Author's Note: I am so sorry for the long wait! I want everyone to know that I'm not giving up on any of my stories! Thank you all for everything you've said to me, I deeply enjoy reading your comments and they help me move forward! I'm building up to a pretty big time skip in the next chapter so stay tuned. XD Let me know what you think! Enjoy!
Warnings: Nothing really, maybe just language. Not beta read.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but the story idea. And any original characters that I do... create... yeah.
Word Count: 5,538
Now that Minato knows, he can't stop watching Kakashi. And now it's becoming painfully clear. The boy is always watching him. Not in any creepy way, not really, mostly just appreciating him from a distance. Minato isn't used to being stared at like that, but he does know what it's like to be on the other side of the appreciation; it was how he was with Kushina. He would watch her just being her, whether she was working hard on homework, trying to get a new seal down, or beating up the local village boys for making fun of her, he would just sit back and watch. Jump in, if she needed him, which most of the time she didn't.
Kushina was strong, she rarely needed him. But when she did, he was there.
In a way, this was the same, except Minato was in the opposite place. It wasn't until he began watching Kakashi back that he realized that the gray haired man was doing just that. Anytime, anytime, Minato needed anything, Kakashi was there to help him. Whether it be take Naruto out for a few hours so Minato can clean the house, clean the house himself so Minato didn't have to, run errands; sometimes in the middle of the night, the likes. It could be anything and if Kakashi has the power to somehow help, he would. That was just the type of young man that Obito helped make him into.
Minato has great pride in his students and would like to believe that he helped make them into the bright, wonderful people that they've become, but Kakashi's, who had the biggest transformation from his little asshole days, change had a lot to do with Obito. Minato is deeply proud of both of his boys especially. Kakashi and Obito could have turned out anything other than what they did, and they are both really good boys. When it comes to doing odd jobs for the villages, they appear to be trying to out-nice one another.
Minato really is deeply proud of his students. Truly.
Minato rolls onto his back, looking up at the white ceiling of his room. He strains his ears to listen to the sound of Naruto breathing in his crib in the corner of Minato's room. The young father pushes himself to his feet and quietly creeps out of the room, down the hall, then the stairs and into the living room. He sits in the middle of the room and falls easily into a meditative trance, closing his eyes and relaxing his body and mind.
The Fourth didn't know how to go about this situation. Obviously it was just a crush, something that Minato perhaps unintentionally encouraged further by inviting Kakashi into his home. No, that didn't sound right. Kakashi would always be welcome in his home. Kakashi was his family. He loved Kakashi. Just... perhaps not the way Kakashi would have wanted to be loved like.
Minato wasn't disgusted by Kakashi in any way. In fact, he was proud of Kakashi for finding himself, but Minato has never had to deal with this sort of thing before. He's always had Kushina. After she died, Minato constantly worried about how he was going to do this - this being a very open ended term meaning everything - without her, but now that he's accepted her death, with a grain of salt and a deep desire for revenge, he now has to deal with something he never thought he'd have to deal with: suitors.
Minato never noticed if people were interested in him before, because Kushina was the only woman that he ever saw. She was so beautiful, so perfect, he just couldn't believe that she was his and now that she's gone, there's an entire world filled with people and... Minato's never felt quite so alone. He doesn't know how to court someone other than Kushina, and she was easy to please. She had been treated badly her entire life, genuine kindess and love was all she wanted. In the kindest and most loving way something like that can be thought.
Minato roughly rubs his messy blond hair, grumbling nonsense under his breath. He scoots back until he can lean against the couch and lets out a long sigh.
Almost all of Minato's friends were married or dating someone. The only ones he can think of that aren't off the top of his head is Tsume and Master Jiraiya and they both have very specific reasoning for that. Master Jiraiya was just hopelessly in love with Lady Tsunade, and in his eyes no one else in the world could live up to the busty blond. That, and the life he's decided to live, as a spy master, requires a lot of time away from the village and not really relationship material. And that's overlooking the fact that no sane woman would want to deal with a raging pervert like Minato's sensei.
The thought alone makes Minato laugh sheepishly, wishing that his master would kick this horrible habit soon.
And Tsume... well... she actually scared her husband away. The story isn't so clear as to why or how, but she came into Minato's office to let him know that Kiba was gone and to take him off the roster permanently. Minato was shocked, asking if he was alright.
"Probably," she had said flippantly. "I wouldn't go looking for him, though. Useless waste of space, that one is."
Minato didn't know what to say and just waited for her to leave before looking over at the two uncomfortably shifting ANBU. "Um, alert Shikaku about the... um, change in the scheduling..." One nodded and disappeared.
Minato didn't say it, to anyone actually, but he highly suspected that Tsume killed him. He can't imagine any other reason for him not being seen again. Anywhere. As in ever. But it was just one of those things that, when brought up, he along with all of Tsume's other friends would laugh and joke about while sharing knowing, and frightened, looks behind her back.
Minato opens his eyes, reaching a hand behind his neck, rubbing at it roughly, trying to work out a kink.
"Can I help you?"
Minato turns around, slightly, in surprise. Kakashi is standing in the doorway of the living room, watching him. He drops his hands onto his lap.
"I'm sorry," Minato says softly. "Did I wake you?"
Kakashi shakes his head. "Not at all. I just let Pakkun out again, he's got a bladder the size of a pea, and saw you meditating here. I didn't want to disturb you but... you started moving..." He rubs the back of his head nervously, like he was caught peeping in on people in the spas or something. Like Minato's pervy Master, but this isn't about the old Sage.
"It's alright," Minato says. "I must have been meditating longer than I thought, my neck has a kink in it. If you could help..." he leaves it open, giving Kakashi the chance to turn him down.
Kakashi smiles, walking over to Minato slowly. Minato didn't notice it before, but Kakashi really was all frown up. His steps were slow and graceful, sweatpants riding low on his hips beneath a sculpted six pack. This wasn't the body of a child. Even his arms were muscular and covered in light scars. A red ANBU tattoo on his left upper arm.
Kakashi puts his hands on the back of Minato's shoulders, thumbs pressing against the back of his neck, rubbing circles into the flesh. Minato melts immediately, his entire body relaxes and his head lulls to the side. It was kind of strange, them just sitting there in the darkness with Kakashi's hands on him. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Minato feared this was perhaps the wrong move to make. Like maybe he was giving Kakashi the wrong impression by acting as friendly as he always had been, but as soon as the thought had crossed his mind, he dismissed it. Kakashi and Minato had been together for a long time, whatever it was that was going on now would be figured out sometime soon.
Changing the way he acts would not only alert Kakashi that Minato had understood when Kakashi was confession his love to Minato, but also that he was uncomfortable with the situation. Minato wasn't uncomfortable because of Kakashi, though. As far as the blond Hokage is concerned, his student hadn't changed much from when Minato was oblivious to his love and now that he's aware of it. Kakashi is still Kakashi. Minato just isn't sure what to do about the confession sent his way. At first, Minato thought Kakashi was just practicing on him, but about halfway through, he realized that Kakashi was being so blindingly sincere, and was genuinely frightened about what Minato would think about him.
Kakashi sits on his hunches behind Minato, the heat of his body brushing against Minato's back as Kakashi worked on his shoulders.
"Does it feel good, sensei?" Kakashi asks softly.
"Mm," Minato hums. "Thank you, Kakashi.
"Well, you got knots galore on your neck and shoulders. You really should take some time to relax every once and a while," Kakashi kindly chides, only serving to make Minato smile.
"Perhaps," Minato murmurs in agreement. "I'll be alright, though. Kakashi," Minato turns around slightly to look at the gray haired young man, causing the hands on his neck and shoulders to pause, "I hope you know that I greatly appreciate having you here with me. You are such a big help with Naruto and it means the world to me that you are here. I don't know if I thanked you properly for all that you do, so thank you."
Kakashi smiles faintly, making Minato's eyes find the beauty mark on the left side of his chin, before focusing in on the young man's words, "It's not a problem, sensei. You've been in my life for so long, it's hard to imagine that we've been together for as long as we have, but there isn't anything that I wouldn't do for you, Minato-sensei."
Minato smiles kindly, knowing it was the truth, "Yeah, thank you. I actually am really happy that I've got to know you for as long as I have. I met you back in my ANBU days." Minato shakes his head. "I can't believe it's been almost eight years already since I was in ANBU."
Kakashi is quiet for a moment, while Minato looked forward, staring at the moonlight filtering into the living room through the wall of windows. Kakashi starts moving his hands again, working the knotted flesh under his fingers. After Minato is putty beneath his hands again, Kakashi says, "I'm not sure where I would be now if you weren't there for me, sensei. When my father died... the looks from the village, their judgment... I could make it through all of that because of you." There obvious hesitation in his body, when his hands stop moving and his breathing slows. Minato opens his eyes and quietly waits for Kakashi to continue.
Once the duo eyed young man finally scrapes together some courage he wraps his arms around Minato, softly as to not trap the war-born blond and trigger a horrible situation, and presses his face into the back of Minato's head. "I will never be able to thank you enough. Never. Helping out around here is the least I can do." Then, quietly, as if embarrassed, "It feels like family here."
Minato reaches up with one hand, lightly touching his locked hands around his chest. "You are family, Kakashi, never forget that."
"Thank you, sensei."
"Hey! Hey, Kakashi!" Pakkun calls out, lightly scratching at the back door. "It's really cold out here! Let me in!"
Kakashi holds on for a split second longer before pulling away and moving smoothly to his feet. "I'm coming, Pakkun."
Minato doesn't say anything and just stares forward, listening to Kakashi go over to the back screen door and slide it open. Pakkun's claws lightly tap against the wooden floor as he quickly walks in. Kakashi closes the door behind him and locks it.
"Are you going to go to bed, sensei?" Kakashi asks softly.
Minato turns again, looking at Kakashi, who's holding Pakkun in his right arm, the other hanging loosely at his side. "Um, yeah. I probably should. Goodnight, Kakashi." He pushes himself to his feet.
"You too, sensei."
"My lord?" the bird masked ANBU at his side, softly calls out to him, pulling him from his thoughts.
"Hm?" Minato hums, watching the sunset from his seat in the Hokage tower. It bathed the village in orange, red and yellow light, making it look like it was on fire. A fitting name, especially since it is unseasonably hot enough to make the air shimmer a bit, even as the sun is parting from them for the next few hours. Minato likes this time of day. Kushina liked this time of day. She explained it to him once. She told him that she enjoyed the look of fire across the village, not because she wanted to see it burning, but because she saw it as the horrible things of the day being burned away without any actual burning.
Minato wasn't blind. He knew that the village - no matter how much he'd love to be live it a lie - wasn't a place of complete and utter purity and goodness. There was shadows in the village that both concerned and frightened the blond. Slowly, but surely, he would begin cleaning the village of the vileness that polluted it, but that was an unbeatable war, since darkness will always exist. Although, if he stops even the most minute of evil from the world before his son is old enough to understand it, then Minato won somehow.
"Is there something you need?" The ANBU asks. "You've been staring out the window for a long time now. Is there something I can help you with?"
Minato sighs, unlacing his fingers that were resting on his lap for the longest time and stands up. He reaches his hands up above his head and stretches as far as he can. Everything pops. His ankles, his spine, his shoulders, neck, hips, everything. He had been sitting there for so long, unmoving. He holds his most stretched out position for as long as he can, relishing in the feeling before finally relaxing and turning back toward the ANBU.
"No, I don't need anything. But thank you for asking. I finished up all my work, despite my many meetings and still had time to watch the sunset. Today was a good day. Thank you, you two," Minato says to the ANBU next to him, and then looks over at the one still stationed by the door to know he is also included. "Head home for the night, I know I will."
Both bow respectfully. "Thank you, my lord," they say before kneeling down and sinking into the floor.
Minato seals up the room before leaving. Everyone he walked past would bow and wish him a good evening before continuing on with their day, or evening, in this case. Minato would wave, wish them the same, and keep on heading home. His most interesting meeting today was with the Daimyo from the Land of Forests, Hianda Senju. It looks like they will be getting a lot of chakra metal in the nearby future in return they'll be getting a surplus of the fish trade they already had, amongst other things. It was fair in Minato's opinion. Chakra metal was really expensive.
Minato was positively giddy about it.
Walking up to the gates to his home, Minato tips his head in greeting to the two ANBU stationed outside.
"Good evening, my lord," one says. "I hope your day was good?"
"It was, thank you," Minato says. "Is Kakashi and Naruto in there?"
The other responds, "Yes. As well as Obito Uchiha and Rin Nohara, my lord."
Minato raises his eyebrows toward his hairline. "Rin and Obito are here? Well, that's good. Thank you. Keep up the good work, you two." He smiles kindly at them as they bow in return, before heading inside the yard and into the house.
He closes the door softly and listens to the sound of Naruto giggling in the living room. There is a feminine giggle too, from Rin. Minato smiles softly before removing his shoes and walking deeper into the house. He does find Naruto in the living room, being held up in the air above Obito's head, who was flat on his back on the floor, red faced from laughing because of the black haired man tickling him.
Rin was sitting on the floor a few feet away with her back against the couch and her legs crossed, smiling brightly.
"Welcome home, sensei," Kakashi says, walking in front he kitchen with a cup and lid with a drink for Naruto. At Minato's curious glance, he holds up the orange cup and says, "Milk. He'll need it to grown nice and tall."
"Right," Minato says with a little laugh. "Obito, Rin, welcome."
"Welcome home!" Kakashi, Rin and Obito all say at once. Obito sits up and lowers Naruto to his lap. When Naruto saw him, he broke from Obito's grasp and ran to Minato. The taller blond kneels down slowly, scooping Naruto into his arms, with wide blue eyes.
"W-Welcome..." He says softly. How long had it been since someone had said that to him? "Um.. thank you..."
"Thank Kami you're finally here," Obito says, jumping to his feet. "Let's eat. I'm starved."
"Yeah," Kakashi says as Minato stands up. "Rin made dinner."
Minato raises his eyebrows again. "Oh? Is it some sort of special occasion?"
Rin bounces over to them, beaming up at the Hokage and silver haired man. "No, sir. But we haven't really spent much time together just the four - oh, I mean five of us, sorry Naruto," she says in her feathery voice, giggling at the younger blond before continuing, "since we've all actually sat down and ate together. I missed it. I hope it's not too much trouble, sensei."
"Not at all," Minato says, relaxing his face. "I'm glad we could all be together." Minato kisses Naruto's forehead before passing him to Kakashi. "I'm going to change and then we can eat."
"Awesome!" Obito cheers.
Minato slips past them and heads to his room, removing his white Hokage cloak and hanging it up. Her unwraps the bottoms of pants and releases his sleeves before pulling off all of his ninja equipment and laying them high up on his dresser so that Naruto can't grab them. Once he's done, he closes his door and heads back to the kitchen to see everyone gathered around the table, Naruto sitting in his booster seat next to Rin.
Minato lowers himself next to Naruto, who was to his left and Kakashi, who was to his right.
"Thanks for the food, Rin," Minato says, clasping his hands together. Obito and Kakashi do the same. Rin's deep blush isn't even slightly obscured by the signature bandages under her eyes do nothing to hide the stain of red.
"Thank you..." Rin says softly, bringing her hands up to her face to cover it. Minato can see her skin turn pink beneath her fingers. She mumbles something under her breath before taking a minute to breath deeply and calm down. Once her face has cooled she looks over at Minato and tips her head a bit for him to continue this dinner and get the attention off of her.
"Let's eat," Minato says, playfully.
They eat in silence for a while, Minato cuts up food and puts it on a plate in front of Naruto, watching him eat with his hands. Minato chews his mouthful thoughtfully before looking over at his female student.
"So Rin, how is your training going with Lady Tsunade?" He asks before getting another mouthful of rice, bright blue eyes locked on the short brown haired girl.
Rin perks up a bit in surprise, pausing for a moment to take a sip of her tea before answering, "It's going good. It's hard, like, really hard, but it's such an honor to be accepted for training with Lady Tsunade. She says that she's proud of me for all my hard work," Rin says softly, her blush returning, "but really, she's just an amazing teacher. I'm blessed."
"Don't say that, Rin," Minato says softly.
"Yeah," Obito says, looking down at the short girl next to him. "You are amazingly dedicated. You're smart and strong and one of the best medical shinobi we got. Lady Tsunade is definitely a good teacher, but you shouldn't sell yourself short. You..." he hesitates for a moment, looking away with a tinge of pink splashing across his cheeks, "...you are amazing."
Rin blinks a few times in confusion, looking up at the side of Obito's face, tilting her head a bit at his deepening blush. Kakashi drags his eye over to Minato, rolling it at his best friend's bashfulness in front of the girl he loves. Minato smiles back at him. Obito looks over at Rin with his one eye and she smiles brightly up at him making him bring his hand up to cover the lower half of his face in embarrassment.
"Thank you so much, Obito!" Rin says sweetly.
"Y-Your welcome..." he murmurs, scratching the back of his head with his other hand, blushing deeper.
Minato lets out a little laugh, soft and airy, reaching out to lightly caress Naruto's rosy, three lined cheek. He's stuffing his face with the food, oblivious to what was going around him, more focused on just eating, which suited the four adults just fine.
They spend some time eating, laughing and joking. They talk about all sorts of different things, how life is going, what's new going on in their lives, and just how they are all doing.
Obito and Kakashi are spending a lot of time bouncing between ANBU work and Jounin work. They have their own teams and rankings, always trying to outdo one another and get their teams within the top ten ANBU teams, given to the most elite of the elite. Personal guards of the Hokage, given the highest level of clearance and other things like that. And it would be something that they earned without Minato's direct involvement. Ranking is decided within ANBU with a lot of statistics involved.
Minato hasn't the time for something like that, so if they earn it, they earn it.
All Minato takes part in, is approving teams entering into the top ten. But this would be something that they would be able to achieve themselves, through their own merits. They are proud of all of that.
Rin is becoming well recognized in the medical world. She isn't able to take on Tsunade's fighting style, the monster strength, but she's quick and effective and has seemed to have found her passion in the medical word.
"Herbology," Rin says, making Minato's eyebrows raise at that.
"Herbology," Minato repeats.
She nods, blushing. "Yes. I really like all the different herb combinations and recipes. I like that there is multiple different ways to approach a simple solution, or perhaps not so simple. I have to know everything that's in the poison or injury, what works best for whatever, who I'm helping, if they are allergic to something or if I know whether or not they react better to one thing or another." She lets out a happy sigh, looking past Kakashi's shoulder to the wall behind him, lost in her own world. She blinks a few times, realizing that she was babbling and blushes deeply. "I'm... I'm sorry."
"It's alright, Rin," Kakashi says easily. "It's good that you finally found your passion. Perhaps when you find the time, you may also like making poisons or the likes. You know?"
Rin nods, grinning broadly. "Yeah! It's definitely something I'll think about! Thanks, Kakashi."
There is a pause, where everyone is eating. Minato takes this moment to get Naruto another cup of milk, after having already finished his first one. He drops whatever food was in his hands to take the cup and drink greedily, smiling up at Minato from around the cup, making the Fourth Hokage practically melt beneath those baby blues.
"So, sensei," Rin says, turning toward the blond Hokage, "what's new with you?"
Minato shrugs his shoulders, making a vague gesture around them. Rin's brown eyes follow the movement before returning to Minato, confused. He elaborates, "My life is the same as it's always been. I work, come home, play with Naruto, stay up with him until the wee hours in the morning before getting a few hours of sleep. Rinse, lather, repeat." He smiles, not even the slightest bit of bitterness is detectable in his voice. He wasn't upset. He's accepted this as his life.
Rin reaches up and tugs a bit at the bottom of her hair, looking around the table. She presses her lips together a bit and tries to smile. "Are you happy with that, sensei?"
Minato nods, smiling kindly. "Yup. A slow pace life style while raising a kid is probably the best course of action." He laughs. "Well as slow pace as being Hokage can be. But seriously, Rin, there is no need for you to worry about me. I'm fine. Really. I'm content right now."
Rin smiles a bit more naturally. "Yes, sensei. Just..." she hesitates, then glances between Obito and Kakashi. "Just... let us know if you ever need anything. Okay, sensei?"
Rin is a worry wart, always has been. She worries sometimes that her sensei just takes all of the stresses of everyday life in stride and stores it away for later then never really deals with it until he's drowning in it. She's had talks with Kakashi and Obito about this many times and they hold the same worries as she does. They all have tried hard to relieve some stress from their young sensei's shoulders, but he's a very personal person who doesn't talk about himself much and doesn't let people in much.
But that's what makes him so strong. He's a very kind man that will drop anything to help those that he loves but doesn't expect the same treatment and that makes Rin sad. If she can do one thing everyday to somehow help out her sensei, she would, in a heart beat.
"I will," Minato says. "Thank you."
Looking at Kakashi, Rin can tell now, without a shadow of doubt that she doesn't have to worry about Minato too much anymore. He's well looked after. Minato is now living with the one who loves him most in the world.
"Thank you for meeting with us today, Lady Tsunade," Minato says, interlacing his fingers on his desk. Tsunade closes the door to the Hokage's office behind her as she walks deeper into the room, stopping next to Minato's desk as the man across from the Hokage stands up.
The man holds his hand out to Tsunade, beaming at her happily. "It's an honor to finally meet you, Princess Tsunade. I'm the Land of Forest's Daimyo, Hianda Senju." He holds out his hand, which Tsunade takes, shaking it before she takes the seat next to him in front of the Hokage's desk.
"It's nice to meet you," Tsunade says, crossing her legs and folding her arms over her chest. "So you're the one that's selling us the chakra metal. Family separated from the bulk of the clan during Sengoku Jidai," she murmurs, then shakes her head. "Why didn't you guys come back to the clan once the war was over?"
Hianda sits down, smoothing out his eloquent robs around himself. "Well, a part of the reason was because we were given permission from Lord Hashirama to stay out there in order to create an immediate ally with the newly formed Konohagakure no Sato in case there is some sort of conflict with the other forming villages. The other part of the reasoning stems from being a fall back place in case something happens to Konoha. If circumstances makes the Hidden Leaf unlivable for the Senju clan, then they could always come to the Land of Forests."
Tsunade's thin blond eyebrows pull together. "I suppose that makes sense... but that doesn't explain why no one knew about you all, or even heard about you guys since that time."
Hianda smiles. "Well, I suppose we both got absorbed into our own business and by the time I had taken the reign, I heard about the fate of the Senju clan here." There is a pause before his smile falls and he looks over at Tsunade. "Is it true that all of them are gone?"
Tsunade nods. "Yes, I am the last remaining Senju here in Konoha."
"What happened to them?" He asks softly.
Tsunade sighs, honey brown eyes adapting a far away look, probably recalling the death of her clansmen. "It was a combination of many things that ultimately killed off the family. The Second and Third Great Ninja War took many lives. Young lives, and sickness and age took many of the adults. Before I knew it, I was the only one left."
Hianda looks physically pained by that. He looks down at his lap, lost in thought for a few moments. Minato bows his head in respect to the lives lost in both of the tragic Great Wars. It's a shame that so many of one of the founding clans is gone. All the others are still hanging in there, but the Senju had only lady Tsunade left - that is, until now. Now there is a chance to be able to preserve one of the founding clans.
Lady Tsunade is a headstrong woman that would keep to her word. If she vowed never to have children - like she has - and let her family name die with her, then she will. But so long as the honorable Senju clan still exists, even if it's not in the Hidden Leaf, then Minato can be happy. He has so much respect for Lady Tsunade and her clan that the thought of them all dying out was heartbreaking.
Tsunade resigned herself to such loneliness and while Minato didn't like it one bit, he respected her and her decisions. In the back of his mind, he does pray for the blond Senju's happiness and perhaps it's biased of him, but he hopes that one day she'll find it with his master. Jiraiya, goofy and perverted and with many faults, will never love anyone as purely and truly and wholly as Minato's Master does.
"I'm sorry, Lady Tsunade," Minato murmurs softly.
Tsunade shakes her head slowly. "It's all in the past," she says simply, waving her hand dismissively. "Either way, I do hope to hear more from my clansmen in the Land of Forests. Please keep up the good relationship with Konoha. Thank you for your loyalty to my grandfather and clan for all of these years. I greatly appreciate it and never think such things go unnoticed."
Hianda smiles kindly. "I would do anything for Lord Hashirama and his village. All I want is to keep his ideals and dreams alive. If I can do something to help his only granddaughter and living heir, then I will. Count on it."
Tsunade smiles. "Thank you, Lord Hianda. I'm sure my grandfather is smiling down on us now."
Hianda's eyes slide past Minato toward the faces carved upon the mountain behind him. Finding the corner of the First's face. "Yes. I'm sure that he is. There is much in this world that we cannot predict and even the First Hokage, in his infinite wisdom, power and generosity, needs a bit of help on this side. Some mistakes that can be corrected before they become too powerful."