Beta read by DyrraDegan; pre-beta by MoiyaHatake. Thanks for all of your help.

I hope you all like this one. YonKaka. Will be roughly 13 shortish chapters long; nearly complete. Note that the 'titles' of chapters are from the song "Winterborn" by the Cruxshadows; chosen after the fact, because they went so well. This is not a songfic.

Thanks for reading. vj


PROLOGUE: With noble acts, the bravest souls endure the heart's remains.

"…minato…"

It slipped off the boy's tongue with an ease he'd never known when the man was alive.

"…minato…sensei…"

Kakashi fisted blond hair as he sobbed into the white shoulder of his Hokage. His sensei. His…his…

"…I need you!" Something else never easily spoken aloud. In fact, it was the first time. And it was too late. "You can't…"

The man beneath him was dead. Kakashi knew this, as he knew the smell of a certain aftershave combined with the blond's sweat and shampoo formed the distinctive scent that was completely and utterly "Minato." Kakashi's nostrils were full of that scent, his face buried in the blond's chest that was far too still, too cold. Too still.

Too cold…

Namikaze Minato.

The Yondaime Hokage.

The Yellow Flash of Konoha.

Sensei.

In the graveled, sooty road that led to Konohagakure, Kakashi knelt on muddy knees. His sensei's blue eyes were dead orbs set in so much skin and bone and nothing—Nothing!—that indicated the man with the easy smile and protective nature had ever inhabited that body. Unable to stand the emptiness that was so horribly wrong tainting those features, Kakashi looked away. He spoke instead to the sky above them, the grass, the trees. Kakashi whispered into the night: "Sensei, I promise…I'll…I'll keep him safe…I'll keep them all safe…"


Kakashi sat up in bed so fast that his dogs jumped and skittered around the room, anxious on behalf of their master. Pakkun appeared, standing quietly at the foot of the bed. "What is it, Kakashi?"

"Mmm..."

Pakkun's gaze lingered a moment longer, two dark eyes meeting Kakashi's mismatched pair without apology. Apparently satisfied, he disappeared with a nod and a small puff of wind.

Kakashi dropped back onto the bed with a deep sigh. It was the same dream—always the same! He glanced at the clock, noted the time, and decided it was too late to chase sleep again tonight. With a grunt, he climbed out of bed, covered Obito's eye, and stumbled into the small kitchen intent on finding something that could pass for coffee and maybe breakfast.