) therefore, he had expected Kakashi to show up an hour and a half ago. For the young Hatake to be late, something was up, but he couldn't jump to conclusions and worry Rin and Obito over nothing.

"We'll continue training without him," he said decisively. "It's possible he could just be sick, Kakashi is still human after all. We shouldn't jump to conclusions here."

Rin nodded looking slightly more reassured and followed Minato to the training grounds. Obito followed a few paces behind them.

'Something's not right... I just can't shake this bad feeling... Kakashi...'

"Obito! Hurry it up!"

"Ah! W-wait up Rin!"

The next day Team Minato was scheduled to meet at the bridge at noon. Noon came and went, and there was no Kakashi in sight.

"Sensei..." Rin said uncertainly. Even Obito looked worried.

"C'mon, we're going to go check on him," Minato said firmly.

They walked across town to the old Hatake Estate, where Kakashi still lived even after his father's death. Minato slowly pushed the gates open. They were unlocked, and the wards were down. Minato's uneasiness only grew.

"Kakashi!" He called out. He ran into the house, Obito and Rin at his heels.

No answer. "Kakashi!" He called again, louder this time. Still no answer.

Casting worried glances at each other, they fanned out and searched the house.

'What on Earth is going on here? Kakashi, where are you?' Obito thought. He glanced into a room that he assumed was Kakashi's bedroom. The bed was neatly made and the whole room was spotless. It looked like nobody had been in there for weeks. 'Either that or Kakashi is more prissy than I originally thought.'Obito smirked.

Rin's ear shattering scream pierced through the silence in the old house. Fearing the worse, Obito bolted from the bedroom to where her scream came from. On the way, he almost ran into Minato, who looked as panic stricken as he felt.

They stopped at a door which Minato recognized to be Kakashi's father Sakumo's old study. Sheer dread curled in the pit of Minato's stomach and he couldn't bring himself to open the door. Obito did that for him.

"Rin!" He darted into the room only to freeze in his tracks. Minato followed after him, and time seemed to freeze as he surveyed the sight before him. Kakashi lay in the middle of the study on his side, his father's tanto sticking out of his stomach as he lay in a large pool of blood. His eyes were blank and staring, no trace of life left in them. Rin, who had been standing next to the doorway frozen, recovered first and ran to the silver haired boy's side. Obito followed soon after, but Minato stayed frozen in place, horrifying images flashing through his mind.

Flashback

A small silver haired boy, no older than six, clinging to his father's corpse where it lay on the study floor, his sword in his stomach. Blood soaked the little boy's clothing and tears were streaming down his face.

"Daddy! Daddy please, don't leave me alone! I don't want to be alone! DADDY!"

Minato swiftly walked over to the young child and tried to scoop him into his arms, but little Kakashi only clung to his father tighter.

"NO! I can't leave him, he's all I have left!"

Choking back tears of his own, the blonde pried the small boy's hands away from the corpse and pulled him into his strong arms. He left the room, Kakashi struggling in vain to return to his father's side.

"Put me down Sensei! Daddy! Please, I have to stay with Daddy!"

Minato simply held him tighter in his embrace and carried him to the Hokage's office.

Present

Minato was pulled out of the past by Rin's heartbroken sob.

"Kakashi! Kakashi, please answer me!" She had pulled the tanto out of his gut and was desperately trying to heal the gaping wound, while Obito merely stared down at them, a look akin to horror on his face.

Minato forced his body to move and ran to his students. He gently pulled Rin's hands away from Kakashi's wound before she killed herself trying to heal someone who was clearly dead. Minato gazed sadly into his student's dulled onyx eyes before he gently laid his hands over them and closed them.

"Noooo!" Rin sobbed. She flung herself into Obito's arms and cried into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her trembling form and held her whiled she cried, tears streaming down his own face as well.

Minato gazed at them sadly for awhile, then gently turned his silver haired student's corpse over on his back so he could better examine the wound. He gasped softly. Rin and Obito turned to look at him.

"Suicide," Minato whispered. "But why...?"

"No!" Obito said firmly. "Kakashi wouldn't do that! He wouldn't take the easy way out! You of all people should know that Sensei!" Obito glared at the man. "Someone...Some monster, did this to Kakashi! We've gotta find out who did it and avenge him!" Rin wiped her eyes and nodded fiercely, her eyes glittering with determination to avenge her fallen friend.

Minato sighed sadly. The boy was in denial. "Obito," he said softly,"Look at this wound. It's clearly self-inflicted." He gazed sadly at Kakashi's pale face and absently stroked some of the boy's vibrant silver hair out of his eyes. "Kakashi's had a hard life from the very beginning. His mother died shortly after his birth, and his father died when he was six. Perhaps it all just became to much for him to handle."

"NO!" Obito shouted it this time. "How could you think that! There's just no way Kakashi would just leave us like this!" He dropped to his knees and pounded his fist into the worn tatami mats that covered the floor. "He wouldn't..." he trailed off sadly.

"I'm sorry," Minato said softly. "Of course, there will have to be an investigation, suicide or not. Maybe the ANBU will pick up on something we didn't. But we need to report this." He lifted Kakashi's body into his arms. "I'm going to the Hokage, you two go home, there will be no more training the rest of this week." His hands formed the seals for the Shunshin no Jutsu, and before Rin or Obito could protest, he was gone.

"Obito,"Rin said, her voice quivering. "Do you really believe someone killed Kakashi-kun?"

Obito looked at her. She had never seen his face so serious before. "I know it. Kakashi wouldn't just leave us voluntarily." He took her hand in his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry. We're gonna find out who did this and make them pay! C'mon, how 'bout I walk you home."

She nodded, feeling slightly better. 'Don't you worry Kakashi. We'll make those bastards pay!'

But as they walked away, Obito couldn't help but wonder. 'Who did this? And...to take Kakashi down, just how strong are they?'

But the biggest question of all...

'Why?'

"K-Kakashi-kun?" For a split second, the Hokage looked startled, but reigned in his emotions quickly. "What happened?" He asked in a calmer tone, though Minato could still see the lingering shock and sadness in the older man's eyes.

"I believe it's suicide," Minato forced his voice not to quiver with his unshed tears that were desperate to come out. "but Rin and Obito believe otherwise."

The Sandaime stood up from behind his desk and came over to examine the corpse Minato held in his arms. Upon seeing the wound he let out a sad sigh.

"It's just like Sakumo..." The man trailed off. He sighed again and layed a hand on the boy's cold forehead. For a moment, neither man spoke.

Sandaime finally broke the silence. "Leave the boy here. I will have ANBU start the investigation right away, though it's fairly obvious what happened. Minato," the man's expression softened. "I insist that you and your team take some time off to mourn, this must be hard on you."

Minato could only nod, not trusting his voice at the moment. As he handed Kakashi's body over to Sandaime, he couldn't help but feel like he was handing over the corpse of one of his own children. Overcome by his emotion, his performed another Shunshin and teleported to his home. There, he collapsed on his bed and started sobbing.

Kakashi curled up defenseless in a corner of the study, eyes wide and terrified. Obito could only watch as a faceless shinobi advanced on the trembling chuunin. Obito wondered why Kakashi didn't fight back, and flinched as the figure harshly kicked the boy in the side, sending him to the center of the room. Obito felt his heart tearing as Kakashi curled tightly into himself, trying not to show his tears. He ran to his teammate's side and tried to lay a comforting hand on his shoulder, but his hand passed right through him.

"Wha?..."

Suddenly a foot came out of nowhere and kicked Kakashi over onto his back. Obito watched, helpless and horrified as the shinobi took the tanto that was in his hand and shoved it mercilessly into the boy's stomach and twisted it, rupturing several organs. Kakashi bit back a scream as blood spilled out of his mouth and stomach in a torrent. The figure gave a harsh laugh and ripped the weapon out of Kakashi's small body. The fresh blood on the blade glinted evilly in the moonlight that filtered in through the window, sending shivers down Obito's spine and making him nauseous. The faceless shinobi raised the sword over his head, preparing to strike the final blow. Kakashi lay motionless on the floor, disoriented from blood loss. A scream ripped itself out of Obito's throat as he tried in vain to help his teammate, but his feet were rooted to the floor and he could only watch as the figure brought the blade down on Kakashi's neck, severing his head and spilling more blood onto the already stained floor...

"NO!" Obito awoke with a scream, panting loudly and drenched in an ice cold sweat. Terrified, he whipped his head around his room, expecting to see a headless Kakashi lying on his floor, saturating his white carpet with blood and staining it red. He sighed with relief.

'It was only a dream...' But the relief soon drained away and was replaced with a cold feeling curling in his gut and spreading to his extremities. 'But it doesn't matter, Kakashi's dead anyway...' Tears spilled down his cheeks and he clenched his bedsheets in his hands. 'Kakashi... you were always such an emotionless jerk, and we argued all the time, but I always knew deep down, that you cared about us. Me, you, Rin, and Sensei, we're all a family now. Why did you have to die?' Obito couldn't control it anymore. Not wanting to wake his family, he buried his face into his pillow and sobbed, pounding his fist repeatedly into it.

'Why why why why why WHY DAMNIT!'

"I'm sorry Obito, but even the ANBU said that all the evidence pointed to suicide." Minato stared sadly at his fuming students.

"You guys just don't get it! Kakashi wouldn't do this!" Obito glared at Minato, angry at him for doubting Kakashi's will to live.

"He's right Sensei!" Rin glared at the blonde haired man as well.

Minato sighed for the umpteenth time that day and pulled his remaining two students into a tight embrace. "I know it's hard, but-"

"NO!" Obito and Rin both pushed out of the embrace.

"Come on Rin," Obito grabbed her hand and started walking away. "If they aren't gonna do anything, we'll just have to do it ourselves!"

"Obito! Rin! Come back here!" Minato started after them, but they resolutely ignored him. "Guys!" He stopped. 'Give them time, they'll eventually accept it, I know I'm gonna need sometime.'

Minato sighed again and headed towards the mission room. He needed to get his mind away from this. A nice A-rank mission should do it.

'Kakashi, how could you do this? Didn't you realize how much you'd be missed?'

Wiping away a stray tear, he quickened his pace, trying to rid his mind of bright silver hair and deep onyx eyes.