Minato stares into his fridge. The shelves are absent of anything he can turn into a proper meal. Closing the door, he moves to the cupboards in hopes he might find something there to eat. Much like the fridge, it holds little. Half a bag of rice. A couple of cans of mackerel. He flips open another cupboard door praying he might discover seaweed. Unfortunately, there's none in sight.

He sighs.

It seems mackerel onigiris are not going to be on the menu tonight. He runs a hand through his hair. He supposes they could just eat the rice and mackerel but…

Minato looks behind him to where Kakashi sits at the kitchen table. His feet are swinging absently as he works on his writing assignment. Kakashi's a growing boy. He deserves more than a slap-dash dinner.

Grimacing, he closes the cupboard. Minato wonders if he'll get lucky and Kakashi won't sulk when he says they need to go to the convenience store. Clearing his throat, he draws his student's gaze. As is typical these days, it's tired. However, there are no furrowed brows so Minato has every reason to feel optimistic. "I have a new assignment for you," starts Minato. "We're going to make a shopping list and it's your job to write it."

Kakashi's brows knit together in what can only be described as displeasure. Minato does not groan. He knew he wouldn't be lucky.

After Minato picks up a package of dried mushrooms to place in the little shopping basket on his arm, he is prompted to turn around by an enthused call:

"Minato!"

He smiles when he sees who it is who said his name. Dropping the mushrooms into his basket, he steps forward to talk to his waving friend. "Hey, Chine," he greets. Looking her over, he points to the meat wrapped in butcher paper in her left hand. "Are you buying stuff for dinner too?"

She laughs. "Yep!" she agrees. "I gotta pay back my roommate for watching my cat for me while I was on my last mission somehow."

Minato nods. "That was nice of her. What are you going to make Riho?" he asks politely.

Chine waves the meat in her hand around. "Tonkatsu! She loves it," she replies.

Minato hums. While not his favorite dish, tonkatsu is good. As well as fairly easy to make. Musingly, he mutters, "I wonder if Kakashi likes that…"

Chine blinks. "Oh, is he still staying with you?" she questions as she starts to glance around Minato.

"Yeah," he answers. Minato threads a hand in his hair and sighs. Speaking of his student, where has he gone? Getting a bottle of dashi shouldn't have taken him this long, should it? "Actually, he's around here somewhere. I asked him to go pick out a bottle of dashi," he tells Chine.

The kunoichi falls into step beside him, tossing loose purple hair over her shoulder as she does. "Wanna find him together? I remember what aisle it's in."

Minato smiles. "Sure," he agrees. He's not going to object to help nor to spending a little more time with a friend. It's been several weeks since he last got to have a conversation with Chine.

In fact, the last he saw her was before the world turned on its axis. He frowns a little. How did she know Kakashi was staying with him at all? Did Hiro say something to her? Kushina? Or one of their other mutual friends? Though he hasn't seen much of anyone in the last couple of weeks. Just his girlfriend and Hiro that one time right before he started organizing things for Sakumo's cremation and burial.

As they wander across the small store, Chine looks at Minato from behind her bangs and asks, "So how's living with him going? He's been with you, what, going on three weeks?"

Minato lifts his gaze to the ceiling of the little convenience shop. "That long, huh? Wow, it doesn't feel like it," he admits.

It's only in the last week that the days have begun to take distinct shapes again. Before that it was all a muddled mess; arranging things for Sakumo, helping Kakashi settle in, and quietly falling apart every night in his room over how he has no clue what he should be doing as the new de facto guardian of his student.

At least things have grown a touch easier. Halfway through last week, he decided it was time to ease Kakashi back into the swing of things with writing lessons in the kitchen. Kakashi's been taking very well to them. Yesterday, Minato took him out to the training fields for their first practice since everything. He counted it a success when Kakashi said he wanted to train again afterward. They went out first thing this morning and stayed straight through lunch.

"It's not been so bad," he says to Chine. "He's a good kid. Quiet. Cleans up after himself without fuss."

Chine chuckles. "I'm surprised Kushina isn't griping," she confesses. "I mean you two were basically living together…"

"We were not," argues Minato, embarrassed. His friend flattens her mouth — a sure sign she's suppressing a smirk. He sighs as his cheeks warm. "Okay. I suppose we were," he relents. For all that he and Kushina try to be lowkey about their relationship, their friends know them. "She still has come by most days. She just doesn't, uh, stay," he explains.

That would be a little weird right now. Kushina and Kakashi clash and so soon after his dad's— His dad's death Kakashi deserves to be comfortable in Minato's home during this difficult period.

Kushina agreed with him when he brought it up. So, for now, she visits for an hour or two as her schedule allows and they let Kakashi decide how much or little he wants to interact with her. Thankfully, it's working. If Kakashi stays for much longer, though…

Well, they'll deal with that when they reach that hurdle. Minato figures they've got a bit yet. They haven't even hit the month mark of Kakashi coming to stay with him.

"I see," replies Chine, suppressed smirk gone.

He frowns. Suddenly, Minato feels nervous and unsure. "It really hasn't been that long given the circumstances, has it?" he asks.

"No," his friend answers. She breathes in before she reaches over to squeeze his arm."You're right, it isn't," she tells Minato. "I guess, from how you always described the kid, I thought he'd want to leave already."

Minato dips his chin. It does make some sense. Until now, Kakashi has always insisted on being allowed to do things for himself, on his own, if it is possible (even when it isn't possible). Lately…

Would Minato be wrong to call Kakashi's recent behavior clingy? From anyone else, it wouldn't be. However, from Kakashi, it feels like it is. He's almost touched that his student's decided to latch onto him. He didn't realize Kakashi liked or trusted him this much.

"He hasn't made noises about wanting to go back to the estate," he says to Chine as she makes them pause so she can inspect a box of breadcrumbs. "Honestly, in his situation, would you?"

"…No," agrees Chine as she juggles the box into the crook of her arm. She glances at Minato's face and then away. "Sometimes, I still shudder when I think about cleaning that room."

He swallows. "You helped too? I thought it was just Hiro and Kushina," he remarks. He should have realized. "Thank you."

"Of course," replies Chine. "Kushina pretty much came knocking the moment I got home from my mission to ask if I'd lend a hand. That's when I found out about what happened too…" she trails off, fingers flitting nervously around her lips.

Minato clears his throat. "You didn't have to and it means a lot to me you did," he murmurs. "I know whenever Kakashi goes home he will appreciate it too."

She shrugs. "Aw, it's just what friends do," she deflects, "besides, it was Kushina's idea we do it."

Minato hadn't known that. Kushina's never said anything about the idea being hers. Honestly, given how little she and his student like each other, he'd thought it probably been Hiro's. He'd thought she did it to help Minato. If Hiro and the girls hadn't taken up the task of cleaning the room, it would have fallen on his shoulders.

There was no way Minato would have let Kakashi clean up the room. It's bad enough he found Sakumo; that he was in that room with him for hours—

He shoves the thought away before he spirals. It'd be deeply embarrassing to have a panic attack in the shop. Especially in front of Chine and with Kakashi so close by.

"Why don't you let me pay for your groceries?" Minato finds himself asking without thought. "I got takeout for Kushina and Hiro after they cleaned the place."

Chine's eyes grow wide and she clutches her groceries close. "Oh no, Minato!"

"I insist," he presses, taking ahold of the box of panko and putting it in his basket alongside his own groceries. Reluctantly, Chine lets him take the pork cutlets from her hand too. He smiles, satisfied.

He's really not sure it's enough repayment for what his friend did but it's a start.

"Here," says a little voice from his left. Minato feels his basket grow even heavier and looks down to see Kakashi.

Despite knowing the boy was never far and always just fine, he feels relieved. "Kakashi," he says. "Hey, there. Thank you for getting the dashi."

The boy doesn't look at him or Chine. "I had to find somebody who'd get it down for me," he mumbles to his toes.

Minato grimaces. "I'm sorry, was it on one of the high shelves?"

Kakashi doesn't answer. He just continues to stare down at his feet. Minato exchanges a worried look with Chine. Had something happened? Or—

"Hello, Kakashi," says Chine as she crouches to his height.

Kakashi lifts his chin and stares back warily. "Hi," he returns.

Minato clears his throat. "This is Chine," he tells the boy. "You remember her, don't you?" he questions though he isn't sure anymore. The last time Kakashi saw her was shortly after the boy became his student and it wasn't as if Minato made a point of introducing the two of them properly then.

"Yes," says Kakashi. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a scrap of paper — their grocery list. "Our list is finished, Minato-Sensei," he tells him.

Minato takes it. "Oh? You're right," he replies as he sees all the items neatly crossed out on the piece of paper. He turns to his friend. "Chine, do you have everything you need?"

"Yeah," replies the kunoichi as she rises to her full height. "I got everything else I need back at my apartment."

To Kakashi, Minato explains, "I'm paying for her groceries today. She did me a favor not long ago."

Kakashi bobs his head once in understanding. The three of them head to the counter where Minato pays. During this time, Kakashi hovers just out of sight behind him and Chine. Minato doesn't comment on it and neither does his friend.

Still he feels bad. Something had to have been said if not to Kakashi, around Kakashi while he was busy chatting with Chine. Internally, he sighs as they leave the store. They'll have to try a different shop the next time they need some staples.

Once outside, Chine takes her things back. "Thank you, Minato," she says. "I appreciate this."

"It's no trouble," he replies. "Thank you."

Her gaze shifts to Kakashi. "It was nice to see you," she tells the boy. "You know my boyfriend is Sarutobi Hiroaki?"

Kakashi cocks his head.

Taking the action for interest, Chine says, "You should convince your teacher here to invite me and him over sometime soon. We could bring along Asuma for you. You have to know Asuma. He likes Shogi. Do you? Either way, you could play it together while we adults talk about boring stuff."

Kakashi shifts and puts his weight on his heels as he tucks his hands behind him. "Maybe," he replies, his focus drifting off into the distance somewhere.

Chine smiles, a little disappointedly. "Okay." She reaches out then to Minato for a side hug.

Happily, he obliges the request. "See ya," he tells Chine. "We should talk again soon."

"Totally," the kunoichi agrees. "Bye, guys," she concludes as she walks off, twisting half-around after a few steps to wave.

Minato waves back as Kakashi stands still at his side. After a time, he remarks to Kakashi, "Her offer was genuine."

Minato doesn't look down but is sure he can feel Kakashi staring up at his chin. Possibly his eyes are squinted with doubt. Minato doesn't let that thought trouble him. Kakashi often needs time to see he's right. "Oh," he murmurs.

"If you're ever up to it, just let me know, and I can tell Chine and the guys to come by."

He doesn't let himself react when he feels a small hand tug at his bag of groceries. "All right," answers Kakashi. "I can carry it."

"If you're sure," Minato replies as he lets Kakashi take it. Sometimes, the boy does stuff like this. He isn't sure if he just wants to help or if he does it out of a sense of making things "fair" between them.

"I am."

He nods. Minato nudges Kakashi between the shoulder blades to get him to start walking. "Let's go make some dinner, yeah?"

"Yeah."

Thank you all so much for reading and please let me know your thoughts!