Nobody is perfect. Minato knew this better than anyone. But as he watched the tiny coffin be slowly lowered into the ground, and felt the guilt gnaw at his gut, he wished for a second that he was.

Ayano Kusakabe had been Obito's replacement - it was dangerous for any group to be short a person, as even though the War was over, discontentment and tension filled the air. She was a Chunin, but her entire genin team, as well as her Jōnin Sensei had been killed in the same battle that Minato himself had ended, while his own team had destroyed Kannabi bridge. The young kunoichi had been completely alone - especially as the first ninja from her very civilian family.

Minato could recall, that neither he nor Rin, or Kakashi had been particularly nice to her when she had been added to the team - Kakashi specifically. Obito's death had hit them all hard, but the young Jonin had blamed himself for it, even when no one person was at fault. Ayano being added to the team had just felt wrong, and the Hatake had taken this feeling out on her - not hesitating to call her 'replacement', and referring to her as 'not part of the squad'. Rin was usually the nice one - kind to every person within Konoha, but even she had barely spoken to Ayano, bursting into tears almost every time she looked at her. And Minato himself could barely glance at her without feeling a completely overwhelming sense of guilt. If he had only ended the battle sooner, Ayano's genin squad and Obito would probably still be alive. He knew deep down that it wasn't really his fault, but he couldn't help but blame himself anyway.

And so, Minato recalled, Ayano had been ignored - a teammate only in name.

None of them had cared about her home life, about the extra bruises and cuts she came to training with, the mysterious bandages and braces that could never be attributed to a mission.

They had been too wrapped up in their grief to notice her suffering.

And Ayano had been suffering. Her stepfather had beaten her each night when she came back from training, left her locked outside in the depths of winter.

Broken. Inside and out.

There had been no reason behind it, but he had taken his anger out on her. Her mother had let him.

But one day, he had gone to far. He had beaten his stepdaughter to death in a drunken rage. Left her to die a long, painful death as she suffered in silence. Ayano had died alone. Not on the battlefield, during the War she had lived through - fighting every second to survive another day. Not in an attack, protecting the innocent. She had died in her hallway, her blood dripping down the stairs, as her mother pleasured the man who would be her murderer.

Team Minato didn't find out for a week.

Her stepfather had buried her body in the garden - amongst the roses and hydrangeas she had adored - and her mother had been too scared to let anyone know. Minato had written off her absence as something meaningless. Too lazy or sick to let them know she couldn't show up. It wasn't until they had been given a mission, and gone to pick her up, that they had learnt something was wrong.

Her stepfather had stank of alcohol, and her mother had had guilt written all over her face. Dark brown blood stains still lingered on the carpeted stairs, and Ayano's chakra had faded from the house.

She hadn't been there in weeks, and was probably dead.

It hadn't taken long for Minato, Kakashi and Rin to find her body, but in the week it had been buried there, it had began to decay. Flesh cold and blue, shrivelling up as worms began to burrow into her body. Half buried beneath the flowers and soil, Minato had seen both of his students eyes glaze over, as they had flashbacks of Obito in a similar position. Both dead. Both half buried in an earthen grave.

He had felt so guilty.

And now, Ayano lay within a coffin - being lowered back into the ground. Her Stepfather was in prison for her death - serving a life sentence. As was her mother. Guilty, as an accessory to murder.

But the blond still felt empty.

Ayano had been so young when she died, and as her new Jonin Sensei, Minato felt partly responsible for her death. He had always prided himself on his observational skills, and if she had been part of his original genin team, he would have surely noticed the signs of her abuse. But he had been so wrapped up in his grief and guilt over Obito, that he had ignored her plight. Forgotten, that there was another child (because even though the were fighters, ninja and killers, they were still definitely children) depending on him.

And soon, he would be the next Hokage. Responsible for every single person within Konohagakure, as well as most of the Land of Fire.

The burden felt heavier than ever before.

Minato knew that nobody was perfect, no matter how hard they tried to be. He had never deluded himself into thinking he was the exception. But now, more than ever before, he wished that he could be perfect. The perfect teammate. Perfect Sensei. Perfect Hokage. He wished that he had the ability to save everyone, from every type of suffering. He had forgotten the rest of the world in his grief, and now he needed to deal with it.

Ayano had been the wake up call, allowing him to move past his guilt and strive for peace once more.

He wouldn't let her sacrifice be in vain.

A.N

I am incapable of writing any fluff, so this is just another angst fest, in a line of many.

I guess this could be Canon complacent…

That don't really show much of what Minato feels after Obito's death, so this plot rabbit just kinda happened. It's actually based around a single line in 'Edge of Precipice' which is an amazing one shot by 'amethyst-ice22' that people should totally read. It is awesome. And, it's far less angsty than this.

Dear God, I can't do fluff.

To anyone who is reading any of my other stories, I'm sorry for not updating them recently. I have some serious writer's block, and before that I had a school trip and exams. I have no idea when I'll next update. Sorry. Hopefully I'll have an idea soon.

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Please review and tell me what you think.

Ellie