The sun was too bright for his taste, but he knew he hadn't visited the marker in a long time. Ever since everything happened he barely had time for himself. Kakashi Hatake, the copy ninja as he was known for the special eye he hid underneath the head protector. He felt like he owed it to his dead friends to go visit them.
The wind blew slightly in his hair as his footsteps crunched in the dried leaves that refused to blow away from the cold months. It was almost a comforting sound as he walked the small path to where the headstone was. A beam of light spotted the stone with all the names on it as Kakashi knelt down and pressed his calloused fingers to the etched stone.
"Sorry it has been a while. Been busy saving the village." Kakashi chuckled.
Softly the wind breezed through his mask bringing along a scent he hadn't smelled in over 10 years. The copy ninja tilted his head in the direction where the smell had come from, but there was nothing there. It was being here at this site where the memories of not only his two teammates were, but of the one person who got away. Someone he should have tried his hardest to save.
Kakashi stood there for a bit longer and stared at the stone. It was nice being there, even if he couldn't do it as often as he liked. He lifted his head to the sky and there it was again, that scent.
"You know, I don't understand why you always came here. Even after Rin died. I told you that coming here was just bad memories." It was a female's voice.
Kakashi felt the hair on his neck stand up; his blood ran cold underneath his translucent skin. There was no way that this was happening. The scent, the voice, it was all a trick of the mind from all the stress that had been going on. The ninja was afraid to turn around to see if his mind would project a vision.
"Bad memories? They were our friends." he smirked underneath his mask, deciding to play along with his mind. If this was the cause for the voice then he wanted to just go along with it. It had been too long since he heard it.
"Friends? Yes, they were. I mean I met Obito when I was in the academy only once, but you guys were a year above me. As for Rin, she was my best friend and your teammate." the female chuckled, and made Kakashi almost die inside, "But don't you think that coming here just brings up those memories? I'd like to think that you don't want to think of the bad things that happened in the past. I know I don't."
His mind was just being cruel now. Footsteps that were not his walked closer to him and Kakashi held his breath. Cruel, just absolutely cruel.
"Yeah, you're right, but I owe them I feel." he muttered, "Why am I talking to you, you're dead and just in my mind Minako."
The laugh came again and it was like a strand of bells to his ears. Kakashi closed his eyes and shook his head. This was just something wrong his mind was doing to him now. He hadn't heard her laugh in so long, as well as her scent as the wind brought it back into his nose.
"Dead? Well, last time I checked I was very much alive" she spoke. There was no way. The pervy sage told him she was dead. Why would he lie to him?
"Kakashi, turn around."
The copy ninja slowly turned on his heel and faced the form of a woman who invoked images from his past that he didn't know if he wanted to remember. Her light blue almond eyes bore into him as he bit his bottom lip from underneath his mask, her hair was pulled up into a very messy bun on the top of her head, gleaming a dark crimson color as small tendrils fell framing her face. Kakashi never thought that he was going to see her again.
The figure pushed her small wire framed glasses back on her face and gave him a side smirk. Never did she think she was going to come back to the land of fire. Her orange and black kimono hung loosely off her shoulders as she let out a deep breath. Her feet moved closer to him, but Kakashi moved backed. In his mind he thought she was a ghost, just a trick his guilty mind pushed onto him.
"You died Minako." Kakashi muttered again. He tried to look like his calm self, but his heart was betraying him beating so fast. If this was really her, she would be able to feel it.
"Again, last time I checked I seemed to be very much alive." she sighed.
Minako reached a slender pale hand over and pressed her palm on his cheek. Kakashi couldn't move. It felt almost impossible that a ghost could touch him, but here a ghost of her was touching him. Her hand was warm though, and Kakashi still couldn't believe the person he was facing. A ghost couldn't be warm, but this could be some trick.
"I didn't die Kakashi..." she muttered, her voice almost down to a whisper, "I just told the pervy sage that to cover up that I was never coming back, but I had to come back! I left Naruto, I ran because I was scared...I-"
Kakashi didn't hesitate; in one quick motion he pulled down his mask and kissed the girl in front of him. He pressed his lips on hers, and Minako couldn't help but melt. In Kakashi's mind if it was a ghost he could touch, he at least wanted to kiss her for one last time. Minako moved closer, and placed her hand on his chest.
When the pair pulled back Minako was still there, she was still standing in front of him, her lips flushed from just being kissed as well as her cheeks. She wasn't gone, so which meant the form in front of him was actually real.
"Where have you been?" Kakashi was pulled from the dreamy thoughts, and felt a pit of anger in his chest. She was presumed dead for almost twelve years and now she showed up out of nowhere.
"Is it really that important?" Minako asked, "I'm back, that's all that matters." she looked down at the ground, then back into his own grey eyes.
"You were suppose to be dead for twelve years, and now you show up? Yes, it is important." Kakashi didn't know if he wanted to kiss her again or throw a punch.
Minako felt the anger that built up inside of him. One minute he was kissing her and the next he was getting angry. She knew she deserved it, but at the same time she left when she was young, and for reasons that were immature, but she knew he wouldn't have understood, or hoped he would.
"I traveled, and was a librarian in a lot of the countries. I taught people to read, kept my profile on the down low. I knew if people knew I was alive I would have been a missing nin, and I knew you would have gone to look for me. I didn't need you to try and kill me, I didn't even know if you were still in the Anbu." Her words were tumbling from her mouth, as small glistening tears came down her face. This was not what was she was expecting when she came back.
Minako moved closer to Kakashi who flinched when he felt her hand touch his face. Slowly she pulled the mask down, and brought her own lips to his pressing lightly. Kakashi calmed down, as she let him go, and that is what she wanted. She could tell he still felt mad, but not as much as before. She had her reasons to why she did what she did, but he didn't know if he wanted to forgive her or leave her in her spot and never look back.
The pair stood close to each other silently as Kakashi took in the fact that she was still alive, and she took in that he was still there. Maybe there was a chance that she could come back. Minako wanted to meet Naruto finally and show him he had family alive, and she wanted to see if there was anything she could salvage with Kakashi.
"Well, I never thought I'd see Kakashi with a woman in person. I always thought that he only liked his books." another male's voice broke the silence and the contact between the two ninjas.
Minako looked over her shoulder to see a bright blond haired boy clad in orange and black, with bright blue eyes and whiskers on his face, and a pink haired, green eyes girl stood next to him with her mouth hung open. How long had they been there?
"Naruto." Kakashi cleared his throat and moved away from Minako.
Naruto? Her nephew? Minako turned and walked over to the boy, whose face turned a slight pink as she came closer to his face. Her light blue eyes studied him as he squirmed underneath her gaze. He looked like her...he really had the face of his sister, and the hair of his father. Though she couldn't see any of her in there.
"You look like my sister, but you don't have any of me." she pouted.
"Wait, what? You knew my mother?" Naruto snapped out from his daze and looked at the crimson haired girl.
Minako turned her head to Kakashi and threw her hands on her hips,
"Did you not tell him anything?" she asked.
"He wasn't suppose to know you existed." the copy ninja looked down at the ground
Minako turned back to Naruto and he could see her eyes become almost an icy color. She was upset that he had no idea who she was.
"Naruto, I'm your aunt." Minako smiled really wide and grabbed Naruto into a bone-crushing hug, "I've seen you when you were younger, but I was forbidden to tell you who I was."
Naruto heard pieces of what she said but without the air in his lungs he didn't know how to comprehend the words. The pink haired girl next to him felt her jaw drop again when Minako spoke about being his aunt. She looked over at Kakashi who scratched the back on his head and gave Sakura a guilty look. It was true; Naruto had a family member still alive.
Finally Minako released the golden haired boy and kept him at arms length. He had her eye shape, but his mothers color. The girl wondered if she had anything else like her. Minako finally let him go seeing how Naruto didn't know how to respond to her.
"Naruto, I'm sorry for not being in your life. I can only hope you forgive me." Minako gave him a small smile and bowed her body.
"Wait, I am confused for a moment, you're telling me that I have an aunt?" Naruto looked at the bend over woman and then to Sakura who stood with wide eyes.
Kakashi cleared his throat as he walked over to Minako and nudged her side to get up. The older woman got up and looked at Kakashi then over to her nephew.
"Naruto, Minako was your mom's sister. She was in t—"
"I was in the ANBU when you were born." Minako cut off the Copy Ninja, "You see the 3rd Hokage didn't want me to tell you who I was. He didn't want enemies knowing that I was connected to the nine tailed fox. It would have caused a lot of bad things, and I know I wouldn't have been able to protect you. That doesn't mean I didn't want to tell you!" Minako started to feel herself tear up.
This boy in front of her was the last thing that connected herself to her sister and brother in law. It killed her that she didn't get to know him when he was younger. She thought about all the times she could have protected him from the villagers and what she could have taught him.
Kakashi placed a hand on Minako's shoulder, but the girl pushed away. This is not what her homecoming was suppose to be like, but at the same time everyone she knew thought she was dead.
"So, I had family…someone actually related to me alive this whole time, why didn't anyone at least tell me I had someone else?" Naruto snapped from his daze, "That old man made me believe that everyone died."
"In his defense Naruto, Minako was supposedly dead. She died on a mission retrieving Intel on the cloud country." Kakashi piped in, "Believe me, I thought she was a ghost." He said in a whisper, but enough for Minako to hear.
The kimono wearing ninja looked over at Kakashi and gave him a small smile, but she couldn't help but to feel guilty. This was the one person she never wanted to make mad, even when she was younger.
"Naruto…" Minako started, her attention going right back to the golden haired boy, "I really am back, and I want to start to form a relationship with you. I know I've missed about sixteen years, or ya know you're whole life basically, but I just want to try."
Sakura went over to grab Naruto by the arm and stared daggers into the older woman. Minako could tell just by her chakra she was strong, and fighting her would have been the last thing she wanted to do. Naruto looked over at Sakura than back at Kakashi before turning his gaze to his long lost Aunt.
"I want to know everything." He said, "I want to know everything about my mom and dad."
All three ninjas looked at Naruto with shocked expressions on their faces, and Minako couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"Naruto…" Sakura whispered next to him, "Are you sure? You have no idea who she is, she could be lying!"
"Yeah, she could be, but I trust Kakashi-sensei, and I know he wouldn't lie to me." Naruto nodded.
The boy walked over to Minako making her jump. She didn't know what to say or do. To her surprise Naruto bowed his head to her, and Minako felt her face flare up. She looked over at Kakashi and couldn't help the small tears that fell from her eyes,
"How about we go back to the village. I'm sure Tsunade would want to see who is back." Kakashi broke up the tender moment.