He hadn't wanted to go; it all seemed far too soon.
What was a couple of hours? What was just a few minutes before a mission launch? What real reason was there for him to be on time—who would be waiting for him now? His team was gone, along with his one good reason to crawl from his darkened home every morning— he'd broken his promise to Obito, the boy that had given his life for him, had given him his greatest asset—and he couldn't keep one person safe in return. The reminder set the youth's teeth on edge, grinding painfully with the repeated imagery of those cold eyes staring back through the haze of a rain swept battlefield, bloodied lips forming a name in broken breaths, muddled with vital blood that poured without end from her waning mouth.
He recalled the way her lips turned, pink with the beginnings of reddened foam before the darkened blood bubbled from her lips and stained the front of her uniform. Horror born in the midst of a storm, yet her smile was warm—warm and fleeting as the beating of her heart was.
'Rin..'
Ka…Kashi..?
'Rin—'
'Kakashi..kun?'
'Rin, I'm so sor—'
"Kakashi-Kun, are you listening to me?"
Kakashi had fixed his gaze skyward, his remaining eye outlining the unassuming gather of weather above him with a glazed sense of unease—none he would allow the man that strode at his side to see. Minato walked slowly, his cloak only ghosting his bound ankles as he kept his pace with his lagging Jounin-kun.
"Hatake Kakashi—"
"I'm fine, sensei," The young Jounin prodigy answered the blond in his standard, mirthless voice, stifling any true emotion that eagerly washed against the back of his teeth. He was far from alright, something Minato had known from the moment they'd found his tiny frame awash with blood, waterlogged and curled next to Rin's chilly frame as though meaning to protect her from some unseen terror.
"I know you're on leave right now, Kakashi" Minato continued in an effort to diminish the silence that had grown between them, "but I don't think being alone in that house is helping you. I think staying with me for a week or so would be best." And it would, the young Hokage was certain of that. He'd been filled in on the dwindling state of the lone Hatake by a few choice ninken—he was well aware of Kakashi's refusal to eat, his short nights, and the long moon-lit hours that he would spend looming in the shadow of the memorial stone. There would be no such neglect in his home, no—he wouldn't allow it. He may not have been the boy's father, but that did not mean that he need live on the outskirts of civilization without human contact.
'Yondaime Hokage', the blond mused softly as he turned his gaze away from the prodigy at his side to the road before him, 'the soft hearted youth.'
"—Your wife," The statement came from nowhere, beginnings that brought Minato from what thoughts that had amassed in the growing wake of his earlier words.
"What's she like?"
At least he was talking.
"I think the two of you will get along famously."
—
The remainder of their walk was short and silent, something Kakashi had been internally grateful for, anything to stave that look his Sensei continually afforded him in their short outing—the tenuous look of concern meshed in barely contained grief. Kakashi felt his jaw tighten and a selfish desire began to pit within the bowls; he didn't want to see just how much his Sensei was suffering—he didn't want to be reminded. Not now.
"Ah, we're here," The blond announced with an air of relief entering into his voice, his smile curling as he reached for the door that sealed the quaint abode from the outside world. "Remember your shoes, Kakashi-kun."
As the elder blonde pushed through the opening threshold and beckoned Kakashi to follow, the soft sound of a woman's voice singing reached their collective hearing, a noise that forced the silver haired Jounin to pause just before entering into the darkened hall. He could see her: sheltered beneath the warm overhead lights, lithe and beautiful, her red hair a blanket down her back, falling here and there with each motion she made in her stride. Her voice erupted into another playful swell, a giggle peppering her glib actions as she strode to the kitchen.
Kakashi knew that melody—Where—Where had he heard it before?
"Kushina?"
"Minato!" The woman answered with a smile, turning to greet her husband with a bright emotion Kakashi had never before seen in a person. She ran to Minato and his face became alight with joy that soon washed away what lingering grief that had languished within the depths of his cobalt gaze. They were one, locked together in an embrace as though they had not seen each other in months. A sight that considerably reddened the young boy's cheeks.
"Is that him?" She queried, and the young Hokage nodded.
"Kakashi, this is my wife, Kushina."
The taller woman pulled away from the embrace that held her fast and knelt before he new company with a welcoming smile,
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Kakashi-kun. Minato has told me all about you."