Minato slows his pace as suspicion builds in him and eyes the back of his old student's head. "What's going on?" he asks Kakashi when the other shinobi glances back at him; a hand above his eyes to protect himself from the glare of the late spring sunlight.

Slowly, infuriatingly, Kakashi blinks. "Hm?"

"Kakashi," he chides as he hurries to catch up with the other. Tugging on his sleeve, he tries to slow them both down and fails. Kakashi will not be made to break his stride.

"Mah, why are you dragging your feet, Sensei?" his old student complains as he forces them to forge on in spite of Minato's resistance.

He frowns. "This is not the way to Ichiraku's," he declares.

Kakashi feigns confusion and lifts his brows at him. "Are you sure?" he asks. "Some things have moved around the Village since you last were a part of the living."

Minato rolls his eyes. "Yeah," he huffs. "But Naruto's just as obsessed with ramen as Kushina was. He's taken me there at least a half-dozen times since I came home."

His old student acknowledges this with a noncommittal "hm." He then wraps a hand around Minato's elbow and starts to drag them forward once again.

"Kakashi!" he complains, digging his heels into the dirt road of the street.

The other shinobi pulls harder at him. "I can't ruin the surprise, Sensei. The kids put in so much work," he says.

Minato jolts. Oh. He's not sure he likes the sound of that. "Surprise?" he echoes.

Kakashi sighs and squeezes his arm in an attempt to comfort him. "A good one, Minato-Sensei, really," he promises.

"I've never been a fan of surprises," says Minato warily. It's been true for years now. Since becoming a shinobi, the unexpected has only come to cause him anxiety. Minato can't even turn off his nerves when he knows the surprise is likely safe.

Kakashi furrows his gray brows and remarks, "The last birthday party Kushina held for you was a surprise party."

He cringes. "Yeah, and we argued afterward," Minato admits. "I'd told her in the past even a jumpscare can throw me off for hours after."

Kakashi blinks. "Huh," he replies, a hand finding his chin.

Minato bites his lip. "It was okay in the end," he tells the other shinobi. His wife and student always had a bit of a tense relationship. He hopes he hasn't marred Kakashi's nostalgia-tinged memories of Kushina. "She apologized later."

Kakashi starts walking and Minato hurries to keep up. "No, no," he says as they turn a corner onto a new road. "That's not it. I'm just thinking now…"

"About?" Minato prompts when Kakashi fails to explain further.

His old student sighs. "The kids gathered your friends together. They felt you deserved a reunion with them," he explains.

Horror takes Minato. "Aw, Kakashi," he frets as he tucks his hands beneath his armpits to hide the way they are now shaking slightly. He wishes Kakashi and the kids hadn't tried to spring this on him. He's been wanting to see his friends but not like this.

All he's going to be able to focus on is who's missing, not who's there.

"Why did you let them do that?" he asks Kakashi.

The other shinobi snorts. "Forgive us for wanting to give you back your friends."

Minato glowers. "Yes, now they are going to mourn me all over again."

Kakashi stops midstep. Minato's stomach roils with unease when Kakashi rolls his head around to look down at him. There's a sharpness to his eyes that his old student often lacks these days. It reminds him of after Sakumo's suicide.

"It's okay that I and Naruto will have to, though?" he asks; tone deceptively calm.

Minato stiffens as his face turns boiling will shame. "That's not—" he sputters only to stop and shake his head. There are no excuses. Explanations. Minato was thoughtless with his words and, now, all he can do is apologize.

"I'm sorry," he murmurs, hoping Kakashi believes the earnestness of his tone.

Kakashi stares a beat longer. Then, to Minato's great relief, he exhales and returns to his typical slouched posture. "It's fine," he says. "I know you're just worried about who will be missing."

Minato blinks hard. His old student knows him too well. Even so, it changes nothing.

"Still," Minato presses because he must. Because he needs Kakashi to know it's not fine even if he is willing to forgive Minato. "That was really rude," he tells the other shinobi.

Minato curls his fingers into fists and breathes in deeply. Sometimes, already, if he spends too much of the day exerting himself training with Kakashi, and teaching Naruto, he finds himself gasping for air. He is sure it will get worse the more time goes on. Minato doesn't look forward to the very end. He kind of doubts he'll be conscious for a lot of it, at least.

I… I wish I could be here, be with you, and stay," he whispers.

Kakashi pats his back. "I know," he replies with unmistakable sorrow. With the hand he has on Minato's back, he urges Minato to get moving once again. "Come on, Sensei, we're late."

-O-

Minato wheezes and tries to not pass out. That'd be so embarrassing. Instead, he wriggles a little and pats the bit of the beefy arm he can reach. "Chōza," growls an all too recognizable voice. "Chōza, man, put him down."

The arms hugging him squeeze Minato a fraction tighter and he begins to see black spots. "It's just so good to see him!" blubbers his old friend.

Tsume sighs. "Yeah, I know," she agrees.

Chōza (finally!) releases Minato. He immediately places a hand over his heart and breathes in. When he's got air in his lungs again, he smiles up at the man who was once a teacher to the next generation alongside him. "It's good to see you too, Chōza!" he exclaims.

The man beams only to stumble as Tsume shoves him aside to get to Minato. His eyes frantically take in the sight of her. Like Chōza, she looks so different yet similar. Her hair is shorter than ever, styled into a spiky pixie cut and the beginning of lines frame her Fuschia-painted lips.

"You're not the only one who wants to hug him," she declares with a pointy-toothed smirk. She props a hand on her hip and looks at the disgruntled man. "C'mon, we were classmates. I should have gotten the first hug!" she chides.

The big man lifts his shoulder and turns his palms upward and shrugs. "Snooze you lose," he says.

A cackle sounds from Minato's right and he looks over to spy a balding man with Inuzuka markings on his cheeks and a meticulously trimmed beard. "How does that feel, Tsume?" he asks in a baritone that Minato instantly clocks as belonging to a common mission partner as a young jōnin, Inuzuka Gaku. "An Akimichi beat you," he teases.

"What's that supposed to mean?" demands Chōza as he goes to loom over the wry shinobi.

Gaku throws up his hands the way a dog would show its belly. "Nothing," he replies, "nothing!"

Chōza narrows his eyes at Gaku. "Uh-huh."

"Minato!" whines Tsume, annoyed to not have his full attention.

He turns towards her just in time to catch her as she throws herself at him. "Ooph, hi, Tsume," he mutters into her shoulder as he secures her against him with his arms.

His old classmate leans back in his embrace and cups his face in her battle-roughened hands. "Oh, you look like you could be my daughter's age," she coos at him.

Minato rolls his eyes and puts Tsume back on her feet. "How is Hana?" he asks when they separate from one another.

The kunoichi beams. "Amazing, she's one of Konoha's best veterinary medical-nin!"

He whistles; Minato is truly impressed though not surprised. Little Hana had been a sharp kid and Minato likes to think he knows a thing or two about intelligence. She was always going to be great at whatever she put her mind to. "Wow," he exclaims.

Gaku sidles up on Minato's other side and drapes an arm over Minato's shoulder. He gestures at the room at large. "So, what do you think?" he asks.

Minato takes in what he sees with consideration. It's very festive with its banner welcoming him home, the streamers, and shuriken dangling from the ceiling. "The kids did great work," he tells his old friend. Minato looks over at Tsume. "Is it safe to assume all the orange streamers are my son's doing?"

"Yep," agrees Tsume with a loud laugh. "Kid loves the color, apparently."

Minato grins. "Kushina liked it too," he says.

Gaku's sharp nail draws a gasp from him when the other shinobi jabs it between Minato's ribs. "Almost as much as blue," he jokes.

His eyes widen at the teasing and he can't stop the faint heat rising in his cheeks. Tsume snickers at his reaction and exclaims to her Gaku, "Look at him blush!"

As Minato's mortification builds along with the volume of their laughter, he is rescued by a dark-haired angel who stomps over to them. "Gaku, Tsume, leave poor Minato alone," she chides in a no-nonsense voice that has Minato gasping.

"Yoshino!" he yelps as he surges forward to hug the woman. She'd been a lot of help back when he was a young teacher. After an incident in the market with a five-year-old Kakashi, she'd approached him afterward and taught Minato a thing or two about handling a person who was too smart for their own good. He had visited her several times over the years for advice.

Yoshino pats his back before she pulls away. Her lips twitch with a smile as she remarks, "Still recognize me? Being a mother to a lazy boy like my son Shikamaru hasn't turned me into a hag?"

He chuckles nervously and glances around. "Ah…"

Chōza, still nearby, steps closer and murmurs, sad and soft beneath his breath, "Sorry, Minato, there's… there's nobody to mellow her out anymore."

He swallows. "I see."

Yoshino frowns, Gaku and Tsume tense, but before anything can happen, the loud crack of a pair of hands meeting fills the room. Everyone's eyes drift to the right where a Hyuga man with long hair stands. "Let's not focus on who's missing. Instead, let us enjoy our time with those of us who are here," he declares.

Minato blinks. "Hi… Hiashi?" he stammers. He'd almost called him Hizashi. That's not who he is, though. His shoulders are too straight. Minato resists glancing around for Hiashi's twin, Hizashi. Something tells him he won't find him among the partygoers.

Hiashi's mouth quirks in a slight smile. "Yes," he replies. "You always were good at telling us apart."

He ducks his head and runs a hand through his hair. "For a second, I wasn't sure," he admits as he lifts his gaze back up to meet that of the other shinobi. "Hizashi was the one who was good at calming down a room."

Hiashi's smile dims. "Yes, yes he was," he says.

Minato knows what it means. Hizashi is dead. Just like Hiro. Chine. Asuma. Shikaku. He doesn't feel like doing it but he smirks. Hiashi is right after all. This isn't a party to mourn those gone but one to celebrate his return. No matter how brief it will be. It's not every day that people get second chances like this.

"My son tells me he plans to marry your daughter next spring," he tells the man. "That makes us practically family now, doesn't it?"

He scoffs at Minato's words and crosses his arms. "I will only submit to such a thing once all of the proper paperwork is filed," he proclaims, eyes flashing with amusement.

Thank you all so much for reading and let me know what you think!