Title: Obito's Legacy, Chapter Ten: Minato
Author: wife-chan
Rating: Mature
Warning: AU, angst, language, PTSD, post rape/abuse/child endangerment, slash/het relationships.
Disclaimer: We don't own Naruto or Harry Potter, JK Rowling and Masashi Kishimoto own them. We are not making any money from this fan fiction.
Notes: Meeting Obito's parents. All of them.
Summary: Kakashi has already lost Obito. By accident, he finds Obito's legacy and he isn't about to lose him too. Time travel. De-aged Harry.
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Minato stares at the trio on the ground in the center of the room. Hiri is cuddled up tightly on Kakashi's lap and Jiyuuri is huddled close to them, as though wanting to touch Hiri but not wanting to scare him. Kakashi has his face buried in Hiri's hair and if Minato didn't know any better, he would have thought that the teenager was crying.
But Kakashi isn't really one to cry for emotional pain.
It's a surprise to Minato that Kakashi is willing to admit to having been in love with Obito to a clan member. There is something niggling at the back of his brain about these particular Uchihas' relationship, but he can't seem to get the thought fully formed. It's something that Fugaku had insinuated at the meeting, he thinks, something about how Obito's parents weren't 'whores' even with a 'particular relationship' and his vehement defense of them.
He's still displeased that Tsume had said that out loud. If ever there was a thought to be kept private, that was it. Especially in front of Fugaku, since Jiyuuri is his second cousin and Fugaku is well known for being very clan oriented.
Though Minato isn't sure when the boys had time to become as close as Kakashi says, he doesn't doubt that his student loves Obito. However, just because Kakashi was in love with the Uchiha doesn't mean he has more of a right to Hiri than Obito's parents do.
It pains him to admit that with all the laws in Konoha, clan and non-clan, there is a precedent of blood over everything else. He can't think of a single time a child has been raised outside of a family when there is even just one blood relative left alive. Kakashi doesn't have a very good chance of keeping Hiri, not if Fugaku fights for him on behalf of Hiri's grandparents; Loving Obito or not.
From the corner of his eye, Minato sees Seijun reach out and touch Fugaku's elbow. The head of the Uchiha turns to the jounin and they share a look Minato has never seen before.
His attention is drawn back to Kakashi, still holding Hiri.
Rin shivers next to him and he pulls her into a half-hug, not wanting her to feel left out or alone. After all, she's just realized how much on the outside she had been when their team had been whole. She is the only girl, the only medic, the one who chased after Kakashi's affections when she was younger, the one who refused to ever really listen to Obito when he was alive. Now she knows that she was always on the outside, looking in.
Minato hopes that she doesn't withdraw from them out of guilt for unknowing trying to break Kakashi and Obito up; or out of anger for not having known about them.
He'll have to reassure her that he hadn't known either. It'll be a good bonding session, airing this kind of thing out.
He's both surprised and not that Kakashi fell in love with another boy. It's not like Kakashi screams 'gay' or what-have-you, but he's just so very different from everyone else his age. He holds himself apart of everyone else and Minato wonders if it's a defense mechanism that he's developed for fear of being discovered as 'different'.
He wishes that Kakashi had felt safe enough with him to tell him about his and Obito's relationship, though. It makes Minato feel like he isn't doing his job right when his student feels like they can't come to him with problems, personal or occupational.
"Minato-sensei?" Rin whispers from where she's tucked up against his side, and he looks down to see her eyes wide and a faint redness across her cheeks, "Do you think anyone knew about them?"
Minato shakes his head, because he can't imagine Kakashi ever telling someone without telling him first. He's been Kakashi's father figure for almost ten years; if there was anyone Kakashi and Obito could talk to about being involved, it was him.
"No, I don't think anyone knew."
"But how could they hide it?" She asks softly, "I mean, Obito lived at home. And Kakashi all but lives with you, even now. How could they be-" She stumbles over her words, "-be together without someone knowing?"
"I may be the Hokage," Minato sighs, "-but I'm not omniscient. Kakashi is a very good ninja himself and Obito wasn't the dead-last, despite what Kakashi used to call him in public."
"I always wondered about that," Rin mumbles, "Obito was the third highest in his class, so I never understood why Kakashi-kun would call him 'dead-last'." She bites her lip and pushes closer to Minato, "Maybe it was part of their cover?"
"Maybe," Minato says noncommittally. He doesn't believe that, but it doesn't hurt to let Rin have something to hold onto. Minato knows why the genius called the Uchiha 'dead-last'; Kakashi knew that Obito was the so-called weakest of the Uchiha, not the weakest of his class..
Or, Minato thinks as he watches Seijun and Jiyuuri, maybe it was because the other Uchihas had all but kicked his immediate family out of the clan.
He can see, as he watches Seijun and Jiyuuri, that despite them being married and how close they are, they are not acting as lovers do. He wonders if these Uchiha live outside of the clan complex because they want to, or because they are made to.
"Hokage-sama," Fugaku steps into his personal space and Minato lets go of Rin so that she can step away, giving them the facade of privacy.
"Fugaku-san," Minato's voice is a soft as Fugaku's is, "Have you read the proposals?"
"I have," Fugaku taps the folders that contain the guardianship proposals from both Kakashi and his cousin.
"What do you think?" Minato is pretty sure that he already knows what Fugaku thinks. Just because the man was willing to give Kakashi one last night with Hiri doesn't mean that he's going to be willing to let Hiri, a genius - if bastard - Uchiha, out of his purview.
"I have one or two more things to bring up for Seijun and Jiyuuri."
Intrigued, Minato turns to face the Uchiha fully, "Why wouldn't it have been put into the paperwork?"
Fugaku's eyes stay steadily on his, "It is a personal matter that hasn't been officially documented-" He pauses and Minato can feel the weight of the pause. "Ever," he completes in a heavy tone.
Minato straightens, gaze sharpening on Fugaku. Seijun and Jiyuuri step closer to each other, and Minato sees the way they glance at the other. He can't tell if the glances are worried or concerned, but knows there is something wrong. Very rarely are things purposefully left out of official documents, since an intentional lack of information can be considered treason, if the reason matters enough to the rest of the village or to the missions the individual takes.
It's rather obvious that this matter is serious though, from the way Fugaku's lips are tightening. He looks like he doesn't want to reveal this in front of the team and his eyes dart to the outwardly calm faces of the couple next to him.
"Seijun and Jiyuuri are not-" he pauses, looking as if he has a hard time speaking. It's a shock, because whatever Minato has thought of Fugaku otherwise, he's always been a good, persuasive politician. "They are not in the most - traditional of marriages," he hedges slowly, and Minato sees Kakashi's eyes narrow at the vague statement.
Jiyuuri leans forward, a small smile on her face, and Minato thinks she looks brave.
"What my head of clan means, is that Seijun and I are both very much in love - with two other people." She leans back calmly as Minato's mind stutters to a halt. What?
Kakashi's head snaps up and Rin stiffens in surprise at Minato's side.
"What does that mean?" Kakashi asks, carefully neutral, and wraps his arms tighter around a worried-looking Hiri.
"Our marriage was a marriage of convenience, due to the nature of our..." she trails off, turning to Seijun and lifting an eyebrow. He looks more concerned than she does about whatever is going on, and Minato sees his eyes focus on Hiri with a kind of pain-filled resignation.
"...Sexuality." Seijun completes the statement and it takes Minato a moment to catch on to what he's not quite saying.
Minato hesitates, not sure how to ask and more than a little confused and shocked by his drawn conclusions, but apparently Kakashi has no such compunctions.
"You are both homosexual?"
There is a large amount of surprise coating his words, and Minato can't help but wonder - as the couple nod their confirmation - if the boy feels comfortable or uncomfortable with that. He's not sure if Kakashi has accepted his feelings for Obito as his being gay or bisexual, so that is something he'll have to approach his student with. Later, when he's untangled this... whatever it is.
"You married each other; and have partners on the side?" Kakashi continues, sounding less than pleased with the question, and Minato can't really blame him. He wonders what the other two partners would have to say if they knew their lovers were actually married.
Jiyuuri glares at Kakashi, and Minato feels himself bristle a little. He can't help but be defensive of his students, and he feels even more so in this situation.
"No. Our respective partners are fully aware of all of our relationships. We've been with them for longer than we've been married to each other." she pauses, staring defiantly at Minato and continues with her lips twitching, "They stood as best man and maid of honor at our wedding."
Minato's mind reels. This is all - a lot stranger than he'd been expecting. He'd heard of other kinds of relationship arrangements than the more traditional ones, but nothing quite this... weird.
"Since the clan is what it is," Fugaku interrupts, "-we felt it best that they be married, so that they could continue living their lives unharassed by... the less understanding members of the clan."
Minato mentally blinks at Fugaku's statement. He'd have pegged Fugaku as one of those 'less understanding' people, and his mind reels again as his views on the clan head shift a little more.
Oh. This is a whole new slew of problems, he suddenly realizes. Hiri will need a stable family, and a couple - quadru-couple? - who are obviously regarded as outsiders of the Uchiha clan might not be a fitting family for Hiri-kun. But then, Kakashi is heavily disliked by a lot of clan members himself, so he supposes that evens things out.
And on the other hand, what will Hiri think about their relationships? And, for that matter, what does he think of Kakashi loving Obito? All he's ever known about people attracted to their own sex were that they wanted to rape him!
"We were required to produce offspring by, and for, the clan," Jiyuuri bows her head as she speaks. Seijun settles a hand on her shoulder and lends her strength so that she can continue speaking, "Neither of us holds any sexual attraction for the opposite sex and so we were paired together for the sake of everyone in the clan. If we produced a child for the clan they would allow us leave the confines of the compound and live how we wanted - as long as we kept it quiet. If we did not produce a child, we would be separated and forced into traditional marriages to produce children." Jiyuuri looks up and there is a deep pain in her eyes. "We loved Obito. He was the only blessing of our union together and though we will never have another child, we will never forget Obito."
Minato suddenly understands just what it is that Jiyuuri is not quite saying. She and Seijun had been married to one another so that they would not be forced into a marriage with a spouse that required marital rights of them. They were allowed to stay together if they produced a child, and he can tell that it was painful for them to even just remember how they'd conceived Obito.
"So you have other people living in your house," Kakashi's words cuts through Minato's ruminations and the Hokage looks at his student. Kakashi is holding Hiri to him fiercely, from the grasp Hiri has on Kakashi's arms, almost too tightly, "You live outside of the compound; that means that your lovers live with you, right?" The teenager's voice rises as he continues talking, "You want to take Hiri- You want to take Hiri into a house with two unknowns and you think that I'm just going to give him up-"
"Kakashi!" Minato cuts Kakashi off, though the boy continues glaring at the Uchiha couple. If they can be considered a couple. "That's enough," he says in a quieter tone.
"Minato-sensei!" Kakashi finally wretches his gaze from the Uchihas and looks at Minato and the blond man can see panic in his eyes, "They want to take Hiri and we don't know anything about them."
"We know enough," Minato tells him, "We know that they love each other, even if it's not the way we originally thought. We know that they loved Obito. We know that they will love Hiri - perhaps already love Hiri."
"But-" Kakashi sputters wildly, "Two unknowns!"
Jiyuuri interrupts Kakashi's sputtering, eyeing him slightly warily, as though afraid of his reaction. Minato can't blame her though, with the way Kakashi looks like he's strangling their grandson. He doubts his student is holding Hiri too hard; he's much too conscious about anything concerning the boy to slip up like that. "Actually, we were going to propose that you come with us to meet Natari and Hiro," the woman explains, shooting him a questioning glance. Before Minato has a chance to say anything, Kakashi breaks into the conversation again.
"You want to take Hiri into an unknown house in an unknown location to meet unknown people?" He snaps his jaws under his mask and Minato frowns; Kakashi is behaving quite erratically, and though he understands why his student is so protective of Hiri, the way he's acting is not an appropriate way for a potential guardian of a small child to behave.
"Obito grew up with all of us," Seijun says quietly to Minato's enraged student and Kakashi immediately stills. Minato blinks, unsure if the statement was to quiet Kakashi or just because it's the truth, and Seijun feels that Kakashi needs to recognize it.
"They were as much his parents as we were," Jiyuuri adds, grief in her voice and stance. "They miss him just as much as we do."
"Um, excuse me?" Hiri suddenly pipes up in the silence, breaking the staring contest Seijun and Kakashi had been holding. He wiggles a little in Kakashi's grasp, and is immediately released and put on the floor, though his student still has an arm wrapped protectively around the boy's small shoulders.
"Yes, Hiri-kun?" Seijun asks, crouching down to look Hiri in the eye.
"I have more grandparents?" the boy asks, pursing his lips and darting his eyes about the room, clearly hoping someone will answer, but not quite daring to demand anything. No matter how much of a right he has to do that.
"Ah, in a manner of speaking," Minato answers when Hiri's gaze come to rest on him. He's not sure he wants to explain this to the boy right now; it wouldn't be a great shock to find that same-sex relationships scare him, and he doesn't want to induce a panic attack. On the other hand, if Hiri is to see the other set of grandparents, he'll obviously need to know the truth, or it defeats the whole purpose of having him choose a living arrangement for himself.
"While it's nice," Kakashi practically spits out, "-that you thought of introducing your lovers before letting Hiri decide if he wants to live with you or not," Minato is more than a little appalled at his student's rudeness at this point. He certainly never taught Kakashi how to be this rude. "I think anyone who actually has experience with abused children would realize how completely idiotic it is to want to take a child to an unfamiliar place to meet two unfamiliar people."
"Kakashi," Minato warns the teenager with his tone, "I said that's enough."
"No it's not, Sensei," Kakashi calms a little but not much, "All Hiri knows of strangers is cruelty."
Kakashi isn't completely wrong, Minato thinks privately.
There's a sniffle from Kakashi's arms and the silver haired teenager turns to the child he holds.
"Kaka-nii-sama?" Hiri sniffs again, his eyes tearing up and his lower lip trembling, "W'as-What's wrong, Nii-sama?"
Contrition immediately makes itself known on Kakashi's face and Minato watches his student melt in front of his eyes, his hold on Hiri turning tender and his voice soft.
"Shh, shh, Hiri-kun, it's okay, I'm not mad at you, I'm not angry." Kakashi cradles Hiri to him and rocks him back and forth, kissing his forehead and his hair, stroking his face and arms. "It's okay, I just got a little worked up, it's all right, nothing's wrong."
"Does that mean I can't meet my other grandparents?" Hiri whispers, holding Kakashi tight around the neck, not looking anywhere but Kakashi.
Seijun shakes his head, "No, you can meet them, Hiri-kun," He whispers. Minato can see that he wants to reach out and touch Hiri like Jiyuuri had wanted to, but doesn't dare, "We'll call them here," He says softly, "We'll call Hiro and Natari here and you can meet them, okay?"
He sounds a little broken and Minato knows that he feels guilty. Kakashi is right, after all. No one takes an abused child into an unfamiliar place to meet unfamiliar people. Seijun works with the Torture and Interrogation department, Jiyuuri is a teacher; they do know that it's not a good idea to do something like that.
Minato can't really blame them for getting excited about having a grandchild - of having something of Obito's - though. He's sure that if Kakashi ever died and he found out that Kakashi had a son, he would be just as excited, and Kakashi isn't even his own child.
Though, isn't that pretty much what's happened since Minato feels the same about Obito as he does for Kakashi? Anything of Obito's- is half of Kakashi's, right? Given their relationship?
An odd thought comes to him and he wonders if the Uchihas had considered the possibility of homosexuality as hereditary. He quickly shakes that thought from his head. If it was that way, then Hatake Sakumo or his wife would have been gay and so would at least one of each of Seijun and Jiyuuri's parents. The Uchiha elders had probably hoped that by containing the 'problem' they wouldn't have to think about, or deal with it again.
Jiyuuri nods, "Yes," she murmurs, "I'll get Nata-chan and Hiro and bring them here. I can do that."
Minato is still wondering how Hiri is going to react when he realizes that Seijun and Hiro are together, instead of Seijun and Jiyuuri or Natari.
Then he realizes that he doesn't know who, exactly, the Uchihas are talking about since there hasn't been any family names spoken yet.
"Jiyuuri-san, why don't you go retrieve your- partners, and Seijun-san can tell Hiri a little about them, hmm?" He keeps his voice low, but loud enough for Seijun to hear him and both the Uchihas nod, almost desperate to make up for their misstep.
Fugaku looks pained and signals to Minato that he wishes to step outside for Seijun's exposition of his family dynamics. Minato cocks his head to the side in question only for Fugaku to request permission to leave again. Seijun is trying his very best to ignore Fugaku's requests and Minato realizes that however understanding Fugaku might be for Seijun and Jiyuuri's sakes, he doesn't want to know any details at all.
Minato gestures for him to leave and Fugaku carefully hides his look of relief as the door closes behind him.
"Alright," Seijun begins as Jiyuuri vanishes out the window, shunshining away, "Let me tell you about your other grandparents. My partner is Akimichi Hiro, and Jiyuuri is with Nara Natari."
Minato lets Seijun's words and tone of voice carry him away as he thinks about the two newest people Hiri is going to meet. With their full names Minato can now picture blurry faces for the two. He's done a lot of intense intelligence gathering in the last few days - ever since Hiri had fallen into their lives.
He knows that Akimichi Hiro works at the Academy with Jiyuuri and he knows that Nara Natari is a jounin who works on a T&I Retrieval Squad. He's heard an occasional story or two from Shikaku about his sister as well. He'd always wondered why the elder Nara sibling had given up her birthright as the head of the Nara clan, but knowing now that she's involved with a woman - and has been for twenty years or more - puts a whole new spin on things.
He doesn't like that so many of his clan subordinates are so judgmental, but he knows that's unlikely to change, given that clan members are all but required to make more clan babies and that doing anything less for as long as you are still "functioning" is almost treason within the clan. And the stigma attached to homosexuality has been growing within the clans, despite the decline in prejudice in the non-clan shinobi... Minato isn't sure what to do about it, either. He can't force people to be accepting, because the acceptance wouldn't have any meaning unless it was voluntary.
Shaking off his darkening thoughts, Minato turns back to where Seijun is telling Hiri - and Kakashi, because his student was listening to everything that was being said with the intention of finding hidden meanings and words, shinobi mentality turning the conversation into a mission - about his family.
"Natari-sama is Nara-sama's sister? The man who looks eaten?" Hiri breaks into the monologue, sounding uncertain, and Seijun pauses. Minato can see the cogs turning in the man's head, but isn't sure what conclusions he's come to, as his expression never changes.
"Yes, Shikaku-san does have a lot of scars, doesn't he?"
Seijun is a lot smarter than Minato had given him credit for, and very in control of himself. The latter trait is something Minato half-seriously suspects all Uchihas' are born with, though he's never voiced the rather ridiculous thought out loud.
"What is she like?" Hiri asks with hesitant interest. It's obvious he doesn't want to seem too eager for information, and equally obvious - by the way he is leaning forward in Kakashi's grasp, eyes shining - that this means the world to him.
Minato can't take as much pleasure in Hiri's happiness as he wants, because Kakashi is stiff and one of his fists are clenched at his side, out of Hiri and Seijun's sight.
"Very Nara;" Seijun's lips quirked in fondness for his wife's lover, "-lazy and intelligent to a fault."
Hiri giggles softly, nodding. Then his brow furrows and his mood changes; "Is she nice?"
Seijun snorts in faux-nonchalance - Minato is sure it is to reassure the boy - "In her own words: cruelty is so troublesome. So yes, she's very nice."
Hiri blinks a little, looking surprised and a bit pleased as he continues asking questions, "And Hiro-sama? Is he nice too?"
Seijun's whole face softens at the thought of his lover, and Minato is surprised at the un-Uchiha expression. He isn't sure if the softness is only allowed out in the open for Hiri's benefit, or if that's how the man always looks when thinking about the Akimichi.
"Yes, he's very nice- The kindest man I've ever met."
His tone is as gentle as the look in his eyes, and for a moment Minato feels like he should look away, as though he is intruding on something private. Then the look fades, and Seijun's lips widen in a large smile. If not for the coloring, Minato would never have guessed that this man belongs to Konoha's coldest, most aristocratic - and troublesome, to quote a Nara - clan.
Hiri nods seriously and then tilts his head to the side, a thoughtful expression scrunching up his nose. "And that's why he's your wife?"
While it's good to know that Hiri is okay with Seijun being with Hiro, and that he was so quick to pick it up, that doesn't stop their reactions to his innocent question. There isn't a single person in the room who doesn't choke at the word 'wife'. Minato recovers first, eyes wide and chest hurting for his stifled laughter, "Hiri-kun, men aren't 'wives'." He licks his lips and tries to make sure that he doesn't allow anything other than a smile grace his lips. Hiri looks over to him, as though he'd forgotten that there were other people in the room with him and Seijun, and his face is twisted in confusion.
"But- isn't that what they're called?" Hiri bites his bottom lip and cocks his head to the side, "The partner a man has sex with; that's a 'wife', right?"
Every ounce of laughter dries up within nanoseconds and the empty place in Minato's heart where the humor had once rested is now filled with pain. There can't be any laughter when Hiri says things like that, says things that make Minato futility hope that Hiri hadn't ever been called 'wife' as an insult from one of the sick bastards who had been his captors.
"Then I guess," Seijun speaks contemplatively, stroking his chin, "-I would also be considered Hiro-kun's wife."
Minato doesn't know - doesn't want to know - if Seijun is being truthful - because that is just a little too much information - or if he's trying to make light of Hiri's question without making fun of it. Hiri, on the other hand, blushes intensely and ducks his head, leaning back into Kakashi's chest.
"I'm sorry, Seijun-sama, I shouldn't have-"
"Shh," Seijun murmurs, a small smile dancing at his lips, "You didn't say anything wrong, Hiri-kun. Adults are here to help you learn, so now you know that men are called husbands no matter the sex of their partner. Now, Natari is Jiyuuri's wife, just as Jiyuuri is Natari's wife."
A knock on the door interrupts Seijun before he can continue, and Rin is the first to the door. She opens it cautiously and lets Jiyuuri and the two others with her inside.
Natari bears a striking resemblance to Shikaku, and there isn't any way in hell anyone would mistake Hiro as being from any clan other than the Akimichi clan with his bright red hair and spiral tattoo's on his cheeks.
Minato glances at Hiri and sees that boy curled up in Kakashi's arms, face pressed again his neck. He's not surprised that Hiri is feeling overwhelmed since he's the only child in a room with seven adults, but hopes intensely that he doesn't revert. Or that Harri comes out.
He wonders how the Uchihas would take to knowing that not only do they have a grandson, but that their grandson has a serious mental condition. He thinks that they might take it better than Kakashi had. After all, from the records that Minato has managed to get a hold of, the clan with the highest rate of members with mental conditions is the Uchihas.
A vague thought of the sharingan causing mental problems crosses his mind and he shakes it away immediately. The Byakugan doesn't cause mental problems, nor does the minor inbreeding in the Huyga clan, so it's unlikely that the Uchihas would have problems when the Huygas don't.
"Hiri?" Kakashi whispers to the child, stroking his back, "How are you doing? Are you okay?"
Hiri's head moves the tiniest bit and Minato thinks that the child is nodding. Kakashi's answering smile to the response only he can hear, confirms his suspicion and he relaxes. Hiri is a little overwhelmed, but dealing with it. Or, at least, someone is dealing with it.
He can only hope that it's Hiri.
"So," Jiyuuri knees gracefully beside her legal husband and takes one of his hands in hers, "This is Nara Natari," she introduces the woman standing behind her and Natari smiles lazily at Hiri. Hiri peeks out from Kakashi's neck and blinks his big, green eyes at her. Natari's smile goes from lazy to genuine and the change softens her entire face.
Hiro places a broad hand on Seijun's shoulder and smiles down at Hiri, getting to his knees like his partner and Jiyuuri have, "Hello, Hiri-kun. I'm Akimichi Hiro."
Minato is actually pleased that of the four adults being introduced to Hiri as his grandparents, one of them is an Akimichi. Not that he has anything against the Uchihas or the Naras, but the Akimichis have always had a reputation of being the kindest of all the great clans in Konoha. There hasn't been a single child in the Akimichi clan who hasn't been loved by everyone even vaguely related to the clan. Ever since Chouza had become genin teammates with Shikaku and Inoichi, the Naras and Yamanakas have also been loosening up as well. Obito's general attitude makes a lot more sense now that he knows his student grew up with an Akimichi pseudo/step-father.
Obito certainly never learned how to love life so loudly from an Uchiha, not even these two.
"It's nice to meet you, Natari-sama, Hiro-sama," Hiri whispers, letting go of Kakashi completely. Kakashi looks desperate for a moment before his face goes blank and he just watches Hiri with a fanatical gleam in his eye. Hiri steps forward cautiously and gives a polite formal bow to his gathered grandparents.
"May I hug you, Hiri-kun?" Hiro asks, his baritone voice kind, "I know you don't know me yet, but I love you already."
Minato takes careful stock of Hiri's carriage and realizes that Hiri isn't scared even if he's hesitant, so he catches Kakashi's eye and signals that he's going to step outside and speak to Fugaku. Kakashi nods in acknowledgment and Minato makes his way to the door. He smiles at Rin on his way and she smiles back before her eyes are drawn away from him and towards Hiri.
He finds Fugaku standing with military posture at the end of the hall.
"Fugaku-san," He murmurs. He doesn't want to startle the Uchiha, but the man looks pretty deep in thought.
"Hokage-sama," Fugaku mutters back, "-and how is Hiri-kun taking to the... partners?"
"Do you really care?" Minato wonders out loud and Fugaku snorts, something no self-respecting Uchiha would do unless under an extreme amount stress.
"I have to," Fugaku finally looks up and Minato can see the turmoil in his black eyes. "The Elders know about Hiri, though without specific details other than he's activated his sharingan. They are demanding that I gain control over the child."
"And you are telling me this because-?" Minato queried, raising an eyebrow.
"You are the Hokage. Your word is law," Fugaku's shoulders slump and he shakes his head, "And I am deluding myself because even the Hokage cannot interfere with clan law. I fucking hate the obscure laws written into Konoha's founding."
"One would think the clans would welcome a law that allows them to get around the Hokage." Minato's voice is devoid of any inflection.
"Unless the clan is-" Fugaku cuts himself off and turns his head away, staring out the window.
Whatever Fugaku was about to say, Minato knows it's important. And forbidden for him to speak of. He wonders if it's something to do with Hiri, or just the clan.
"I approve of the Uchiha petition," Minato tells the man and Fugaku sets his jaw. Minato is confused about why he isn't happy that his clan will get Hiri, but doesn't ask.
"I-" His jaw tightens and it looks almost painful for him to continue, "-do not."
Baffled, Minato releases his hold on his expressions and his face twists in confusion, "The hell? Why not? They're your family; you were all for taking Hiri yesterday."
"Things have changed," Fugaku studiously avoids looking at Minato, "I don't approve of their petition. I do approve of Hatake-san's."
"-So you're just going to let Kakashi have Hiri." Still not understand what the hell Fugaku is doing, Minato is stumped.
"Yes."
"And if Hiri chooses the Uchiha's?"
"He won't," Fugaku sounds very certain that the child won't choose his clan and Minato is still so thrown off his game from Fugaku's refusal of his cousin's petition that he lets the man walk to the window without asking any more questions.
He doesn't know why Fugaku is so sure that Hiri will chose Kakashi and he doesn't know why the Uchiha isn't going to allow his clan control over Hiri and it makes him angry that he isn't aware of what's going on with the stubborn man.
It also scares him because this came out of the left field and as Hokage, Minato can't have holes like that in his intelligence.
It seems so uncharacteristic of the Uchiha to do something so incomprehensible, and Minato wonders if it's really because of the way the quadru-couple has chosen to live their lives. Yes, the clan head had been accommodating to their lifestyle, but he obviously wasn't too comfortable with it, from the way he'd been almost frantic in getting out of the room before the partners had entered.
Minato wouldn't be too surprised to find that the Uchiha head is homophobic, even if he won't admit it out loud. He's not sure whether he would admire the man - for allowing the couples their freedom, despite his personal feelings about the matter - or be disappointed in him for being narrow-minded, if that is the case. Or maybe it's something else, some other reason that Minato can't see yet.
The small hairs at the nape of his neck raise, and a chill draws through Minato's body. There are too many undercurrents in this, he thinks with a creased brow. Too many things that seem hidden under the surface, waiting to spring out and bite at some inopportune moment unless he make some kind of preemptive strike.
Minato knows he won't give Hiri to the couples now, no matter what. He won't risk the boy getting caught up in a possible plot and used as a pawn for whoever might be behind this affair. Hiri is much too precious for that, and while he doesn't doubt the couples sincerity and genuine affection for the child, Hiri needs safety.
That being said; he's not sure Kakashi will be able to provide for the boy. He's seen those frantic, almost zealous looks his student throws Hiri every now and again and knows - no matter how much he might want to pretend otherwise - that it's not a sign of a stable relationship. Or a stable mind, for that matter.
Adding Kakashi and Obito's relationship to that, and the whole situation twists even further in his mind. What an opaque mess things have become.
"Your decision stands firm then? You wish for my student to adopt the child?"
Fugaku nods, eyes darting to him and then away again, and Minato wants to pressure him - wants to take him by the shoulders and shake answers from the man, but he does nothing. Whatever is going on is something that needs to be dealt with discreetly, without the clan's knowledge... though he doesn't doubt Fugaku would have his suspicions if Minato got involved.
He also doesn't doubt that the Uchiha head will keep his silence, which tilts everything in a whole new direction. He's never, ever, seen this man as a potential ally in anything and suddenly that has changed.
Now he has to go back into that room and tell the Uchiha family that they won't be taking Hiri home with them; that they'll have to ask someone two years younger than their late son for permission to see their grandson. It's not a task that he looks forward to.
Fugaku asks him silently if he is allowed to leave, if he has to be there when Minato tells his clan members the decisions that they've come to. Minato waves him off. The Hokage has been shocked enough today. He doesn't really want anything else to do with Fugaku at the moment. If the man keeps up this startling new attitude, Minato is going to have to deal with the usually stuck up man far more often.
Besides, he thinks to himself with some humor as he opens the door to the meeting room, as shocking and baffling as this last encounter with Fugaku has been, it's also been a little... fun.
When he steps into the room and sees Kakashi in the center of the room, practically gnashing his teeth at a not-so-invisible enemy and Hiri being carefully held by Hiro whilst Seijun pets one of his arms, he's a little dismayed. He's glad that Kakashi hasn't yet exploded, but wary of that lack of outward reaction.
"Hiri-kun?" Minato draws everyone's attention and Hiro hurriedly puts the child down, looking faintly nervous. Hiri gathers the bottom of his shirt in his hands and toddles over to Minato, leaning against a knee. Minato looks down at the adorable kid and almost 'awws' out loud.
"Minato-sama," Hiri looks up at him with very serious eyes.
He crouches down and rests on his heels. Hiri leans further into him. He wonders when Hiri got this comfortable with him and then thinks that maybe he might be the person Hiri is looking to as a proper father figure. Hiri's already claimed Kakashi as an older brother and he's pretty sure that Rin will be, if not a sister, at the very least an aunt.
Even through the blank faces around him he can feel the jealously.
"Hiri, how do you like your grandparents?" He wraps a careful arm around Hiri and the boy cuddles up into him.
It takes a moment for Hiri to answer, but when he does no one is really surprised by his answer, "I like them, Minato-sama." Hiri licks his lips and hunches his shoulders, "Are you going to take them away from me?"
Minato settles Hiri securely in his arms and stands up, "No, Hiri, I won't take them away from you." His voice lowers and he smiles a little sadly, "May I ask you if you're ready to pick who to live with?"
Wide green eyes fill with anxiety and Hiri's tiny little body starts to shake a little, "I- I have to pick?" His voice is as tiny as his body is and Minato feels bad about forcing the boy to make the decision, especially because there isn't really a decision for him to make. There really is only one option open right now and that is having Kakashi formally adopt Hiri and having both of them live at his house until they're a little older.
Minato isn't much for missions outside of Konoha anymore anyway, so he'll have to settle for the auspicious title of 'stay-at-home dad' while Kakashi does his missions. There will be a paternal leave given to Kakashi for three to six months, but Minato knows that Kakashi won't be able to stand more than three months with no missions without going crazy, even if he'd still try, for Hiri's sake. The teenager is just too invested in his work for him to take a long leave of absence from ANBU.
"Would you like for me to pick for you, Hiri-kun?" Minato asks. The Uchiha family stiffen and all four of them look at him, their throats tight and bodies forcibly relaxing after a moment. Hiri looks between his grandparents and their lovers and Team Minato.
Finally he shakes his head, "No, thank you Minato-sama." His body shivers and he refuses to look up from his hands, buried in Minato's Hokage coat, "I would like to stay with Kakashi-nii-sama."
It's like all the hopes and dreams of the quadru-couple are crushed with Hiri's decision. The four adults are quick to cover their dismay, but Minato can still see vestiges of sorrow in how they hold themselves.
Kakashi, however, can't help himself. His eye goes wide and he steps forward and Hiri reaches out from Minato's arms. Kakashi pulls Hiri to himself and cuddles him, holding him tight and smiling so wide that everyone can see it through his mask. Minato watches his student laugh and cry at the same time and Hiri wipes away his new guardian's tears and presses closed mouth kisses over Kakashi's masked cheeks.
"Thank you, Hiri-kun," Kakashi whispers, his knees folding under him, a rapturous look in his uncovered eye, and Minato resists frowning. He's going to have to talk to Kakashi about making sure not to suffocate Hiri in his love for the boy - and for Obito.
"I should be the one thanking you, Nii-sama," Hiri whispers softly and then turns towards the grandparents. They're smiling brave smiles, painful smiles, smiles full of loss and grief and it hurts to watch good people brought down like this. He's not laying any blame at Hiri's feet, because he's absolutely sure that if they had found the boy before Kakashi, Hiri would have chosen them instead.
"I like you lots, Obaa-samas, Ojii-samas," he pauses, lower lip trembling and then continues, "-but Kaka-nii is..." he trails off looking a little confused.
Bending down with a smile on her face, Jiyuuri pets his hair gently; with a soothing cadence she questions, "Kakashi-san was your family before we were, yes?"
Hiri nods a little, and then pats her cheek in comfort. "I can come visit you? Lots?"
Looking pained, Jiyuuri sighs, "That depends on your 'Kaka-nii'," she murmurs softly and Hiri immediately turns his head towards Kakashi, a question on his lips.
"Of course you may see them whenever you wish, Hiri," the teenager says before the boy has a chance to speak, and Minato thinks the reassuring tone in his voice sounds a little off. Frowning, he decides to disturb the peace once more before making the guardianship official.
"Hiri-kun, may I ask you why you chose Kakashi so quickly?" Minato asks, calmly ignoring the furious look his student shoots him. He won't allow Kakashi to treat the boy so possessively that it interferes with other people's interaction with Hiri.
"Besides being my big brother? 'ka-sama was Otou-sama's wi- husband," Hiri answers primly, stumbling a little over his words. And that somehow breaks a lot of the tension, though it might have more to do with the utterly shocked expression on Kakashi's face.
"'Kaa-sama'?" Natari asks lazily, though the twitching of her lips betraying her amusement. Jiyuuri has her head buried in her wife's neck, shoulders shaking with mirth.
"Eh? Kaka-nii," Hiri says, looking confused even as he confirms who the designation belongs to. "Kaka-nii didn't marry Otou-sama?"
Minato sees Kakashi's mouth gaping under the mask and can't help the snort that escapes him. Seijun notices, letting out a hacking sound that in any other situation might have been a cough, but mostly sounds like he's choking back hysterical laughter.
Kakashi coughs, clearing his throat, "No, Hiri-kun, I wasn't married to Obito."
"But-" Hiri frowns, "You loved him. Why wouldn't you get married?"
Minato wants to see how this is going to play out because it's shaping up to be hilarious. He isn't the only one watching either, given the smiles on the faces of everyone else in the room. Even Rin looks intrigued and curious.
"Ah- Obito and I- our ages-" Kakashi trips over his words, and Minato sees a blush creep up over the edge of his mask and clutches a fist to his stomach trying to hold in his laughter.
"Ages?" Hiri asks in confusion and then frowns, "Kaka-nii, are you okay? You're kind of red..." he trails off, peering intently at Kakashi, and then adds worriedly, "Now you're even redder!"
Minato hears what sounds like something coming from a hyena from one of the other adults, though he can't tell who, and Jiyuuri looks like she's having a seizure trying to keep herself from revealing her amusement. The left corner of Natari's mouth is hiked up, revealing half a row of white teeth and Minato sees her clutching her lover's hand in her fingers.
Both Hiro and Seijun are shaking a little, with the Akimichi directing a beaming close-mouthed grin at Minato's student. Minato can see tears of mirth in his eyes and Seijun looks like he's trying his best not to sneeze, his whole face twitching. It's undignified. It's uncharacteristic. It's a relief.
"Ah, Hiri-kun," Kakashi wheezes out, "It's not customary for teenagers to get married so early... in Konoha," he adds, a shadow crossing his expression for whatever reason.
"Why do ages matter if you loved each other?" Hiri blinks, tilting his head to the side. It's a perfectly logical question, really, but there is no way for them to answer it. Minato doesn't think Hiri will understand if they try to explain about emotional maturity and responsibility, because his childhood has been so much more horrible than even most shinobi.
"It's just not done," Kakashi finally says, looking a little like someone's just whacked him upside the head. Hiri stares at him, even more bewildered-looking than before, but doesn't contradict him.
Finally, after a heartbeat of silence, he asks tentatively, "Is it because of sex?"
Kakashi's previous red face goes white and Minato curses under his breath. He does not want this conversation to continue, he doesn't want to be talking about the proper age for people to start having sex. Knowing Hiri as he does, Minato is fairly sure that the child will think it's his own fault that he's had sex too young.
"Yes," Kakashi gets a hold of himself and sits on the floor, drawing Hiri in between his spread knees, looking him full in the face, "Yes, Hiri, it is about sex. I was only thirteen last year, Obito was fifteen. We were too young to be having sex."
The way Kakashi says it makes Minato wonder if Kakashi regrets having had sex with Obito. It sounds like he felt he was too young, and yet all of them in the room know that if he hadn't have started the relationship when they were that young, there never would have been a relationship.
There is a flicker of something in Hiro's eyes that makes Minato think the man isn't sure he likes what he sees, but he's too involved with Hiri and Kakashi's dilemma at the moment to do more than make a mental note of it.
"Hiri," Minato sits across from Kakashi, crossing his legs and letting their knees touch. Kakashi is reluctant to give Hiri up to the Hokage, but does so. "It's illegal for shinobi like Kakashi and myself to have sex before the age of thirteen. For civilians," Here, Minato has to pause because Hiri doesn't know any civilians for him to make an example of. Eventually he just continues, "-the legal age is sixteen."
Hiri's eyes get really big, "But- I-" He stutters and Minato hugs him gently.
"I know; shh, I know." It's becoming very common place to sooth Hiri and that is more than a little twisted. He doesn't want it to be so familiar for him that he knows how to calm down a traumatized hysterical child without a second thought. "It's not your fault, Hiri," he whispers as he kisses Hiri's crown.
Hiri doesn't seem to be listening though, because his face twists with unhappiness; "But I had-" he starts, a sob making its way through the words, and Minato puts a hand against Hiri's cheek very gently.
"No, Hiri. You didn't have sex; it was not consensual, what was done to you," Minato says softly, trying not to mind the way everybody in the room stiffens. The quadru-couple are leaking a very slight amount of killing intent, tightly controlled, but waiting to be unleashed.
"Con-sen-sual?" Hiri's tongue twists around the words and he sniffles a little, digging a fist into his eye in an attempt to clear away tears, looking miserable and so very young.
"You didn't want it," Minato explains softly, keeping his body relaxed and shutting out all possible mental images trying to invade. He doubts the quadru-couple manages to do that though, and suspects they'll be having nightmares about what could possibly have happened in Hiri's short life. Just like Minato's team, in other words.
Minato isn't sure if he's glad there are more people to share the hurt and worry and rage at the people who hurt their boy, but he thinks he's glad that Obito didn't have to witness it. A horrible thought, to be sure, but Obito was so filled with life and joy and Minato wouldn't have wanted that dimmed for anything.
Such life and joy was practically unheard of for a shinobi to keep and Obito had been an oddity, a wonderful, hope-inducing, oddity.
Hiri's voice is very, very small and tremulous when he directs his next question towards Kakashi and Minato's heart clenches, rage welling up underneath a world of hurt, at the boy's words; "But Kaka-nii and Otou-sama did? Why would they do that when it hurts so much?"
There really is only one way to answer Hiri, but Minato doesn't want to say. He hopes to every ancestor who's ever died that Kakashi doesn't answer either. He doesn't want Hiri to hear that sex only hurts if it's done wrong; hell, he doesn't want to keep talking about sex with Hiri around at all.
Kakashi's hand shakes a little as he strokes Hiri's cheek, "I've never been hurt while having sex, Hiri-kun," he murmurs and Minato eyeballs the teenager in a serious manner. Yes, he does know that Kakashi has implicitly stated that he loved Obito, but Minato doesn't really want to hear about his two young students having sex, that's for sure.
"Oh," Hiri sniffs and fidgets, "It didn't hurt?" He whispers his question and Kakashi shakes his head.
"No, Hiri-kun, it's not supposed to hurt."
Seijun leaves the small group family who are standing at the edge of the room with barely contained fury and kneels next to the males on the floor. "Hiri-kun," his voice is thick, as though he can only speak by forcing the words out of a throat that is closed from spasming neck muscles, "Hiri, can we not..." He trails off, cheeks wet and eyes sorrowful.
Seijun is not a weak man, nor does he have a weak stomach; given that he works in the peripherals of the T and I department, it's required that he is able to handle himself with aplomb. Minato is still not surprised that he is having difficulty with Hiri's abuse. Hiri is his grandson after all.
"Yes," the Hokage takes over for the Uchiha, "Let's not talk about that right now."
For a short moment - only seconds, really - Hiri looks as though he wants to say something else but then his jaw snaps shut and the boy settles in Minato's arms, seemingly content to listen to him.
***xxXXxx***
Yes, it looks like a part of Obito's Legacy is starting to resemble our other story's (Intimate Relations) main plot line, with the misunderstandings about the relationship between Kakashi and Obito but it's this fic isn't about Kakashi and Obito's relationship, it's about Team Minato and Hiri. However, if you want more of those kinds of misunderstandings, you might want to check that one out; especially if you prefer a little less angst.