Seed
He knows that promises are fragile, but he doesn't think Kakashi will break this one. He can't find it in himself to believe that Kakashi would have the heart to take hold of his dream and shatter it.
This, it's a dream.
For nine months he had dreamed about his son; a tiny bundle of blankets and pudge with twinkling blue eyes and tufts of yellow hair. For nine months now he had dreamed that this little lion, the one in his arms, would fight the Kyuubi. And win.
And it doesn't hurt as much as he thought it would, when he draws a big swirl with black ink. It doesn't hurt much at all.
…Because, really, he thinks, mesmerized by the pinwheel on his son's stomach, this isn't the end.
(Really, he thinks, this is only the beginning.)
Fin.