Title: Wishes
Genre: Angst
Summary: Wishes come true
Disclaimer: Kishimoto-san still owns naruto and I'm still not getting rich off of this but I still love it.
Dedicated to Vernajast because usually when I think of Minato I think of her.
---Wishes---
Minato kneels and places the white mum on the grave marker. Lighting the daigen koh incense his friend was so fond of he carefully places it in the small brass bowl of sand. The brown grains shift to accomadate the stick, ashes from previous visits crumbling at the motion. "I wish you could see him Sakumo-san. It would make you so proud to see the courage he has when they speak of you." The words are lies but he can't bear to speak to the truth even at the gravesite. It pains him the way the young boy refuses to look at anyone, hiding his anger behind the mask he refuses to take off. "I miss you my friend, but I promise I'll take care of him."
Taking a pinch of the sand and ash from the bowl, the young man stands and closes his eyes for a moment. It's a silly ritual his civilian father taught him, but he thinks that even if it does nothing, it hurts nothing. And so he lets the wind pull the dust from his fingers while he contemplates the wish. It's simple and the thought is finished by the time the last grain is gone. Because the only thing Minato hopes for is that Kakashi will someday learn to forgive his father abandoning him. He knows that it may be a wish that is never fullfilled, but he keeps it close to his heart with every visit.
---
He finds it strange to be standing here like this with his student. Rin was here earlier, he knows the minute he sees the small paper bird with it's wing tucked under the bowl. And he wonders if she had come with Kakashi or to check on him. Nearly everyday since his release from the hospital, he'd found his student here or at the memorial stone.
"I saw you visited your father earlier." He leaves it a statement, not sure if Kakashi will even acknowledge the fact.
"Obito..." The name is spoken calmly but Minato doesn't miss the way the undamaged eye doesn't meet his.
"He would want you to..." Sighing he pulls a stick of incense out of the case and lights it, starting his ritual. He wonders if he shouldn't feel less grateful for the change. It's wrong to weigh the life of one student over another, to be glad Kakashi learned something with the death of his friend, but he does and he is.
"Why do that Sensei?" Kakashi's question startles him and Minato pauses, his fingers still in the sand of the incense burner.
"It's something my father used to do whenever he visited my mother." Taking a bit of dust in his hand he takes Kakashi's wrist and turns it, letting the sand fall into the boy's open palm before closing the pale fingers with his own. "Think of thing that you wish for most, hold it tight against your heart for a moment."
Kakashi's hand clenches but his expression remains impassive and only Minato is there to see the way he closes his uncovered eye and holds his breath. "Then..." He prys Kakashi's fingers open. "...let it go."
Kakashi tenses, trying to close his fist again, but the fingers remain in the blonde's grasp. "Let go Kashi-kun." His voice shakes, but he doesn't avert his gaze, even as the tears fill his eyes. "It'll be granted, it may cost you more than you ever imagined but believe me, it will be answered."
After a moment he releases the boy's wrist and Kakashi turns away letting his hand fall to his side with what Minato takes to be a resigned sigh.
---
"Sensei... tell me how I'm supposed to help him," he sighs running a hand over the marker while the smoke from the incense curls in the air beside him. His thoughts turn like always to the mistakes he made three years ago. It's pointless and he knows it. The only one who could change anything at this point is Naruto.
Dragging his fingers through the sand he scoops a little out. "I wish I had your wisdom. Please help me find the right way to teach him what he needs to know." Even as the wind carries the dust away, he wonders what it will cost him. But, he understands finally that it doesn't matter because it's a sacrifice worth paying.