A few minutes later the hearing renewed, along with both lawyers and the judge talking about the matters in hushed tones.

'I reopen the case.' said Judge as the talk ended 'At the current situation the hearing will be lead forth, without Mr. Uzumaki. Does the prosecution have any other questions?'

'Yes, if I may.' said Kamizuki, once again standing up from his chair 'The last question about the case was about with whom the kids stay after they leave their places of education. Let's go back to that.'

The sound of notes moving. Daichi looked down. Hagane was once again noting everything that was said. Weren't they having a secretary for that?

'Mr. Sabaku' said the prosecutor, getting back his attention to the topic 'Who is the said Mr. Uzumaki you leave the kids with?'

'Objection, Your Honor, the personality of a friend has nothing to do with the fact if Mr. Sabaku is a good parent or not.'

'Sustained.'

'Let me then rephrase the question: what do you know about man with whom you leave your kids? The moment Mr. Sarutobi could get back to closing the kindergarten at normal hours shows that it wasn't a long friendship.'

'No, but it was a good one.' said Daichi immediately, not lying about this one at least. He couldn't take back any benefits from the man while he brought in almost nothing to that symbiosis 'We're both parents of growing children, so we met through the kindergarten. He is a writer, comes from the Fire country – and as a nanny he provided a good care to my children.'

'As?'

'Making them warm meals, sacrificing his time to be with them. I think that's good enough.'

'Not exactly, Mr. Sabaku, to be a guardian of the kids there are detailed expectations that should be met by social - if not by procedural – level. But I guess that your friendship was strong enough to not question such. Let's test that. What kind of book is Mr. Uzumaki writing?'

'I… don't know.' said Daichi, frowning and looked down at his lawyer. Hagane didn't seem to find any problems within the question though 'What that has to do with anything?'

'Do excuse me, but in such place it's my duty to ask questions here, Mr. Sabaku' said the man and looked up from his notes 'Where were your kids taken while they were with Mr. Uzumaki?'

Daichi looked back, suspicious. He didn't like the way it went.

'Nowhere. They sat with him in his home and waited for my return. It's too cold to make journeys to lunapark.'

'Is that so.' said Kamizuki with the same tone and pursed his lips, ever so slightly. Had Daichi wanted it or not, he couldn't tell he didn't notice his own lawyer going red at such image. What the hell. 'My client says that once he was out for shopping in the eastern district of the town – which means, the district where the kindergarten is – he saw your oldest daughter, Temari, walking around without any kind of protection. Akasuna district is the place at the North side of the town and at such time she should be there. How can you explain that?'

'It was the single occurrence.' said Daichi, feeling the sweat slowly wetting the nape of his neck 'My daughter decided it would be good to be more independent on her own and ventured there on her own.'

'So you admit that the care of Mr. Uzumaki wasn't as good as it should be, if he would let that happen.'

'It was a single occurrence.' said Daichi helplessly. He couldn't really say that Naruto's dad really had no privilege to take care of his older kids and that he only took care of Gaara for a long time because of having Naruto at the same place, because that would be digging himself a grave. Not that he didn't do that with lying already, but his vision slowly became fogged with fear. He only knew one thing – he had to keep his children close, and telling the truth was the worst way to obtain that. 'I have no more questions then.' Said Kamizuki and sat down. The Judge nodded and turned toward the Hagane.

'Does the defense have questions?'

'Yes, Your Honor.' said Hagane and stood up, not facing Daichi, seeming to be concentrated on his papers. 'Mr. Sabaku, is that true that your wife died four years ago due the incurable sickness?'

Daichi agreed.

'Then it's true that for four years you provided all possible means of care for those children, managing to keep them healthy and sound all by yourself only from the money of your raise.'

'Yes, that's true.'

'Why didn't you ask for government for help for additional money as a single parent with large family?'

'Because as the kids don't have any physical disability and I have a job, I was acknowledged as fully capable of taking care of them on my own and the additional funds were not admitted to me.'

'That's all, thank you.'

'Very well. Then the Judge calls the first witness, Mr. Orochimaru Otokage.'

The door opened and once again, Sadako was lurking in, just like from the worst nightmare.

He couldn't- they couldn't- But Orochimaru didn't know he had problem with the court!

'Please, introduce yourself.' said the Judge, completely oblivious to the internal chaos that broke inside Daichi's head. The man stopped and looked around, only now moving his black hair from his face and revealing rather harsh bruises around his face. As it came, one of his hands was bandaged from his fingers all up to the sleeve of the elegant suit (Gucci).

'My name is Otokage Orochimaru, I'm forty five years old.' he said and smiled as everyone in the court looked at him with surprise, the Judge being no exception 'I am a chief of Sound Company, the first producer of music in Suna. I currently live at the Eastern District of the town.'

'What is your relationship with the present here, Sabaku no Daichi?'

'I was his superior at the Sound Company when he worked for me as an accountant.' he said, not losing his smile even for such questions.

'Was? Can you talk more precisely?' said the Judge, stopping the noting in the notepad. The man let out a little laugh, that sounded more vile than a normal laugh should.

'Yes, that's what I exactly said. Two days ago Mr. Sabaku broke the certain rules he was aware of and made me fire him at instance. As you can see, his reaction was rather violent toward that.'

'Mr. Sabaku.' Daichi shook a bit in his place, but he obediently stood up. 'Do you want to add anything to what Mr. Otokage had just said?'

The redhead let out a shaky breath, but closed his hands into fists and looked up.

'Yes. I was fired from work two days ago. I didn't update the papers about that.'

'Very well. Please, sit down. Does prosecution have any questions?'

'Yes, Your Honor' said Izumo again and stood up. Daichi rose up his head slightly, as he kept it down in shame. Yashamaru's smile was blinding, so he lowered it again. 'What kind of worker was Mr. Sabaku?'

'Exceptional. He had a lot of strength and a lot of wit, so I had to say he was one of my better workers.' said Orochimaru plainly, not for once changing his expression 'Sadly, it hadn't coincided with his attitude.'

'What do you mean by that?'

'He worked late, but he also never came on time. His excuses were beyond my interest as he said it's because of a family. In my company you either manage to do something or not, that's what makes this company big.'

'So you want to say that he didn't work as long as a normal worker would even if he took the additional hours.'

'Additional hours in his case were only redo of hours lost while he was absent in the morning.' Daichi looked up at him, feeling bitter hate at the words that were spoken, but he couldn't say anything about it. He worked hard and it was even harder as he was always tired, always on full errand and having his head full of thoughts about each of his kids. If he was healthy, rested and without family baggage, his work probably wouldn't drain him so much 'His work didn't move as fast as it did at the beginning and even if he was very pedantic when it came to calculations I can't say I was impressed.'

'So, you want to say that Mr. Sabaku could work better and get better raise if he wanted.'

'In my opinion, yes, he would.'

'And about the firing incident…' said Kamizuki, stopping the looking through papers and then glancing up at the man. Orochimaru took it without any signs of change 'You mentioned something about violent behavior of Mr. Sabaku at the information that he was being removed from the company. Can you tell us more about it?'

'I don't think there's much to say.' said the man, leaning over the other side again and brushing a strand of his black hair from his suit 'Since the financial status of my workers doesn't look very well, they tend to get more emotional about more cutting of the wages. In such case as cutting it off completely, Mr. Sabaku beat me up, leaving my face bruised, in need of three stitches above my left brow and with twisted hand. But I can't say I wasn't expecting that.'

'What do you mean, Mr. Otokage?'

'By that I mean that Mr. Sabaku was always a very nervous person and his irkiness could easily spark into aggression such as rising his voice, banging his fists on the tables, or throwing things around. I didn't call the police on him only because I pity his kids.'

'Was he always like that?' said Kamizuki, at last removing his eyes from the man. Orochimaru smiled even wider and closed his eyes. He looked almost too pleasured.

'Yes.'

That's a lie! – almost said Daichi, but he desperately sat silent as he still felt the shame of his previous lie hanging upon him. Somehow, it seemed like if his words were untrustworthy toward anything what the man said from that point.

'And speaking subjectively, would such a man be a good father for his children if he behaved like Mr. Daichi?'

'No, I don't think that such aggression would do any good to the kids.'

'That's all from my side.'

'Mr. Hagane?'

It was the Judge. The man on Daichi's right cleared his throat and stood up, once again only looking at his papers. The redhead wondered if without them the man would be able to say something at all.

'Mr. Otokage, is that right that your company went through the financial problems in the last year?' Orochimaru leaned over the barrier, a little more displeased, but that wasn't very noticeable.

'Yes, that's true. My company suffered big loss of money.' he said curtly. Hagane nodded and moved his sheets around , looking through them.

'So it's true that all your workers had to work with the lesser payment than the usual.'

'Not only my workers, but me also.' said the man. Daichi had almost snorted under his nose. Really? It didn't show.

'Can it be possible that the small payment was what made Mr. Sabaku's effectiveness drop?'

'Of course it can. But I don't make exceptions for such things as everyone got under the same fate and many of them didn't drop their effectiveness. Some of them have even doubled it.'

'Of course, but Mr. Sabaku is the only parent of three children, which makes a big difference when it comes to time and health he could provide to the company.'

'That's not any of my concern. He works, he stays, he doesn't, he don't. I already said that my main priority is the good state of my company.'

'Thank you, that's all.' Daichi glared at his lawyer with stare that could burn people alive. What was that man playing at? He was not doing any good job in this so far, and as far as he knew, the thing was not supposed to last long as the schedule of hearings was a tight one. Was it really that bad?

'Hey…' he started at the man, but he only waved him off as the door opened again, revealing no one else but the owner of Daichi's flat.

'I'm Hiroshi Takaoka, sixty four years old administrator of the building.' he said, for once looking like a man he probably was somewhere in the past and not now – the drunkard from the suburbia of good flats. 'I rented the flat to Mr. Sabaku for the usual price I rent people such flats – and he mentioned the sum of payment. Daichi closed his eyes. He didn't want to be here anymore. The way it went, it could go only further down. The only thing that could stop it now was a meteor falling down on all their heads.

'Mr. Takaoka' said Kamizuki, once again springing from his chair like a string, just as tense and angular 'How many rooms the flat you rented to Mr. Sabaku has?'

'Three, along with one bathroom and the kitchen with the dining room.'

'Is it a place suited for a man with three kids?'

'Is it suited, I don't know.' said the man, despite his looks scratching his head in completely usual old way 'I know that I lived with my three brothers in one room, but when I was a kid it were different times – I know that Mr. Sabaku fit there with them all and nobody complained. Except me, of course.'

'What do you mean by that, Mr. Takaoka?' The man let go of a breath like if he was pushing off the big stone from his chest. Daichi winced at that. It was surely an exaggeration, but it worked just fine for anyone looking.

'Sabakus lived just en face my own flat, you see.' said the man, looking at the judge with his usual drunken eyes. Despite being sober, the red around the whites spoke louder for him than his whole behavior 'And it was rare for them to be quiet. If the father was not screaming at them, then they were the ones screaming at each other. The older kids, I mean, girl and boy. But the youngest one, woohoo!' At that, the man caught himself on the head like if he couldn't believe what he was about to say. Daichi gritted his teeth. Gaara is sick, you idiot – he hissed in his head, but of course, his mouth said nothing.

'The youngest brat- I mean, kid, was police siren every other night. He could cry for such long amounts of time that sometimes I wondered if there weren't three of them around to change each other as the power of his lungs was impossible. I really don't know what that Sabaku did to them so they were so loud, but heck, it had to be something scary.'

'What do you mean by that?' asked Kamizuki, looking up at him from the papers.

'Well, I don't know, I don't look into people houses, y'know. They live by themselves, I live by myself, and as long as they pay we're even. But it was often that that kids were back from somewhere, they were always back home so late you see, they kept crying and just wouldn't get quiet, and the man just wouldn't hush them down.'

'Do you want to say that Mr. Sabaku could have abused them?'

'No, I don't think he would, the kids glued to him like flies glue to honey and if he beat them up they wouldn't do that – I know that Your Honor, as my father was such a bastard- I mean, bad man.' A clearing of the throat caused by the shame of the loose speech 'I just think he was too tired to deal with all of them. I mean, three lively kids and to pay attention to them all – it's draining and as far as I know, Sabaku couldn't buy himself a Power Rade.'

'Why do you say that?'

'Because I know they had financial problems. They lingered with payment for months, causing the power station to cut them off the electricity – but what else was to be expected. Three small kids, a tired father and they chose such a place to live as mine, it's obvious they are not very rich. Only because the kids were so cute, I mean, that girl reminded me so much of the daughter of my brother's, they both are so pretty, like dollies – I'm not pedophile, Your Honor, no, don't take me wrong – I turned a blind eye for that, but finally even my patience had to run out.'

'And what did you do then, Mr. Takaoka?'

'I had to oust them, that's all. I mean, I have to get my money from somewhere too, right? World revolves around money after all. No hard feelings, Sabaku, I already told you that.'

'I see. I have no more questions.' said Kamizuki and said down. The Judge, obviously in need of making balloons, only stopped himself and looked down.

'Does the defense have questions?'

'No, Your Honor.'

'All right. You can sit down, Mr. Takaoka – ' said the man and looked down at his notepad. Daichi for the change, openly glared at his lawyer. The man shot him back the offended look.

'Don't stare at me like that.' he muttered.

'How can I not do that when you're drowning my case!' hissed the man back. But Hagane didn't answer to that, obviously taught better than to pick up the fight with clients who didn't like him. Taught too well. Daichi wanted to beat his face in already.

'I call the last witness then, plaintiff, Mr. Karakuri.' said the judge. Yashamaru smiled once again, having observing the whole show with both men with an expression of a contented viewer, now looked like a jogger before the pleasant run.

'My name is Karakuri no Yashamaru.' he said when the Judge told him to introduce himself 'I'm twenty five seven years old and my profession is already know to the court.'

Strangely, nobody objected such showing of the facts.

'I am brother in law of the Mr. Sabaku, the twin of the deceased Sabaku no Karura, former Karakuri no Karura. I was the one to sue Mr. Sabaku for not being a good enough parent.'

'Can you tell us why did you do that?'

'Yes, of course.' said the man like if he was about to advertize the newest brand of the bleach for hard stains. Daichi felt, that even if he said to himself that whatever Orochimaru said was not true, his need for blood rose rapidly quick 'In my opinion Mr. Sabaku is not suited to take care of three children my deceased sister left under his care. He works days and night for money that don't last even for one kid, lies in a place that doesn't fulfill needs of a healthy human. I know that, because I was there.'

'Can you describe the place?' said Kamizuki, quieted down by the hammer of the Judge. It seemed that someone acted a bit too hot-blooded for his good – thought Daichi bitterly.

'Continue.'

'To make long story short the place looked like a hiding for bandits when It came to decorations. Also, there is a big stain of blood on the floor showing that husband of my sister also uses physical violence-'

'Objection!' was shouted, only that this time it was voiced by Daichi as he stood up. He had enough of lingering of his lawyer to show that he could rise and shine somehow at the end, the things went too far. 'I do not abuse my children! That's a slander!'

'Mr. Sabaku! Sit down!' said the Judge, as one of the guardians brought him back another of the court's proves, to look at them. As it seemed, it were pictures made with Polaroid, showing the grey linoleum with stains. Daichi couldn't tell from such distance, but the color matched.

'All right. What do you want to say about that, Mr. Sabaku?' said Judge, obviously changing his mind. Daichi stood up again, this time a bit calmer.

'I do not beat my kids.' he said, glaring at Yashamaru, even if he spoke to the main man of the place 'The stain on the floor is indeed blood, but it came from the accident. Gaara, my youngest, decided to climb up the cardboard for his favorite book and fell down cutting his forehead. Before I saw what's happened, he had already stained half of my carpet.' Well, that was a quite farfetched lie, because he didn't even see Gaara with the cut, as the moment he did he had his forehead already stitched. But admitting to that he had to leave his kids home alone was far much worse than that.

'I have papers from the hospital, the doctor who treated him was Tsunade Sennin, the abbess of the branch for injuries of children.' he said and showed one of the few of his papers he had with himself still.

'The Judge allows to add the document to the case as the proof.' said Reki as he took a look at the papers. 'You can sit down, Mr. Sabaku. Mr. Karakuri, please, continue.'

Yashamaru blinked, looking obviously displeased and not convinced at all when it came to the explanation of the stains on the carpet. But despite that, he continued.

'As I said, I don't think that Daichi is suit for a parent. He doesn't give them enough attention as he works twelve hours a day and doesn't fulfill their emotional needs as he usually demands them than listens to them. Well… he did, because as for now, he has no job and no place to stay with them.'

'Any questions, Mr. Kamizuki?'

'If I may' said the man, for the umpteenth time getting up with his block of papers 'Knowing what Mr. Sabaku can provide for his family, what can you provide for the kids in exchange?'

'I earn enough to provide them enough of the warm meals for every day in the week.' said Yashamaru, his voice confident and clear 'The hours of my job vary but I can sacrifice my free time for them and only for them. When I'm absent I will hire the real nanny and not a friend who can overlook the children because of having the one on his own. I have a place to stay with enough rooms and beds for every one of them. As members of my family I will love them and I won't be ashamed of showing it to them. I'll care.'

'Okay, I don't have any more questions.'

'But I do, Your Honor.' said Hagane, getting up from his place for the first time on his own. 'Regardless of what you may provide to the kids, is that true that two of them is already at your place?'

'Yes, that's true. They're coping with it very well.'

'Is that true that you forced the kids to come without the approval of their father?'

'No. Both Kankuro and Gaara came with me willingly. Temari did not, so I didn't take her with me. Daichi didn't say a word about them not going with me.'

'It's because you knocked me out, you bastard!' roared the man, standing up from his chair 'You pointed your gun at me and knocked me off unconscious! I have the proof of that on my face!'

'Silence! Mr. Sabaku, sit down right now or you'll be punished with the monetary fine!' Daichi sat down. Despite that, Hagane kept on standing.

'Is what my client just said, true? Did you point your gun at him in threatening matter and knock him out for kidnapping the children?' Yashamaru had only smiled sweetly, so sweetly as ever.

'I have no idea what he is talking about.'

And that was it. He had no evidence of that this exactly happened. He didn't go to the police showing them his face – only phoned them about the kidnapping. He wasn't at the hospital to bandage the wounds. Nobody, even his kids didn't see him getting those, and even if Temari did, he doubted that her opinion would count. She was too young for even taking part in such happening, not to tell about saying the right things. Daichi had only closed his eyes and sat quietly through the voicement of the final opinions of both of the lawyers

('Not suited to be a father, has no job, no place to stay, violent, abusive, ignorant toward the emotional needs, notorious liar and poor perspectives for eventual change for the future' versus 'A man in a momentary downhole doing his best at providing what he could to his kids and covering that all with care every now and then') he had almost missed the moment when the Judge called him out for eventual last words. He didn't hear what Yashamaru said. And he didn't care.

'Please.' he said with a shaky voice, seeing as the blond had a smile upon his lips that could be only compared to the cat who ate a mouse and drank a liter of milk 'Please, Your Honor… I love my kids. All of them. I would never harm them. Don't take them away from me.'

'Very well, then-'

'They're all I have!' he shouted, but his words were interrupted with loud banging with hammer.

'That's enough, Mr. Sabaku, you already had chance to say what you wanted!' said the Judge, obviously too annoyed by the redhead's actions as he stood up 'Fifteen minutes break until the final verdict if given, the way to the public toilets is open.'

And then there was silence. Daichi didn't even try to look at Yashamaru anymore. He could almost hear victorious shouts blinking from his bright smile and the way Kamizuki kept his composure showed that he was completely sure about his future.

'If I'm going to lose' he muttered lifelessly to the desk 'I'm going to knock out one of your teeth.'

'Go ahead then.' answered the man near him, also rearranging his papers 'Knock out even two. I can live without teeth, but at least I'll know I did the right thing.'

Daichi didn't even rise his head to get surprised. The life was only getting down on him, why would he expect any less from the occasional better side of fate? The freelance lawyer couldn't possibly think he is working for good ideals here.

'One day the newspapers are going to publish the truth about what Yashamaru can do.' he muttered with the bitter smile 'And when you will look at the faces if his victims, remember the words you just said here.'

There was nothing else he could do. Hagane didn't seem to even mind him after all. And fifteen minutes passed.

'Judge Reki Mitarashi, please stand up.' said one of the many faces of security that walked around there, so they stood up. 'Please, sit down.' said the man who entered, so they sat down. Daichi had the sense of déjà vu.

'The main verdict of the case number 1233544/458654' said the man with the clear voice 'In the name of the Wind country and knowing the law of the Suna, I announce: the defendant, Sabaku no Daichi at the current state is not suited to fulfill the role of a parent. His lack of proper job and the place to stay provide he is not in material state to provide material needs for children at the age of four, five and six and his mental state also put the fulfillment of emotional needs at question.

Usually, the judgment insists on a time frame that would last for the children to move from one guardian to another, but regarding the circumstances the court decided it's in children best interest to move them with their uncle immediately. Mr. Sabaku can visit them once every other week, until he gets a stable job and a place to stay. After getting back on the track with your life, Mr. Sabaku, the matter can get back to the court, not earlier. I close the case.'

And the case was closed.

Daichi sat on the chair in silence, staring dumbly in front of himself. What… what had happened just now? He knew, deep down he knew the answer, but up there he still didn't acknowledge it.

'Izumooo! You were fabulous! Fantasmorgastic!' cooed someone beside him, moving back and forth through the place now the judge was gone and atmosphere of seriousness was lifted. Someone laughed. Someone smacked, maybe even kissed. Daichi didn't see any of that. Someone went past his chair and pushed him, making him jerk a bit unconsciously. He looked up blindly; he didn't see other people. The murmur around him sounded like incoherent burbling of the big vacuuming machine. Or maybe someone had just opened the window. They were so big in this place. Everything was so big in this place. Had he… had he just lost his kids?

He couldn't do that, right? Such things didn't happen. His kids were his, his own to own, no one could take his blood from him as it belonged to his veins. Only it felt like if he had lost already an arm, if not some important part of his insides. Like, liver. Yeah, a liver sounded good. Or a lung. How he was supposed to live without a lung? He had no idea. What about the heart? He didn't know what beat in his chest just right now, but it surely couldn't be a muscle. Something tore inside him. He rose up his head and saw Yashamaru exiting the courtroom. That sprung him to action. In less than half of the minute he had ran out of the room, leaving all of his things behind and ran up to the child waiting room, before anyone else could get in.

Temari and the braided boy seemed to be the best friends now, playing with the Lego blocks. They build something that looked a bit like a castle, but also like a rook for colorblind, because only such people could look at so many red and blue without feeling the incoming seizure. Fabulous. Fantasmorgastic.

'Daddy!' chirped the little blonde, getting up from her current work and ran up to hug to his leg. He immediately kneeled down and hugged her back, tightly, the tightest…

He had to run away. He didn't know how. He didn't know which way. He only knew that he was not giving them his daughter and the rest of the logic could burn for all he cared. But when he stood up with her, the door opened and the blond man with two security guards stood there, smiling like a happy Buddha.

'Oh, there is my third golden angel.' he said, like if he didn't see Daichi here at all. The redhead immediately took a step back as the girl glued herself to him like a second skin 'You have no idea how much I've missed you in our home, Temari. Here, come to mommy.'

'You're not my mommy!' squealed the girl, obviously scared as she hugged herself to the man even closed 'Don't come closer! Daddy!...'

'Oh, right. I forgot. Come to uncle then.' said the man with a bit colder tone and reached out for the girl, holding her firmly under her arms, even if the little blonde did her best to stay intact. The blond smiled, cooing at this behavior for a moment like if he saw a cute puppy or a kitty in the basket, and then his smile tensed in the chilling air.

'Daichi, let go of her.' he muttered in a disapproving tone that still sounded sweet, but Daichi felt like if he tasted the cold pudding. You never expected it was cold until it was already in the mouth and made you shiver. 'Daichi.'

The last word was said with pressure that might sounded like a pressured tone, but in Yashamaru's language it was the last warning. Wide eyed, petrified, against all what he had promised himself in his head in all the buzz that went through in the last few seconds, Daichi's muscles started to relax.

'No! Daddy!' squealed the girl even more frightened, grasping his best shirt like if her life depended on it – and truly, at some strange way it surely did – but Daichi was already moving his arms to his sides, staring at her in horror. He didn't want to do that and gods only knew he wanted to only hold her, but this time the reason seemed to win all the battles. He let go of her. 'Daddy!' squealed the girl one more time, already tearing up in fear and her hands also gave up, letting go, straight into Yashamaru's hug.

'Don't cry angel, we will have a good time together.' he said and turned around, letting the girl only look back from his shoulders as the security also turned and moved forward.

'No! Daddy! Don't let him! I don't want to go! Let me go! Let go of me! Daddy!...' she shouted, with every step a little bit quieter, a little less understandable, until she and Yashamaru vanished in the golden light of the entrance. Only now he had noticed he rose up his hand in a hesitant wave, the reflex of goodbye he used for all partings. And now he had to live without lungs.

'Are you all right, mister?' asked the boy behind him, also a bit freaked out by what has happened but Daichi didn't even hear him. He moved forward, slowly taking his things away from the courtroom, got back to his big, empty car and drove away.

#+#+#+#+#+#

Following them getting home on Friday, Minato had made some lunch for Naruto, had a bit of vegetable soup out of pure principle (also known as prescription on an empty stomach is a bad thing, regardless of if you really are hungry or not) and then he had taken his tired and still cuddly baby to bed with him to watch some movie. He wasn't even sure what it was, only that he made sure it came from the kid-friendly stash and not the incredibly funny yet slashfully graphic old horror movies he favored. He also was pretty sure he didn't make it past the credits, because the next time he woke up was to the door ringing and his arm completely asleep after Naruto slept on top of it.

As It turned out, he slept about five hours and what woke him up was Iruka dutifully turning in for baby-sitting duties which meant that if he wanted to make it in time- well, there was no making it, Minato was behind on changing, showering and running out of the door, which also meant he caught all the traffic and had to get out of the bus only twenty minutes after getting in both because the cramped space and even more cramped people were making him sick to his stomach and because there was no way he would make it in time like this.

Instead he took the subway, which was just as cramped, if not more, but also significantly shorter a ride, and once he got down, he stopped a cab to get him to the last few blocks to the university, even managing to arrive at doubtlessly record worthy time of only thirteen minutes after when he was supposed to be.

By then, and as it is expected of kids who have two classes left before the magical date known as 'finals', his class is in a blind panic of small groups of hermits with their noses in the books desperately writing down everything they think will be asked in a text, two or three laptop users hysterically writing in forums to find out of classes got cancelled and the more outgoing ones having gone MIA to stalk through the building and demand a contact number to find out if Minato is coming back or not. He also gets the feeling a couple were planning to jump off the windows should he had decided not to make act of presence.

To make it up to them, he promises he will be an extra hour earlier next week on both days so they can go over what they still feel unsure about and given the fact half of the class looks like if it's about to burst into tears, he gets the feeling even Obito will be on time for that. And for a while, he doesn't think about Sabaku, which suits him just fine.

The next day is Saturday and Minato decides that if there is one little blond in desperate need of being spoilt rotten, that is Naruto. His mind made, he puts his blocked work out of his mind and gets up earlier than usual to prepare a good mix from scratch and give it enough time to rise so he'll get extra fluffy pancakes. By the time Naruto's done with curling and uncurling from his nest of blankets and pads barefoot to the kitchen, Minato is just finishing the second golden disk and puts it in front of his son's designed chair. Sleepy blue eyes blink at him before looking from them to the butter and syrup in front of it, and he shyly touches the one on top. It's poofy and warm, and if he knows his father, laden with sugar.

'…pancakes?"

'Pancakes.' the older blond agreed, flipping one around with the exaggerate care of someone who's already gone through at least one burn in the last three minutes. In the retrieval of the last pancake, no less.

'Yum.' Naruto's staring at his plate with the unmistakable greed of post toddlers who get exactly what they want for breakfast, and then he loses sight of him for a moment to land a new member to the funeral pie. By the time he turned around, Naruto was already tearing into his thoroughly syrup-soaked breakfast- with his hands.

'Aw, Naru.' he made a face at the sticky hands, chin, cheeks and nose. 'That's disgusting; can't you use the fork like normal people?'

'Shish eashier!' or that's what it sounds like at least around tearing half of the pancake and stuffing it into his mouth. It sort of looks more like if he's tearing into a raw bistec, given the violence of the action, but then again, Naruto is nothing If enthusiastic of everything he does. With a sigh, he finished the batter and bring the small tower of breakfast over to the table, looking at them thoughtfully for several moments before starting to peel an apple, dicing it and plopping the pieces on top of one pancake he took out for himself.

Naruto watched in fascination, until the action caught his father's attention, making him smile and offer him a thick apple slice. The blond smiled, leaned closer and took it into his mouth, chewing nosily- sometimes Minato got the feeling he pushed it a little bit thicker just to annoy him.

'You are a piggy.'

'No 'm not!'

'Yes you are.'

'I'm your fox.' the little blond said petulantly 'I can't be a piggy.' And of then he raised a hand to wipe his mouth with a sleeve.

'DON'T.' he said suddenly, throwing a wet cloth to the blond's face. 'Even think about it. I wash those pajamas, you know.'

'You wash them wrong.' the little blond stuck out his tongue at him.

'I'd wash them right if you stopped hiding orange clothes with the white ones.' Minato stuck it right back. 'Besides, you know I hate doing laundry.'

'Well, I hate going to bed early, but you still make me.'

'Yeah, right, you can barely stay awake past ten PM.'

'That's not true!'

'Yes it is.'

'No it's not!'

'Yes it is.'

'Daddy!' He grinned at his the little boy, and after a few more moments of fierce glaring, Naruto also broke into a broad smile, happily going back to stuffing his face. Minato relaxed a little further in his chair, his eyes going to the brightening day outside. It didn't look like it would rain today. The idea came to him out of nowhere- he had been planning to just take Naruto to the mall or watch a movie (even though he still didn't quite trust his son's wondering attention span) or maybe the zoo, but once it came to mind, he couldn't quite shake it off again, even though it cost him a lot of effort to dare voice it.

'…Naru?'

'Muh?' he tried to ignore the way Gaara's' mannerism had rubbed on his son, instead smiling tentatively. 'You wanna go out?'

'To the park?'

'Ah, no…' he fiddled with his fork lightly, poking at a piece of apple with the prongs. 'I was thinking, since I have the time and, well, maybe just go out and go somewhere, and maybe stay the night…' Naruto was looking at him with wide eyes, his expression surprised, but not really discouraging.

'And we could come back on Sunday in the afternoon or something.' It wasn't like if they had anyone to take care of on Saturdays anymore. He could afford to disappear for 36 hours when no one would care where they went.

That's what Kushina had loved to do the most, traveling. Every month they'd move cities, hitchhike to forests, get lost in the middle of nowhere at every turn of the map- and a part of him greatly missed that. He might not have had his wife's taste for sleeping on a park bench, but he had still loved the sense of adventure of it.

'…go where?' That was a good question, and the immediate answers were obvious. Wind country was a little too flat for any good hiking place, and the idea of an easily lost and definitely too daring little boy wondering around where too many trees stood together didn't bode well with him.

'The beach.' Naruto looked at him as if he wanted to make sure he wasn't joking, then burst into silly giggles.

'But daddy, it's too cold to swim!'

'I know it is, Lisku.' he also smiled. 'It's winter. But it's also the best season to pick seashells.'

Maybe. He wasn't quite sure about it, but it sounded about right. Besides, it was only five hours away or so. They could rent a car- no, scratch that. they could take a bus. Minato barely knew what to do with a normal car, he didn't even want to think about driving one of the weird Sunanian ones where everything was in the wrong side of the car. Besides, he wasn't even sure if he still had his driving license. Or of it counted in Wind country. Naruto was again staring at him silently, but after a moment or two he broke into a broad grin, a light flush of excitement on his face.

'Okay!' It would be nice to have his father all for himself for a day or two, and have him away from all the things that stressed him- and the truth was that Minato had never asked Naruto if they wanted to have an adventure like that together. Maybe he was finally realizing he was a big boy now?

Minato smiled back.

'Okay, let's do this. You finish breakfast and call sensei and Ibiki-san so he'll know we won't be here during the weekend, and I'll go buy the tickets online now, and then we gotta hurry and pack some things-' For the first time in a while, Minato had the odd feeling things would be all right. He knew himself well enough to know it was a passing feeling and that he'd be back to worrying over his own shadow in a day's time, but for right now, it was enough.

#+#+#+#+#+#

On the other side of the town, Sabaku no Daichi parked his car on his usual, metaphorically tagged spot (like he always did), closed the doors (like always), went to his home (like usual) and sat down on the chair (nothing different here either). Somehow, nothing changed. He didn't have his kids with himself – his liver, his lungs, his veins and blood – and yet, no meteor fell on people's head, there was no flood and there was no massive eruption of the volcano on the other side if the street. He heard someone whistling a song, which was not unusual on that kind of day – it was sunny and warm, even bad people happened to be a little better during those – and nothing.

Another normal day in everyone's life. He could as well go on through it. So he swept the table (the crumbs from breakfast made it sticky and he, as usual, forgot to do that right after), he turned on the radio and he took out the trash. He also hummed to some most known songs, washed his hands and cared to clean his shoes as they went bad during walking through the puddles of water and mud. Then he saw the boxes he had packed and started slowly moving them to the car – first, the heaviest and most useless ones to the trunk, then the lightest to the back seats.

The last one ended on passenger's seat on his side, having the things of daily use in it. He covered It with newspaper so nobody would think of breaking in because they saw something expensive (like if he had something expensive). Then he got back to his clean – or rather, clear – house and looked up the food he had in the fridge. There were eggs, lettuce and even slice of bacon – it wasn't the best quality of meat, but it sounded like something good after the days of starving. Now, that he didn't have kids, he didn't have to share. He could eat it all. So, why not.

When the kettle whistled at him, he had already plate full of eggs and bacon, along with the sandwich with lettuce and cheese. He poured himself the tea – real tea – and sat down as the radio started humming the one of the oldies, but definitely not forgotten – 'Don't worry, be happy' by the band nobody really cared to remember for as it was their only catchy tune worth remembering. Yes. Life wasn't so bad at all.

Only that when he looked up he saw three empty chairs that were supposed to be filled along with the little dabs left on the verge of the table by Kankuro's knife ('How many times I told you that not everything wooden in this house is for your sculpting!'), the stain from cherry-currant juice that sank into the table so deep that even if he scratched the surface it didn't want to get off ('Gaara! I told you to look out, didn't I?') and that stupid little rubber band from Temari she didn't wore in her hair today, because her clothes were white ('And green doesn't suit the white clothes, daddy.'). And his eggs tasted like shavings, bacon was too cold, the tea was too hot and everything was so irritating and wrong and out of place, because it was too quiet, too spacey, too lonely!...

The dishes landed on the floor. Eggs mixed with porcelain, plates broke and tea sank into the carpet, pushed off the table like the things that were worn out, outdated and out of use. Oblivious to prices, money and his lack of proper food, Daichi leaned over the table and cried, cried and cried so long until he thought he couldn't anymore and then he cried even longer.

He wasn't hungry! He didn't need tea! He only wanted his kids!... The void they left couldn't be filled by any kind of food, even if it was cooked by the kings. He didn't want that anymore; it was only the first day – not even a whole day yet, and he felt like if he could scrape the paint off the walls from the pain. The face of Temari, the most vivid one, couldn't leave him alone. If he could only hold her better, firmer, stronger – if he was only quicker, smarter, better! Maybe then… maybe then his kids would be still with him. And now, he had no one.

Long time passed before his sobbing arms ceased the shaking and even longer before he dared to move from his curled position. His throat hurt from the occasional howls he let out under his breath, his nose was stuffed and leaking and probably red – just as his eyes. He knew they were red – such puffiness didn't go outside of him on its own.

What could he do now? What was he supposed to do now? His kids were legally taken from him, he was left on his own, without help and without any sort of consolidation for what had happened. Of course, he could try to phone Yashamaru – he was sure that now, after he won the battle, he'd easily give the kids to the receiver to let him talk with them. But what he was supposed to say? They'll surely ask him where he was, why wasn't he coming for them, why did he leave them – at least Temari would, he knew that. And he had no answers to those. The only worse thing of it wall was Gaara's possible happiness at all that happened. It wasn't impossible. It wasn't impossible at all.

Gods, he wanted to die. He was so useless, he couldn't even protect three little children that depended on him from whatever the life tossed on him, and now they couldn't count on him anymore. He was a failure of the failures when it came to being a parent. A father. He was the worst father on the world.

But he loved them. Dear gods in heavens did know he did. Why did this have to happen to him? They were all that mattered to him, so why were they taken away? Was it a punishment? Divine penalty for everything he did wrong in his life? Ever since he had ran away from his home to marry Karura, the life went bad on him. Maybe he really shouldn't have married her. Maybe he should have had respected his parent's will more. Maybe he should have forgotten about her all along, as he didn't even deserve the fruits that love bore. Or maybe it was because he was in this mess at all.

He hiccupped one, two times more, then sniffed as he slowly rose from the chair. Suddenly, the house, the so small house of his became so big, so spacious – that it became draining his lungs. He couldn't be here anymore. He was going to be away, but he couldn't stand being inside those walls now. Not in the place where there was this stain, those jabs, this rubber band. Not where the radio played the fairy tale tune.

So he grabbed his best suit as he still hadn't took it off and went outside the street. He was sure he looked comical as he didn't even care to wipe his tears, but he didn't care. Nothing really mattered. Only the wind outside told him it did, even if only a bit. So he reached out to his pocket to get out a handkerchief from it and along it, his cell phone. (Kankuro's friend's phone). He felt so lonely. Without much of thinking, he opened the phone book and chose one of the three numbers that figured there. This one was the one he had maybe, maybe should have touched days ago.

Minato Uzumaki's phone. There. He remembered his name. it wasn't that hard, was it? Now, that nothing really mattered, his brain finally decided to get it out of his memory. But even if he stood on the wind and the rays of setting sun, nobody answered the call. The phone wasn't turned off, but the voice mail turned on rather quickly – so either he was left off somewhere or out of reach. Slowly, disappointed, he closed off the connection. He couldn't count on anything in his life even at the moment like this.

He looked at the two remaining numbers – Yashamaru's and the phone services' one and closed the cell completely. He was not going to use any of the remaining ones. Not here. Not now. Maybe he should use the third one. But somehow, he doubted it would be of any use.

So he wandered around, aimlessly, not wanting to go back home until the pale moon finally shone above his head, chilling the air to the bone. The previous day was warm, but it seemed that the weather was just as fickle as his emotions today and decided to get colder. When he noticed that, his face was completely numb, both from crying he made while walking around (only a few tears, but his nose was clogged nonstop and that didn't help) and the low temperature.

Instinctively, he entered the 24h shop near the gas station, not really trying to think how he wandered there at such time of the day (or rather, night). He didn't really feel like eating, even if he didn't really eat for the whole day, but he knew he could look up some useless luxury – like bar of chocolate or chips, something that would be completely useless, but would help him occupy both his mind and stomach. Even without hunger, he felt the acid slowly coming back to his throat in heartburn. Maybe Cranships. Yeah, Cranships sounded like a good brand of junk food. And Meelka. That was an expensive good brand of chocolate.

He grabbed mindlessly the bar with blue cow on it and he was about to proceed to the counter, when his eyes fell on the alcohol. Vodka. Forty percent of clean spirits. Abruptly, he felt a big craving for a drink. He didn't drink from helluva long time, because alcohol was addictive, because it cost money, because it made him act stupid and because it hurt his health. And he had to stay healthy, logical, clear and thrifty for his kids, because if he didn't then who would? His kids had only him on this world and without him, only the worst could happen to them.

And now, when it happened anyway, he was alone and he didn't have to think about anyone anymore. Without much care the chips and the sweets were put back on the shelves where some kind of tires stood and instead, the small wallet he owned was taken out.

'Three liters of Stolichnaya.' he muttered, tossing the bills on the counter so carelessly, like if he had never before worshipped a coin he found on the street. He also didn't care very much about the remaining coins that were given to him as he tossed them carelessly into his pocket, not even bothering to put them in the wallet. Then he walked out, holding three bottles of alcohol right into the cold night.

The first bottle was opened a few steps away from the store, so far only because the nut got stuck and he forgot a bit how to do that, out from the years of not touching such containers. The moment he was at the door of his own flat, he already managed to down half of it.

'Hey, Sabaku!' he heard somewhere from behind the curtain of fog that seemed to cover his head in the cozy cotton of alcoholic delirium 'I know you had lost in the court and all, but as I sad – tomorrow you have to move out!'

'Frugoff!' he yelled back, swinging the bottle at the buzzing noise that followed, the words he decided to block off and not care for. The liquid got spilt thanks to that and he looked even more similar to the man he was talking to, despite already having reddened eyes, but even if he knew that, he wouldn't care. He slammed the door behind him and sat down at the moment his knees gave up under him, not even carrying himself to the nearest chair. There, he bought himself a painkiller and now he was going to soothe the pain. There. And he drank until he passed out.

Cheers.

#+#+#+#+#+#

It was a nice small vacation. Uzumakis had gotten the bus tickets early and were already at the bus terminal by eleven thirty AM, and at the beach by five PM. It was a little too dark already by then, but they had quickly found accommodations (they had chosen a small pension instead of a hostel) with a small but clean and nicely decorated room with a single bed, and then they had run off to walk around the beach and take some clue as to where they would be going the next morning.

Walking had taken them right to exploring, and by the time they were back, Naruto was ready to devour a truck, with driver and all, and Minato, who had passed on the convenience store brought rice balls and hadn't eaten anything since breakfast (or much for the week, for the matter) wasn't really far behind. They found a small and utterly deserted restaurant, where only a small group of chatty teenagers were cooped in a corner (Naruto engaged each and all in conversation) and they had ordered.

The idea was a plate of kid-friendly spaghetti with meat balls for his little carnivorous ox and the older blond had felt daring enough to ask for breaded prawn and calamari with some salad, because Minato might have all the issues in the world with a slice of fatty bacon, but somehow eating seafood brought none of the usual remarks about suffering creatures with same rights to life everyone else had. Most of the dinner was spent with Naruto making loud remarks on how disgusting his father's dinner was and some less than savory comparisons on what the prawns looked like under the bread. The rest was Minato eating what was left of the spaghetti when Naruto actually tried the seafood and found that looking like Freddy Krueger's fingers or not, prawns were pretty delicious when smothered in lemon and tartar sauce.

After bidding the girls goodbye, they had walked around the sleepy little town that was only too eager to accommodate what pretty much was their only pair of tourist, Naruto had made him walk around practically the whole length of the place and only tried every single orange cap they could find. And there was a surprising variability of such. Once his son had acquired the local creepiest hat – A prawn in his head, because only a person who had the mutant brother of Goofy nightly trying to eat his brain would feel remotely compelled to carry a giant sea bug on his head- they had gone back to pension and gone straight to bed.

Naruto was up before he woke up the next morning, and already devouring a pile of toast the owner of the place was nice enough to prepare for them. They had gone to the beach, picked up seashells (they had actually found some really pretty ones, but there was no way to convince Naruto to get back on the sand and off his shoulders once one of the biggest one sprouted legs and walked away towards the waves) gone back to the restaurant and had more seafood –clams and more prawns. Naruto liked the clams, but nowhere as much as he had liked the prawns – and then they had found a little half dead arcade that actually had the sort of games Minato still remembered how to play.

It was a nice day, but despite the fact they hadn't done much, they were both pretty tired by the time they had to go back to the bus terminal. The little blond had slept through most of the trip, and even when they arrived he didn't bother to wake up for anything more than a short trip to the bathroom. Minato didn't bother him either, knowing he had kinder in the morning tomorrow, and decided he'd sleep early tonight as well, belatedly thinking he hadn't even bothered to check his cell when he had gotten home.

The next morning, while his little blond inhaled some breakfast and told him all the things he was going to tell everyone at kinder about what they had done (which included taking the prawn hat and explaining in detail how to eat the real thing) he saw the missing calls he had gotten. Immediately, he went back to feeling uneasy, but it was too early for him to do anything about it either way. By the time he did dare to call Sabaku and see what the man wanted to yell at him for this time, it was a little past nine AM.

#+#+#+#+#+#

The first thing that greeted Daichi next morning was banging on the door. It was loud and quick and it threatened to break the door, so logic told him it would be good to actually get up and open it. The other, bigger side of him however said that it was better just to not to move and stare at the ceiling at the wrong side of his flat. He fell asleep on the spot he fell right after entering his house, and that meant that he was dirty, his best suit looked like his worst and that he reeked of alcohol. Not to mention that his head hurt like hell. He needed a painkiller. Or two.

But because he didn't have a painkiller or two, he simply grabbed the bottle that lied nearby and drank a nice long gulp out of it. There. That's better. It seemed he downed a whole liter and only opened the second when he passed out. One of the vodkas still lied sealed, warm now, unlike the frozen feeling he felt yesterday when he opened his first one. The banging didn't cease. Maybe he should have really open those door. Or maybe not.

Or maybe yes. Suddenly, whatever was that he ate yesterday decided that it was good to get back the same way it was let in and the redhead, wanting it or not, had to get up if he didn't want to vomit all over the carpet. So he got up and vomited all over the carpet, as he didn't really hold it down until he got to the bathroom. Great. So now, that he had puked all over his the best tie, he could as well open those damned doors.

'Quiet!' he yelled, despite the painful ringing in his brain 'I'm coming!'

Boy, wasn't it fun, that hangover. Despite the fact he had remembered everything and that he felt twice as bad as he felt yesterday, it was all great. Oh. And the tie. He had only managed to undo it when he opened the door. People that stood there were surely not anyone he knew. Their white suits and golden rings didn't look very friendly though.

'G'mornin', we are new locators…' said one then his fake smile wavered a little bit. Must've been this special aroma of his cologne that had enamored him 'Are you Sabaku?...'

'Yeah.' he muttered, then hiccupped, feeling that he didn't vomit everything in the end, but he held that one down. 'I am already packed, but if you wouldn't mind, gentlemen, I'll clean the mess I left after the wild party over there…'

'Get out now or you will see 'wild party'.' said the other rather aggressively, but the first one stopped him.

'Woah, woah, woah, woah, Kamoi. Let the guy live. He had obviously partied high.' The other said with a little sarcastic and a little exaggerated tone 'We can go for a walk, we have a few things to do… in the meantime Mr. Sabaku will clean all of that and when we will be back, everything will be clear we won't even notice that someone lived here. Right?'

Daichi had only stared back quietly.

'Right.' he managed to say finally. Two suited gentlemen turned their backs on him. 'Two hours.' said the aggressive one and then, they left. He looked a bit like a woman, that bad guy. Daichi didn't think about it much. Another wave of puke voided his head from any unnecessary thoughts.

An hour and forty minutes later, he was after cleaning his own pukes and the mess he left from food yesterday. He also took out the last trash and managed to get both of his bottles into his car. After his head cleared a bit, it was easy to see that the next locators of his flat will be no more, no less but members of mafia. He didn't know what kind of mafia worked here in Suna, but he was sure of one thing – unless he wanted to get shot, he had to clean after himself the best he could. So he did.

At the one hour and fifty four minutes he took out the last of his things, which included bathroom accessories and the clothes he wore on himself. He also took the last shower, which really was a pain, but his logic clearly told him that the next shower might not happen in a long time, so he had better used it till he could. With the head throbbing in the rhythm of his beating heart, he closed the door and left the keys in the lock. In here, it was the most mindless thing he could do, but since he was the one getting away, he could care less. Before he could see his brief acquaintances going back from their walk, he started his car and slowly, painfully drove away anywhere but there.

And because the sound of the engine was also adding to his discomfort, as soon as he entered better streets, he found a free parking lot and stopped there, observing the world from behind the glass. A little above an hour later small droplets of snow started falling from the sky, covering the grey streets and everything that melted before, but Daichi didn't last to see that. With second bottle in his hand, he calmly sailed away on the drunken boat toward the land of Morpheus.

The rest was history – he woke up in the evening, got out from the car only to vomit what he had consumed and got back to the not very warm, but surely warmer insides of the machine that the outside. The night was even colder than the one before and he didn't remember where he put those found mittens. Frankly, he hardly cared. He tried to listen to the radio, but as only classical music didn't break his nerves, soon he turned it off. The night was spent in delirium, in which he, from time to time took a swing from the third bottle, played with his phone talking something to someone if he picked up the phone (and that depended on if the numbers he hit at random matched anyone's cell; funny, no?).

In the end he has got bored of talking to people at random and decided to call to the ones in his address book, but no one answered. So then, he ate the bread he had on the top of one of his boxes and went out to walk out the alcohol a bit. It ended up in reminding himself too much of the fact he was alone and robbed of his children, so he ventured to some market where he bought yet another cheap bottle of alcohol (this time it was orange, he wasn't sure what it contained, but it was bittersweet). Before he has got back to his car he managed to pee under some tree and mistook two other cars for his own, getting angry at the whole world that his own keys didn't want to let him inside his own automobile. And when he finally got there, he drank until he slept.

He woke up the next morning with yet another hangover and the no vision to the world. Apparently, it snowed so much, it covered the windows of his car. He turned on the engine to warm the car a bit so it wouldn't freeze and he got out on the chilly air to remove the fluff (more like 'white puke' he thought sarcastically; lately, his humor dropped very low) and then got back to the car to not freeze along with everyone else. He thought briefly about wearing something warmer, but in the end, he didn't do it. It was too troublesome. His head hurt.

He turned on the radio. As it seemed, it was nearly seven a.m. and the day was pretty. At least that's how they said in the news. Resigning from another alcohol for the breakfast (he still had half of bottle of each) he managed to pull out the cheese from his remaining food and ate it listening to things he heard about the world. It was all dull and uninteresting, but he let it play, let it drill his hangover and lied on his driver's seat, looking up at the grey and snowing sky, mindlessly counting the dots, passing the time without any want or need to do anything with his life.

When was the last time he had so much time? Surely not when he needed it. He didn't make snowman with his kids this year. Or the last. He hadn't done so many things with them. And he should have. What was this all sacrificing for then? Why was he working so hard? In the end, the only thing he had out of it were bottles of alcohol and… no, actually, it were only bottles of alcohol. Joy. He looked outside at the people who went through his parking lot and drove in and out, driving themselves to work. The chatter of their kids made him want to go out and shout at them to hurry up, but in the end, his lack of motivation didn't let him do it.

Instead, he looked into the mirror and started counting hair on his chin. He definitely needed a shave. There should be a shaver around his bathroom tools somewhere up there… When he was around getting also his shaving gel, his cell phone rang. He looked at it for a second, not really believing his own ears, but hey, what the heck. Maybe his operator wanted to talk.

'Good morning, it's snowing.' he said to the speaker once he opened the receiver, not even trying to check who it was 'My car is covered all in the snow. Just letting you know.'

There was silence in the other side of the line, and maybe if he hadn't been inebriated he might have recognized that particular brand of shocked quietness by now.

'…okay.' The younger man answered uncertainly. This time, for variety, Sabaku wasn't raving mad or screaming he'd chop him to bits. But what he said sounded a little like a joke, and Minato wasn't in the mood to be played with. 'Um, Sabaku-san? I got your calls today, is there anything you wanted?'

It was Daichi's time to turn quiet. After two days he lost hope of getting in touch with the man forever, but it seemed, that apparently he was wrong. Slowly, he quieted the volume of his radio down and let go of his shaving accessories where he found them. Now… what?

'I…' he started and looked up at his dull car ceiling (very similar with his flat ceiling). What was he supposed to say? After all he phoned to him when he was desperate, now his desperation turned into numbness, along with courage. But that was one call. And the others? 'I'm sorry… calls?'

'Yes... I'm sorry I didn't answer when you called we were out of the city.' and why was he giving the man explanations? He certainly didn't deserve them. Belatedly, Minato thought he shouldn't have said anything at all and let the man think he hated him or something.

'That's… okay.' And then, the face of a little cute blue-eyed blond came up. No, it wasn't okay. You were out of the city for who knows what, but probably at the family's home, enjoying your time with your son and my kids were taken away by that bastard, and now he couldn't even see them more often than once a week, and it hurt to be apart for so long and…

He felt, that despite everything he was taught in life, he was starting to fall apart again, including the tears.

'I just wanted…' to tell it to someone who would listen and because I don't know anyone else I tried to contact you but you probably wouldn't do it anyway because I've already turned you down anyway so… so… What did he want to do in the end? Besides wanting to have a drink. It was so easy to forget when he was sloshed. '…sorry. I wanted to say sorry. For what I did. That's all.'

An excuse as good as any other.

There was another of those silent pauses, the blond honestly not knowing what to think. Yes the redhead had apologized before, but sincerely? He hadn't expected him to try and talk to him again, or try to call him or anything.

'…it's okay.' Only it wasn't, but what was one supposed to say? 'No, what you said to me hurt and I hope you rot in hell?' not only was it childish, but it also wasn't true, he didn't hate the man. He just made him nervous. 'Don't worry about it. It's understandable.'

Daichi blinked, uncertain and looked around himself, trying to find something that could help him to pull through the awkwardness, but he didn't find anything like that. He was forgiven, it was kind of reassuring, but that didn't change anything to him in current situation. If he had started talking about himself now, it would come out as if he tried to find an excuse to only talk about his pain. And it wasn't that way.

'Yes. I think so. Thanks.' he muttered and checked the amount of gas. The tank was still almost full. Good. 'So… thanks for calling me back.'

He waited a moment, not knowing what else to do. And then, with a quick 'goodbye', he turned the phone off. Gods, he was such a savage sometimes. So, to compensate himself for his lack of courage here, he showed it somewhere else – shamelessly he took the bottle with orange alcohol and started to sip it in small apathetic gulps. There. He was brave. So brave.

Minato was left staring at his phone, not knowing what to think. When the redhead wasn't busy describing in gory detail what he planned to do with his fire axe, he was saying the weirdest thing. But if this was what he needed to calm himself down, Minato didn't think it was that much to ask of him. He had meant to ask about the kids, but now that the man had hung up, he didn't dare calling him back. Instead, he opened his laptop and ran a quick search- none of the kids name appeared, except Kankuro's on regards of some art-related news from two years ago. he supposed that at some level, no news were the best sort of good news.