Author's Notes: Since the first chapter got such positive feedback, I have decided to continue writing this story. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter as well!

Disclaimer: I OWN NOTHING!

Chapter 2

Kakashi's eyes narrowed in confusion. He opened the door as slowly as he could, wincing at the slight creak it emitted. He pursed his lips under his mask; something was definitely wrong. The air smelled different, sounds were coming from the kitchen. He stealthily approached the kitchen door and peeked around the corner.

"You can come in any time you like, son," Hearing that voice startled him. It had been so long since its owner had spoken to anyone about anything to the extent that Kakashi thought he had lost his voice. He bit his lip as he entered the kitchen.

"What are you doing?" his own voice came out colder than he expected but he wasn't about to apologize. Once upon a time, he wouldn't have said such a thing to his father without immediately apologizing afterwards, yet now… he couldn't care less. He would never, ever apologize to the traitor. The older Hatake was quick to recover from the shock at the lack of respect and stared at him like he had grown a second head.

"Can't you tell? I'm cooking," he stated like it was the most obvious thing in the world… which it really was. Why else would he be in the kitchen, holding a spoon in one hand and a cookbook in the other.

"Oh…"

"You're free to join, if you want," the younger one shook his head a little too quickly provoking a pulse of hurt to spread through Sakumo's body.

"I already had ramen with Minato-sensei," With that said, the child turned and went up the stairs as fast as he could. The ex-Jonin watched his son go with an expression filled with sorrow. He knew his son would be hard to reach. Seems like he would have to work extra hard, then. Maybe a talk with the boy's teacher would help, as well. The smell of something burning shook him out of his thoughts.

"No, no, no!" he turned off the stove. The once raw meat was now but a charred piece of black. He didn't look forward to eating out. However, going outside was one thing he would have to face sooner or later if he wanted any chance at regaining his previous honor and saving his son from the villagers' hatred. He heaved a deep sigh before he followed his son upstairs. Perhaps he'd have ramen, too.

-oOo-

Minato cheerfully slurped the broth simultaneously ordering another bowl of the sweet deliciousness that was ramen. Granted it wasn't as great as Kushina's homemade cooking, but it would have to do since he had no right to ask Kushina to make him a dish out of the blue. Once his first bowl was finished, he immediately started with the other. He had asked Kakashi if he wanted to join him, but the boy had refused. Minato didn't like it one bit. Ever since the White Fang's mistake (which wasn't really a mistake if he could say so himself), the younger Hatake had been distancing himself away from people. Slowly retreating into a shell, memorizing and following the rules to an insane degree, Kakashi was becoming the perfect shinobi.

However, the perfect shinobi didn't regret, didn't show his emotions to the extent that the Yellow Flash wondered if he could feel anything. Thus, the fact stands that the perfect shinobi was not a human being.

A commotion brought him out of his reverie. With his eyes narrowed, the blond peeked out from the shop and was surprised to see a silver-haired man standing outside. Is that… Hatake Sakumo…? He told Teuchi that he would be right back before he exited the small place, striding confidently towards the older shinobi.

-oOo-

Sakumo trudged towards the ramen shop with a seemingly unhurried pace. He could hear the whispered snide comments the people were exchanging, but he tried to ignore them as much as possible. None of them dared to approach him with those remarks, yet the civilians were clearly forgetting that he was a trained shinobi and could hear every word they said.

"That's the White Fang. Well, at least he used to be,"

"The White Fang? I heard the war is still going on because of him,"

"Yes, it's true! That damn traitor!"

He shut out the many voices; he didn't want them to dampen his mood to the point where he would do something he would regret. He had been successful up until a drunk-looking shinobi decided to make an appearance. Judging by his vest, the guy was a Chunin. He hoped his skills weren't too rusty as not to be able to defend himself against someone who should be supposedly weaker than him if a fight were to break.

He made to sidestep the drunken man, but he wasn't allowed to. He crossed his arms and waited for the onslaught of words that was sure to come.

"How could you even show your face in public after what you've done?!" the man's angry words were slurred, "Do you have any idea how many lives your failed mission cost?!" Sakumo sighed through his nose while rubbing his masked chin, "The Shinobi Rules clearly state that a ninja from Konoha should never abandon his mission no matter what the circumstance! But did you, White Fang, care at all?" the man's voice was too loud for the Hatake's sensitive ears, "No! You just had to break the rules, huh Hatake?!" The man aimed a punch at his midsection, but his actions were too slow, Sakumo held the man's hand in one of his own. The shinobi fruitlessly tried to free his hand. The previously famed shinobi let out a breath before letting go, causing the man to fall back on his bottom.

The Chunin glared at the silver-haired ex-ninja as he leapt at him. Sakumo dodged every punch he tried to hit him with, every kick he aimed at him. The other ninja was starting to get frustrated and it showed with how much more power he started to put behind every attack.

"Just go home, Shinobi-san," Sakumo was beyond disgruntled that tracking every single move the Chunin was making was proving to be difficult. Well… that's what I get for slacking off for such a long time.

"Don't you dare order me around!"

"What's going on here?" A familiar voice questioned as its owner approached them, "Shinobi-san, you do know that attacking any Leaf resident is considered a great act of treason, do you not?"

"He's not a shinobi of Konoha! He's a traitor!" The usually happy-go-lucky man had a dark glare set on his features.

"Sakumo-san might not be a shinobi anymore, but one thing is for sure, he is a Leaf resident," the blond's smile was fake as he continued, "Please leave now and go home," Apparently, the Chunin wasn't drunk enough yet to reproach the higher-ranked shinobi, the Yellow Flash no less. With one last dirty look directed at Sakumo, he flew off. Minato glanced at the crowd of civilians and they quickly averted their gaze, each heading off to continue whatever it was they were doing.

"Hello, Hatake-san," the man's smile was cheerful and true as he greeted his student's father, "How are you doing?"

"I'm doing alright. Better than yesterday, at least," Sakumo wasn't about to admit almost committing suicide, "What about you, Namikaze-san?"

"Fine, fine," the blond answered, "It's fancy seeing you out of the house for a change," Minato's eyes widened, "I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" All the silver-haired man did was chuckle amusedly as the blond fumbled an apology.

"It's alright," he said as he eye-smiled, "You're right. It's about time for a change, don't you think?" the blue-eyed man nodded vigorously provoking another round of chuckles, "I was just here to get some ramen,"

"Great, you can come join me, if you'd like," With a raised brow, the older shinobi followed the Yellow Flash into the shop. The owner of the shop, Teuchi if he remembered correctly, did not criticize him nor did he send him not so discrete glares. The change in attitude towards him was welcome.

"You're pretty hungry, Namikaze-san, for someone who just ate, I mean," Minato cocked his head to one side, confused, "Kakashi said he had ramen with you just a while ago,"

"Oh! That! Well, I love ramen!" Minato was surprised at how easily his lie had come out. He couldn't- wouldn't tell the Hatake the truth for some reason.

"I hope you don't rub off on him too much, it's not healthy to eat only ramen,"

"I don't eat only ramen," He replied with a roll of his eyes, "Talking about Kakashi… there are some things I think we have to talk about," It was Sakumo's turn to be confused.

"Is something wrong?" The prospect that something actually might be wrong caused seeds of worry to blossom in the parent's heart, and Sakumo felt his heart beat that much faster.

"He's okay," Minato was quick to assure him, "Physically speaking," he continued, "I can't help but feel that he is emotionally unstable at the current time. As his teacher, it concerns me and I merrily wanted to draw your attention to that," he paused for a second, "Now that you're feeling better, I thought you and I can work together… for Kakashi's sake,"

"Of course, I understand," Sakumo said as he nodded, unconsciously slipping into shinobi-mode, "This is all my fault to begin with," he muttered mostly to himself, "Where should we start?"

"First, we eat," Minato said with a bright smile. Sakumo's eyebrows rose above his hairline before he laughed wholeheartedly as the Namikaze took another slurp from his bowl.

-oOo-

He clutched his stomach for the umpteenth time in the last hour as he lay in his bed. He ignored its insistent growling and told himself that he wasn't hungry. However, his clenching stomach begged to differ. Someone knocked on his door. It didn't take a genius to figure out who it was.

On the other side of the door, Sakumo bit his lip to refrain from reprimanding his son for what he did while holding take-out ramen in his hand. He instantly knew his son had lied to him when he had first asked Minato about it. Although he didn't like it, he could at least understand it. The mistake he had committed had cut his son deep, his little chat with Minato at the ramen stand after that had further enhanced that theory. It would be completely logical if Kakashi didn't want to spend time with his ex-hero after he had so thoroughly disappointed him.

Nevertheless, as a parent, Sakumo couldn't just let it go. Lying was wrong, but this was not just about that. It was something more. Contrary to the well-known fact that there is one horrible thing that could happen to a parent, there were actually two terrible things that could occur. The first being attending their own child's funeral. The second being having a child who doesn't care about them.

As Kakashi's father, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if his own son didn't want him around. Thus, he knocked again.

"Kakashi," he called, loud enough for his voice to reach his son, "If you're not opening the door, I'm coming in," He heard a sigh then the sound of soft footsteps. The door creaked open just enough for his son to come out before he quickly closed it behind him.

"What do you want?" his voice was too cold for a six-year-old. Sakumo ignored his son's impoliteness and held out the bag in his hand instead.

"Take-out," The kid looked at him from under his bangs, scrutinizing him. He made a move to grab the bag but Sakumo put it out of his reach. Kakashi glared at the taller man (Sakumo found it excessively amusing and… dare he say it… cute), "What do you say?" His son mumbled something under his breath and he strained to hear.

"Thank you," he said after a while as he held out his hand, looking anywhere but at his father. The older Hatake handed him the bag.

"How about we train later?" his father asked. Kakashi's first impulse was to refuse instantly… but as he finally met his father's gaze, he felt something churn inside of him. His throat suddenly clogged up for some reason or another. His once-hero's eyes were filled with an emotion he could not name and Kakashi found it hard to just decline.

"Maybe," he choked out before he spun around and went inside his room. He only caught a glimpse of his father's small smile as he closed the door.

-oOo-

Sakumo was disappointed when he didn't find his son in his room the next morning. Disappointed, but not surprised. Perhaps he could mull over what Minato had told him the other day.

The blond finally finished slurping the last of the broth before he patted his stomach with a goofy grin on his face. Sakumo found it hard to believe that this was the same man that could kill hundreds of men in a flash.

"Now that we're both done," his face transformed from carefree to serious in a matter of seconds, "Let's move on to more important matters," the blond eyed him as he continued, "I'm sure it's not news to you that Kakashi has been putting more distance between himself and people over the months because of the mission," the teacher sounded worried, "He has also grown an obsession with Shinobi Rules due to that. He thinks that if he follows the Rules to the letter, he won't have to go through what he's going through now," Minato rubbed his forehead, "The path he's following will lead to him being the perfect killing machine, almost completely unfeeling… he's aiming to become the perfect shinobi," the Yellow Flash grimly stated, "And you know as well as I do that such a path will only serve to further hurt him in the long run,"

"I know," the ex-White Fang replied, "What should I do to help him?"

"It's going to be a lot of work, Hatake-san. On both your part and mine," his son's teacher said, "I'm ready to make all the necessary sacrifices to help my student… are you?" the silver-haired man almost snorted.

"He may be your student, but he's my son," Sakumo said, his voice coming out harsher than he expected, "If it's going to help him, I'll do anything," he continued, regaining his composure. Minato eyed him for a moment or two before nodding with a satisfied smile on his face.

"Awesome, now here's what you're going to do," he started, "You have to continue your training, maybe ask him to spar every once in a while. That way, Kakashi will see just how great you are," Sakumo gave him an incredulous look, "What I mean is… he'll see that despite everyone bad-mouthing you, you can still stand strong," he mentally shrugged before the blond continued, "You can also try to take him out to dinner, maybe make something to eat together, you know, to maintain a good relationship with him," No matter how hard he tried, Sakumo couldn't imagine Kakashi helping him cook anything with a big smile plastered on his face.

"Just how much thought did you give this?" the other man pouted and the silver-haired man found himself wondering just how young he really was.

"Not much… but I thought you could give it a try nonetheless," Sakumo gave him a smile, not that he could see much of it with the mask on.

"Yes, Namikaze-san, I appreciate it," he said, "I'll try my best. It's my son we're talking about, after all,"

He has started to try with his son, he was certain Minato will prod him as well. Maybe if they both worked together, Kakashi would be able to return to the way he used to be before his huge failure.

Author's Notes: And we're done! It's not as long as the previous chapter, but I think some developments have taken place no matter how small. It'll be a long way still before Kakashi finally opens up and I have plans for the villagers as well! So stay tuned!

A Response to the Reviews on Chapter 1:

Jleath1234:Don't worry, as you can see Minato is not completely withdrawing from influencing Kakashi and the two will certainly have their moments in chapters to come! ;)

Seth7: I'm glad you think so! I have some major plans for this story as well, hope I get motivated anough to update quickly XD

Picturis: Thank you ^^

LadyInulzayoi: Thanks, I hope you liked this chapter as well! It's really nice to hear from you! :D

ThePlotBunnies: Did you enjoy the new chapter? I would love to know what you thought of it!

Thanks for reading everyone! See ya next time!