Another fanfic.
I wrote this after watching Kakashi Gaiden. It was kind of a speed write/stream of conscious thing... just a little niggling idea that had to be written. Unbeta'd, but I think it's pretty good. It made me sadfaise when I reread it, which is what I was going for, so... read.

Title: The Sun is Out
Characters: Kakashi, Rin, Minato, Obito (by mention)
Warnings: character death (obviously. it's post-gaiden) and people being sad all over the place.
Word Count: 1423



The funeral is small. They're in the midst of a war, and there isn't a lot of time for funerals. He might not even have had one. But he was young, and a member of a prestigious clan, so he did get one. The fact that the battle that took his life was well-publicized probably didn't hurt either. When people halfway across the world hear about the Uchiha hero who sacrificed himself for his teammates, it'd look bad if said hero didn't at least get a memorial service.

There is a coffin, but of course there isn't anything in it. They left the real Obito under a pile of rocks. People put flowers on it as if they're actually showing respect to the real person. But they weren't there: they didn't see him lying under that rock, blood dribbling from his lips. They didn't hear his strangled dying words, the capsized ribs stabbing into his guts and quieting his ever-boisterous voice. Only he and Rin had to see that. Only he and Rin really understand. They can say he was so young, what a shame all they want. They don't know the half of it.

He doesn't cry. Rin does; quietly, holding her head up with dignity, not refusing or accepting any condolences. She just watches and absorbs, thanking the well-wishers and saying nothing to him. He doesn't blame her. If he hadn't tried to abandon her; if he'd stopped being such a big-headed asshole and sucked in his pride and just listened, then their teammate might still be alive. But of course there isn't any malice in the way she deals with him. None at all. Her looks are sympathetic, her touches soft. He doesn't deserve it. He doesn't talk to anyone.

He sees Obito's father: a stout, proud man who's face is grave but not wet at all. He tries to shake his hand and thank him. You did what you could. It's good to know my son's teammate was such an admirable ninja. Yes, he's a hero now too, isn't he? Sharingan Kakashi, son of Konoha's White Fang, so brave, so strong. He doesn't say anything to the man.

Days pass. He hardly talks to anyone. He spends all day inside, letting people in if they come to visit, but staying so quiet and grave that they quickly leave, nonplussed, exiting his home and breathing the outside air as if ridding their noses of a bad smell. Rin comes and fixes food for him, but still he doesn't talk. She does. She fills up the heavy space with chatter that slides off him like rain on roof shingles.

The first night, she sleeps at his house. He doesn't go to bed until very late, 3 in the morning or so, but she waits. When he finally gets into his bed, she comes in a few minutes later. She tentatively sits on his bed and waits. When he says nothing, she lays down beside him. When he still says nothing, she cuddles up behind him, wrapping her arms around his middle. She presses her face into his neck. She weeps quietly, her whimpering breath hot against his ear. He says nothing. The next night, she doesn't stay.

It's roughly a week after the funeral (six days; one more than a business week, one less than a full week). Someone knocks on his door. It's the first visitor in two days, and he's tired of them. He doesn't get the door. But the knocking persists. The knocker continues for almost 10 minutes, with one minute intervals between each set of knocks. Eventually, his patience wears out and he goes to the door, preparing his best furious glare for the visitor.

It's his sensei. As soon as the door is opened, Minato tells him to follow him. He gapes for a moment. Then he looks away. He tries to deny the man, quietly, as respectfully as he can. The Yellow Flash will have none of it. He follows him into his house, as insistent as a new puppy but with none of the cheerfulness. He holds out as long as he can, stoney-faced and silent, trying to infect the air with the impenetrable gloom of death and depression that had driven off all his other visitors. But Minato is adamant. After nearly 45 minutes of enduring his badgering, he finally consents, throwing his sensei evil glares as he is ushered out of his house.

It's a nice day. The sky is brilliant blue and the clouds are full and rich. It's a crayon day, the kind little kids doodle and their patents tack up on refrigerators. They walk in silence. He trudges along as far from Minato as possible, looking fixedly at the ground. People look at them as they pass, and he hears them whisper. The Yellow Flash and Sharingan Kakashi. One of the members of their team just died, didn't he? The Uchiha? Tittering squirrels gossiping up above, but only when they're high enough in their trees, safe and out of reach, looking down with beady, uncomprehending eyes. Minato only offers quick greetings to a select few. He says nothing.

They walk briskly, but it seems to him to take a very long time. Eyes pointedly downcast, he lets his mind wander, trying not to let on how much the cheerful sunlight is bothering him, trying to show that he can handle this walk, that he doesn't need to be escorted out of his own home, and just because he hasn't been out doesn't mean he isn't just fine. He supposes it's because he's looking down with his head in the clouds that he doesn't realize where they're going til they're there, and he almost walks into his sensei when he stops.

He takes a step back, and looks around. Standing right in front of him is the Memorial Stone. There is a bouquet of flowers already set before it.

Minato takes something out of the pack on his hip. He looks at them in surprise. He'd given them to his sensei after their last fateful mission, and promptly forgotten about them. And he'd held on to them all this time, and not told the father or the leader of the Uchiha or Rin... was he waiting for this? Waiting for him?

Before he can recover his surprise, Minato is handing the orange goggles to him.

He stares at them blankly. Behind his mask, his mouth is parted, and his head feels like flies are buzzing around inside, tapping against the cage of his skull. It's a long time before he shuts his mouth and swallows. Finally, he lifts his hand and takes the goggles. His hand is trembling, but he can't find it in himself to even try to make it stop. He takes a few steps forward.

He studies the monument for a moment. He's searching, mouth suddenly devoid of moisture. It takes him a while to find the right name (though he memorizes the location, and he'll come back so many times that the stone becomes as familiar as his own face. More so, considering the mask. He could find Obito's name in his sleep). Eventually he finds it, the fresh carving in the dark stone. Then he puts the silly orange goggles on the ground before the stone, right on top of the flowers.

Next to him, Minato kneels, and puts his hands together to pray. He thinks he should do the same.

Instead, he cries. He falls to his knees and bawls like a baby. And it isn't like crying; it's like being slowly ripped apart at the seems, and each tremulous breath feels like the one that's going to shatter him like fragile china dropped from its shelf. He cries in a way he hasn't since his father died. Sakumo's death sucked the emotion out of him: shut him down, closed him off, no entry beyond this point. But Obito came along with his tardiness and dry eyes and combative voice and force-fed him love. And it's going down bitter.

But it could be worse. There's the way Minato gently reaches over and rubs his back as he sobs, hand firm and comforting and warm. The sun is out, and it doesn't seem like the crayon day is mocking him anymore, because through the sheen of his tears he can see the sunlight glint off the orange goggles. He thinks yes... it could be worse. He could be worse. But he's learned.

He's not going to be worse than trash anymore.

Tags: fanfiction, kakashi, minato, naruto, obito