| [May. 25th, 2015|03:03 am] |
Kakashi picked up his chopsticks and leaned over the sea bream, acutely aware of all eyes on him. It was nice, in a deeply embarrassing kind of way. He slid the tip of his chopsticks into tender white flesh; it opened like butter, releasing more steam. "Itadakimasu,” he murmured. “I wish for more fish days."
Minato grinned, eyes too bright; Rin's smile folded into the soft, warm sadness that held open spaces for every missing face at the table; Naruto booed and accused Kakashi of wishing for more wishes. "That's not a proper wish, niisan!"
“I wish for ten-million ryou and a month’s vacation at the beach,” Kakashi said, transferring a portion of bream to Naruto’s plate. “And blue hair.”
Rin supplied Naruto with an additional gift of vegetables. Thanks to Ogata’s considerable kitchen skills, they looked like vegetables Naruto might actually try. “Just blue hair? Why not manageable hair?”
“We might need to catch a bigger fish, for that wish,” Minato said.
“That was a nice moment for about four seconds,” Kakashi said. “Naruto, help me think of more wishes before they ruin fish day. I wish for a boat — no, a ship.”
Naruto barely needed prompting. “An’ a big hat! An’ a giant wolf-shark to ride on. An’, an’ a dragon.”
“Two dragons!” Kakashi said, stealing potatoes out from underneath Minato’s chopsticks. “And a long coat with dramatic wind.”
“I always knew you’d come around to my style,” Minato said easily. “Do you want flames or puppies on yours?”
“I can’t hear you through the dramatic wind,” Kakashi said. “What else, Naruto-kun?”
Naruto bit his lip with effort, visibly straining for the most exciting ideas he could conjure. “A castle! With a big lake where the dragons and the wolf-shark can live. And a forest where we can run with your dogs and fight bad guys. And—it’s on top of a mountain so we have to fly our dragons to get there, and we’re faster than the wind—” Excitement propelled him to stand up on his chair, words tumbling over themselves faster and faster. He flailed his arms, making rushing wind sounds.
And a sharp, swift burst of air blew every single candle out.
Kakashi blinked.
Rin froze.
Minato stared in one perfect moment of shock and dawning delight, as the tingles of bright new chakra faded away, and then he was out of his chair, blurring across the room to sweep Naruto up into his arms. Rin pressed a hand over her mouth, joy brimming into tears that rolled down over her tattooed cheeks.
“That was chakra,” Kakashi said blankly. “Naruto, you made chakra.”
Naruto squealed giddily as his father flung him up into the air and caught him, hugging him close. Minato was crying too, and laughing, looking the youngest he had in years. They were a matched set, blonde and blue-eyed, with smiles like the sun.
“That was chakra,” Kakashi said again, because his brain had switched off.
Rin’s hand curled over his shoulder. He hadn’t seen her get out of her chair, but she was at his back now, smelling like salt and bittersweet happiness.
“He—” Kakashi stumbled.
“I know,” she said, and her face was wet and shining.
“He’s going to be a ninja,” Kakashi said.
Rin’s fingers tightened. “He is,” she said softly. |
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