After Kakashi lost consciousness, he was first taken to the hospital by Anbu member Yamato. Once it was confirmed that it was nothing more than ordinary chakra exhaustion, he was sent back to his jonin dormitory.
Even in his coma, Kakashi slept restlessly. Chaotic memories tangled around him, refusing to let go.
The boy crushed beneath the boulder had only one breath left, yet he still endured the eye transplant through sheer willpower.
"Kakashi… you have to help me… protect Rin…"
"Mm… O-Obito." Don't… don't die… please.
The silver-haired boy coldly rejected his teammate's plea to save their companion before continuing the mission.
"Anyone who doesn't follow the rules isn't fit to be a ninja. Just worthless trash."
"No… don't… shut up, don't say that…"
The back bearing the embroidered Uchiha fan crest turned away, giving up on arguing with him.
"Fine, I'll go save Rin myself! If abandoning your comrades for the mission is what's 'right,' then I'd rather be trash. At least in my eyes, Konoha's White Fang was the real hero!!"
"Don't go, I'll go with you… Obito…" I'll go with you—don't leave me behind.
"Kakashi, no matter what anyone else says, you're an outstanding jonin in my eyes… You have to help me protect Rin."
"Rin: Kakashi, I like—"
"Don't say it. You know Obito likes you."
"Rin: But you know too, don't you? The one I like is—"
"I promised him I'd protect you. I'll hold the enemy here. You go find reinforcements… Rin, you're the one who has to live!"
"Rin: Kakashi!"
"Rin… Rin… please…" The silver-haired jonin struggled in his sleep, his murmured words filled with desperate sorrow. "I'm begging you… don't make me… don't make me do this to Obito…" Please… I'm begging you… Rin, let me keep my promise to Obito… please… please…
Chidori screamed as lightning burst forth. Only the crimson Sharingan could guide his aim.
The sensation of his hand piercing into a chest—In an instant, lightning tore through the girl's heart. His hand passed straight through her body, sticky blood dripping from his fingertips.
"K-Kakashi…" Her pupils shrank as blood spilled from the corner of her mouth.
Rin… Rin!!!
The shattered Obito appeared again. Kakashi could only see the half of his face not crushed beneath the boulder.
"Kakashi… the promise… our promise. No matter what, protect Rin for me."
"If you want to know why…" A face eerily similar to Obito's adult self suddenly filled Kakashi's dream. Pale hair, as if all life had been drained away. The twisted right side of his face and the blood-red Sharingan stared straight at him. "If there has to be a reason—then it's because you stood by and let Rin die!!"
"Ah—!"
Kakashi jolted upright in bed. Terrified out of his wits, he forgot how to breathe, gulping air desperately. His heart hammered against his chest like a war drum, as if it might burst out at any moment.
The night was vast and silent. After resting for a few minutes, Kakashi forced himself into the bathroom and rinsed off with cold water.
Then he stood before the Memorial Stone… for the entire night.
The next day,
Sasuke had just left on his mother's errand, carrying a bento for Naruto. Not long after, Kakashi knocked on the door of the Uchiha apartment.
"Is that… Kakashi?" Mikoto Uchiha nearly didn't recognize him. Compared to yesterday, Kakashi looked far more haggard. Exhaustion seemed etched into his very soul—dark circles under his eyes, hollowed cheeks, and faint stubble along his chin.
He looked even more despondent than he had when Obito first died, when Minato had brought him to see Fugaku about the Sharingan.
"Sorry for disturbing you. I didn't bring anything with me—please forgive the rudeness."
His hoarse voice matched the jonin vest damp with morning mist. Because of what the Uchiha clan head's family had done for him back then regarding Obito's Sharingan, Kakashi had always treated Fugaku Uchiha and his wife with deep respect.
Mikoto invited Kakashi inside and poured him a cup of tea.
Kakashi lowered his head in thanks, then knelt formally at the low table and went straight to the point. He took out a piece of paper, slid it across the table with two fingers, and placed it before Mikoto.
"May I ask if you've ever seen a Sharingan like this?"
"This is…" Mikoto hesitated, then finally told him the truth. "This is the Mangekyou Sharingan. It's far rarer than the three-tomoe Sharingan."
"If possible, please tell me everything you know about this eye." Kakashi placed his hands on his knees and bowed deeply, his forehead nearly touching the tabletop.
…
After learning about the Mangekyou Sharingan, Kakashi showed her a photograph with a red-framed pattern—something as rare as the Second Hokage being revived through Edo Tensei.
Mikoto told him that the only person she could think of was the man rumored to be Konoha's first missing-nin: Uchiha Madara.
"Thank you. Then I'd like to ask… do you know anything about Obito's parents? Or whether he had any siblings or cousins?"
"Obito was an only child. I heard his parents died on a mission not long after he was born," Mikoto said. "I don't know much about them either. But you might find something among Obito's belongings. After the Nine-Tails incident, the Uchiha compound was reorganized. Back then, at your request, Obito's belongings should have been moved to the Hatake residence."
After that, Kakashi went to the Hatake ancestral home—a place he hadn't returned to in many years.
The broken chakra blade was still there. That proved the weapon Naruto received as a reward wasn't this one. It was more like a copy made back when his father's short blade had still been intact.
"Dad… I'm back."
Kakashi greeted the empty house and stepped into the dust-filled old residence, eventually finding the room that stored Obito's belongings.
To avoid this room, to avoid the floor stained with his father's blood, Kakashi had long fled to the jonin dormitories assigned by Konoha, as if running from the past.
Obito had a hobby of photography and preserving pictures—something many people never knew.
That was also the origin of the alias Kakashi occasionally used: Sukea. Rin's hair color, the purple face paint, Obito's interests—erasing himself, disguising proof that Rin and Obito had ever lived.
Kakashi found Obito's photo wall. There were pictures of Rin, of Team Minato, and one photo that appeared to be Obito's parents. A young man and woman held a swaddled baby Obito in their arms, smiling brightly.
After that, Kakashi never left the room.
That was why, when Naruto and the others later went to the jonin dormitory looking for him, they couldn't find him.