Five days later, I came home from work to find Kakashi and Genma sitting on the ground with their back to the couch, wrapped in blankets. They were watching a travel documentary on the Land of Hot Water while drinking tea and eating anpan. It was adorable, and not a sight I was accustomed to.
Genma gestured for me to join them, breaking me out of my contemplation. They made space for me, and I stepped among their nest of blankets. When I asked for food, they offered me part of theirs instead of getting up to find some more.
"So this is a lazy day?" I asked.
"Hell, yeah," Genma breathed. "I'm beat. Days of repairs just after that fight… it's exhausting. I'd take weeks of escort mission over days of this. "
I hummed in understanding and craned my neck to kiss his cheek. "But we wouldn't see each other during a mission," I pointed out with a pout.
He chuckled. "There is that." He pecked my forehead and put an arm around my shoulders, pulling me against his side.
Resting my head on his shoulder, I glanced at Kakashi.
Since Obito's death, he was more withdrawn than usual, but that wasn't surprising (I had feared worse, like isolation and silence). He spent a lot of time with Rin and Minato, which was expected too. No one else could understand what they felt after such difficult turnarounds (I didn't pretend to). They needed each other now more than ever. Remembering how he had to grieve without them in another world and how badly it had affected his life, I was glad for him.
Knowing that he had all the support he needed and confident that I would catch any hint that he needed more help, I didn't worry… too much. Alright, so I might be watching him like a hawk, but I made sure I wasn't overbearing.
Noticing my attention, he looked away from the screen to eye-smile reassuringly.
I smiled back and impulsively leaned sideways to peck his masked cheek. "Love you," I murmured before going back to leeching Genma's warmth. Kakashi's hand coming to rest on my thigh was answer enough.
His small gestures of affection were worth thousands of words.
oOo
It was raining softly but steadily when we went to look for Kakashi four days later. In unspoken agreement, we looked at the Memorial Stone first and were unsurprised to find him kneeling in front of it. Genma leaned against a tree, protected from the rain by its branches. I twirled my umbrella, admiring the rainfall. We waited patiently for Kakashi to join us, but he called us over instead.
With silent, respectful steps, we stopped in front of the Memorial Stone, where the names of Orochimaru's victims had recently been inscribed. Kakashi wasn't here for them though. Thankfully, we hadn't lost any friends in the attack.
"Does he still deserve his name on it?" he asked.
"Obito died protecting you and Rin during a vital mission for Konoha, and his body was never brought back," Genma pointed out, the first of us to recover from the abrupt question. "That checks all the boxes."
"What about the 'wasn't really dead and attacked his own village' box?" Kakashi replied dryly.
Genma glanced at me as his senbon tilted in a silent question: "Are you taking this one?"
I breathed in and nodded. "Since we're speaking philosophy, let me ask: is a tortured man responsible for his words and actions done under pressure?"
"No," he replied immediately before hesitating: "A shinobi must resist torture."
"Rule number…?"
"Forty-four."
"You know, I think I put that leaflet on fire," I mentioned to Genma.
"I folded it into an airplane and lost it in a tree somewhere," Genma replied with a smirk.
"I pointedly refused to learn those rules and told our sensei that I was really horrible at learning by heart. I replied perfectly to all the math questions to compensate and get her off my case. She called me 'calculator' after that."
"Never been able to memorize more than the first twenty questions. Pretty sure I forgot half of them."
"We're such bad shinobi," I sighed, shaking my head.
Genma shrugged. "What can you do…"
Kakashi was looking at the sky. I couldn't see his face and wondered guiltily if we had been too disrespectful. With a sigh, he stood up and turned to face us. He wasn't angry, but he looked tired and defeated. I knew he wasn't sleeping well.
"Listen," I said as I grasped his fingers and tilted my umbrella to shield him too. "This isn't a black-or-white, right-or-wrong question. Obito did good and bad things. Maybe the good doesn't outweigh the bad; who are we to say? What really matters is… what do you want to remember of him? The twisted being? Or the kid who drove you crazy and taught you life lessons?"
He snorted and eye-smiled but didn't answer (he didn't need to).
"You don't need to carry the burdens of his actions, Kakashi," I insisted while squeezing his fingers. "And you don't need to question your own grief. You have the right to feel… whatever you're feeling: sadness, pain, anger… whatever. The heart doesn't listen to reason, and it shouldn't have to. I love you both against my own judgment, after all."
Genma made a token protest.
Kakashi pulled me against his chest and pressed his face to my hair. When he withdrew, he cleared his throat pointedly. "Maa… Sorry, I'm late."
Subject closed, apparently… for now.
"It's alright," I said. "We get it. You were lost on the road of life."
He eye-smiled. "How did you know?"
Genma tousled Kakashi's hair. "Look at you. So wet that even your mop of hair is slouching and dripping," he teased. "Let's go dry up. And since you're late, you buy!"
"Maa, fine, but leave the hair alone," Kakashi sighed. We walked toward Konoha's most busy districts and the restaurant we had agreed on. It had the most delicious gyoza in Konoha, and I was really hungry after waiting more than half an hour.
"Nice speech by the way," Genma told me.
"Thanks. I'll be writing Hokage-sama's speeches now. They're going to be full of 'whatever'."
"I can't wait to hear it."
They threw an arm around my shoulders or waist, tilting their heads to be protected by the umbrella. The water covering their clothes went down my neck. I considered protesting until Genma kissed my cheek and Kakashi intertwined our fingers. Fine. I could probably deal with a bit of dampness to humor my affective boyfriends. Smiling at their antics, I returned the kiss and squeezed Kakashi's hand.
"I'm glad this district was left unscathed," I said as we sat at a low table. "The streets and restaurants are lovely."
Genma hummed in agreement and leaned against me, our shoulders touching. "Still swamped by the rebuilding reports?"
"Please don't remind me of work and don't start on the trash jokes," I groaned. "The reprocessing plant's owner came to complain today about the reparations taking too long," I explained to Kakashi. "Yondaime-sama was too busy to see him, so Yoshino and I got into a debate with him about economy versus ecology. Considering that Yoshino is not pleased about the trash making the deer sick, it got ugly." I shook my head. "Let's not rehash it. We should talk about something else."
"Like what?" Genma asked before the waiter came to take our orders.
I shrugged before jumping on the first idea coming to me: "How are your ninken, Kakashi? It has been a while since I saw them."
"They're recovering from our fight against Tobi," Kakashi replied. "Bisuke and Uhei, in particular, took a bad hit when immobilizing him." As I straightened (Bisuke was one of my favorites with Guruko, they were the most affectionate), he added reassuringly: "They'll be fine. They already can walk again."
"I'm glad. You should summon them soon. They all deserve some cuddles."
"I'm in," Genma agreed. He was fond of Kakashi's ninken too, although his favorites were Uhei and Akino: they had the same laid-back attitude.
"Haa. I can do it tonight," Kakashi agreed easily.
"I was hoping for a different kind of cuddles tonight," Genma quipped, resting a hand on my thigh. Noticing Kakashi's tired expression, he added: "Nevermind."
"I don't mind if you want to, together," Kakashi said with a shrug. He wasn't in the mood for sex, and there was nothing wrong with that.
I patted Genma's hand and kissed his cheek. "We'll see," I murmured, to which he nodded obligingly.
Genma was always in the mood for sex, but he wasn't selfish enough to push.
When we left the restaurant, Kakashi led us toward a small park, where he summoned his ninken. I used to be a little overwhelmed by their number at first, but Kakashi had trained them well and they were mindful of my unease. Now, we were familiar enough with each other that I didn't worry anymore. I welcomed my favorites with open arms as I crouched to scratch them behind the ears.
"How are you boys? Bisuke, sweetie, are you feeling better?"
Guruko rested his front paws on my knee and waved his tail excitedly, while Bisuke was more careful, leaning into my touch passively. His ribcage was bandaged.
"It still hurts when I jumped, but I'm getting better," he replied.
"I'm glad. Do you want me to carry you? Oh, but it might be a bad idea..."
"No! I want to!" Bisuke demanded excitedly.
Hesitant, I looked up and met Kakashi's vigilant eye. He moved toward us and showed me how to carry the small dog safely. I followed his instructions, frowning in concentration and concern. Once I had Bisuke in the right hold, Kakashi smoothed a thumb over my forehead. The corner of his eye was crinkled in a soft expression.
"I leave him in your care," he murmured.
"You can count on me," I promised before kissing Bisuke's muzzle. He yipped in pleasure, his forelegs resting on my forearm. Guruko whined in jealousy at my feet. I gave him a smile. "We'll cuddle when we get home, Guru-kun, I promise. Just be a little patient, alright?"
He nodded obediently, and we moved toward the rest of the pack. Genma was holding a treat high in the air for Akino while Uhei (with bandaged hind legs) was leaning against his calf. Akino's jump was a reminder that those dogs were trained ninken who could jump at your throat without any trouble. He chewed on his treat with a satisfied air but relented at Uhei's pleading eyes and leaned toward him to offer a bite. Genma rewarded this sharing act with a scratch behind the ear, before lifting Uhei.
"Alright, let's go," Kakashi called. "We're taking the roof. Pakkun, lead the way."
I wondered why we didn't walk home along the streets since we weren't far from our flat. I soon realized we weren't actually going back home. Kakashi was ahead, too far to ask him where we were going without shouting, so I glanced at Genma with a raised eyebrow. He shrugged in ignorance. Neither of us was willing to sprint to catch up with our boyfriend, too mindful of the wounded dogs we were carrying.
After a minute, we jumped down from a roof in the empty courtyard of a traditional house. The place looked a bit plain, but it was tidy and big enough for a large family. Its architecture was characteristic of Konoha's founding period, which led me to think it might be a clan house. It was in a quiet district though, and I didn't remember anyone important living there from my days in the Genin Corps. Unfortunately, dwindling clans vacating their ancestral homes because they became too big for the last survivors wasn't unheard of.
I frowned at the dogs jumping on the patio. "Boys, what are you doing? This is someone's home, be—"
Akino jumped in the air and pulled on a rope I hadn't seen in the darkness. It unrolled a banner. It took me a few seconds to read its message under the moonlight, but then I was speechless, gaping, eyes blown wide. I could only mouth a "Oh" of wonder.
I wasn't the only one caught unaware: Genma spat out his senbon in shock, piercing the banner in the middle of the kanji for "marry".
"Bite me," he breathed.
Uhei obediently complied, and Genma swore, shaking his hand at the light sting before putting the ninken down. Successfully shaken out of his daze, he shouted at the shadows: "Kakashi, you sly dog!"
I was still stuck on the " Would you marry me?" and its subtitle: " The Hatake house is ours if you agree."
Genma dragged Kakashi back from his hiding place, teasing him about being mysterious and secretive for the sake of romance. Kakashi hid his embarrassment with forced nonchalance.
"Since when did you plan this?"
"Maa… I got the house back from its tenants three months ago. I thought about it when I was restoring it. Then, with people needing new homes because of the destroyed buildings, I thought this might be the right time to leave our flat. We can move in whenever you want. We don't need to wait for… anything." Kakashi was doing everything he could so he didn't have to say the words 'wedding' or 'marriage'.
The banner wasn't surprising when you knew that Kakashi was more comfortable writing or reading about feelings rather than talking about them. Still, it was amusing, especially considering that he was so good at not talking about it that Genma and I hadn't been expecting it at all.
"Kakashi," I interrupted before they could go on a tangent. I put down Bisuke, tugged on Kakashi's vest, and drew him forward. "The answer is yes, of course," I said with a smile. I pulled down his mask, cupped his cheeks, and kissed him tenderly.
"You like it?" he asked, a little unsure (it was a rare occasion when he showed his vulnerability without sarcasm or self-mockery).
"I do. It's sweet."
"And mysterious," Genma added with exaggerated awe.
I nudged him with an amused roll of my eyes. "Don't you have something else to say instead?" At his lack of understanding, I pointed out: "Your answer."
"Wh—? Uh… Yes?" he said, a little baffled. "It's not really about me though. I mean, as long as you say yes..."
"Last time I checked, there were three people in this relationship," Kakashi drawled.
I hummed in agreement. "Triad courting, remember? We're in this together."
The corner of his lips tilted upward. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Well, then, yes… let's make this crazy relationship official."
"I have no idea how this is supposed to go," I noted. "Is there really a courting?"
"In theory, there is," Kakashi admitted, scratching his cheek sheepishly, "but we don't have to go through all of the old traditions. The main ones should be enough, and we already lived together for years so the 'courting' part is already done when you think about it."
"So, what's left?"
"Well…" Kakashi glanced at Genma, who knew him well enough to say:
"Oh, this is going to be good."
oOo
"Is this really necessary?" I asked Kakashi two weeks later, as we sat on a wooden fence around a training ground.
"No… but it's fun," he replied, watching the fight with an amused eye.
As the man which wasn't from a clan in our triad, Genma had to prove he was worthy of joining the Hatake family by showing off his abilities. As a shinobi, that meant fighting, but because Kakashi might be biased (he was), a parental figure had to do it. This is how the Yondaime ended up fighting his own bodyguard to confirm he was worthy of his student.
We all knew that Minato wasn't going to say no, he approved of our relationship, but they seemed to enjoy this tremendously. Their battle was more about showing off than anything serious. Genma was sporting a manic grin while Minato was chuckling every other second.
I found it rather absurd personally, but since they all had fun…
"Is there anything else we have to do?"
Kakashi hummed without looking away from the show. "If I still had family, this would be more complicated, but as it is we can do basically whatever we want. I should talk to your mother, though."
"To tell her what?" I asked, suspicious. If he said he needed to ask for my hand in marriage, I was putting my foot down. Feudal world or not, there were traditions I didn't want anything to do with.
"To get her to convince you to wear the kimono," he said as if it was obvious.
I gasped in outrage. "You're going to turn my mom against me?!"
"I'm a shinobi: I'd do anything to get my way," he pointed out smugly.
"I thought we agreed on a simple ceremony," I protested. None of us was the type to put time, money, and effort into making a giant show of what was for us a simple officialization of our commitment to each other. If it wasn't for Genma's mother and mine, we would have gone for an intimate ceremony with the three of us and no reception, and be done with it. Unfortunately, we had agreed it was too risky: Genma's mom could be deadly when displeased.
"It doesn't mean you can't wear a traditional kimono."
"I don't understand why you're insisting so much about this. Is it because it's your mother's?" He had found the kimono in a box while renovating the house, and he had shown it to me. It was a gorgeous white shiromuku with red lining and intricate shining motifs. I felt it was excessive for the simple gathering with friends and family we had in mind.
"There is that," he admitted. "It's one of the last things I have of her. I would like to see it worn, to know how it would look outside of pictures…"
There was also another box of photo frames of his parents (and baby Kakashi). I had caught him going through it once, but then he had closed it and put it away. Although he was working on his family issues, he wasn't over them yet.
"A traditional wedding kimono is so complicated and heavy," I whined, but I was an empathetic push-over, my determination was waning.
"Also, Genma is excited to see you in it."
I frowned and glanced at our boyfriend bending low to dodge Minato's kick. "Really? He didn't say."
"He didn't want you to feel pressured with both of us asking."
"That doesn't seem to bother you."
He pointed to himself with a smug look. "Shinobi."
"Asshole. Fine, I'll wear the kimono, but you won't ever make me wear a wig or that hat."
"I can live with that," he agreed readily.
Wigs and hats were a little old-fashioned. It might still be worn by noble ladies, but it was more hassle than I was willing to bear for my fiancés.
"Which means you're going to pay for pretty kanzashi for my hair, and while we are at it, I might as well have a matching traditional bouquet of flowers, a very expensive one to honor the quality of the kimono," I demanded. If I had to go through with this, I might as well do it right and bother him while I was at it!
"Oh, so you're going to be an expensive wife. I should have known…"
I punched him in the shoulder, only to take a face full of smoke. I stood up, coughing, and shouted: "Kakashi! Was I seriously talking to a clone all this time?"
Minato and Genma interrupted their fight to glance at me.
Minato helpfully pointed out: "Didn't he tell you? He went to tell Gai about the wedding a few hours ago, and he hasn't been able to… ah… slip away from him since, so he's sending clones in his stead."
"Oh," I said. My outrage vanished as I imagined Gai clinging to his best friend somewhere in Konoha and Kakashi trying to escape his clutches. I cackled in glee. "Serves him right!"
"You were saying?"
I shouted in fright as the voice came from right behind me, and I spun around. Casually crouched on the wooden fence with a book in hand, Kakashi looked up with an eye-smile. "I switched with a clone. So we were talking about how you were going to ruin me, my dear fiancé."
I grabbed him by his jacket and pulled him forward. "I'm going to ruin your face!" I dragged him (or rather he let me drag him) toward the center of the field, where Minato and Genma were watching us, amused. "Let's spice things up! I'm on Hokage-sama's team. You boys can just cower in fear."
"Splendid idea, Maiko," Minato approved with a cheerful grin.
"Stop dragging me into your messes," Genma complained to Kakashi.
"But, honey, I thought you and I were until death," Kakashi mocked.
"It doesn't mean you need to expedite my death! Should I remind you that you're the rich one in our relationship? You'll inherit nothing if I die prematurely!"
"I'm getting second thoughts," I murmured to Minato.
He grinned. "No, you aren't."
"No, I'm not," I admitted with a fond shake of my head.
oOo
The wedding was held in spring, five months after Orochimaru's attack on Konoha.
The ceremony had been a simple affair, none of us wishing to make a spectacle of ourselves or being fond of long speeches. With three of us, it had already lengthened the vows. At least, the weather was on my side: while the sky was a little cloudy, it was dry and the perfect temperature to be enveloped in several thick layers of silk. It protected me from the breeze which played with the red kanzashi ornaments in my formal bun.
We had left the gazebo where the ceremony had taken place and went through a gorgeous garden. A red wooden bridge led the way to the reception hall where we would have lunch. Standing there between Genma and Kakashi, I was speaking which each guest before they went to find their places at the tables.
Genma's mother had recruited Izumo and Kotetsu to do her bidding and organize the reception. We had happily let her deal with the matter, knowing it would be in good — though a bit excessive — hands. My mother was in charge of accepting gifts. She was gleefully using Gai like her manservant, which he had agreed to with enthusiasm (a bit too much, even for him; I was getting suspicious of their relationship, but Kakashi had warned me with a glance: "don't ask" — I had to agree, ignorance was sometimes bliss).
"Nee-san is so pretty," Naruto murmured in reverent awe.
I chuckled at his admiration for what was in fact a lot of make-up and a ton of fabrics and ornaments. I felt like I could disappear under it all, a mere model for the work of art that was the kimono, but I suppose I didn't make a bad one at least.
I certainly couldn't carry Naruto in this getup, however. Luckily, he found it much more amusing to hide under the long sleeves of the furisode or under the trail. I let him adjust my arms' position to suit his whims while I talked with the guests.
The congratulations, well-wishes, compliments, and thanks followed one after the other, made palatable by the fact that each and every one of them were from dear friends and family. Laughter and jokes thus joined the formalities.
The Nara, Itachi, the Yondaime, and all the ANBU who were Genma and Kakashi's friends, Raidou and Rin, Asuma and Kurenai, Neji and his father, Tsunade and Shizune, and even my old sensei from the Genin Corps, Akimichi Kuma… Oh, and somehow Jiraiya had showed up (for the sake and Minato and Tsunade's company, no doubt).
When every guest had finally stepped into the reception hall, I leaned against the bridge's rail and breathed in the fresh air of spring, appreciating this small moment of calm mixed with the low conversations coming from the building nearby.
Genma put an arm around my shoulders and Kakashi leaned on the rail next to me. Both of them stayed quiet, enjoying this moment as much as I did.
I glanced at our reflection in the still water and smiled softly. Kakashi was wearing black and grey while Genma was in white and silver. Both of them had a red flower pin to their haori, matching the red round bouquet I was holding at the end of a red cord. The matching colors were cute and Genma's idea.
We made a pretty picture.
I hope we would make an even more beautiful family.
"Someone is missing," I realized. At their questioning glance, I turned toward Kakashi: "Summon your ninken." At his hesitation, I nudged him. "Come on, this is our wedding! Shouldn't they announce our arrival? Oh, and also, we should be late! Hatake style!" As the idea came to mind, I clapped my hands before tempering: "Well, I mean, not too late, just like... ten minutes." I still had manners, after all.
Genma laughed and grinned at Kakashi. "I'm in. We have your reputation to uphold now, don't we? As Hatake Maiko and Hatake Genma, we have to be the worthy representatives of our clan head."
Kakashi's lips stretched slowly under his mask and his eyes (both of them were uncovered) closed for a few seconds of amusement before he agreed: "Sounds appropriate."
Barks filled the garden as the pack was summoned and promptly burst into excitement as they realized they were invited to the wedding.
"So pretty, Mai-chan!" Bisuke and Guruko said in unison. I crouched as much as I could to scoop them up in my arms.
"Ah, no! Don't lick my cheeks, there's make-up! So much make-up. It can't be good for you to swallow!" I laughed and tried to evade their tongues. They rubbed their snouts against my neck instead, sniffing at my perfume and waving their tails excitedly.
"What would you say about being our entrance parade, boys?" Genma asked after a few minutes of petting.
"If we're going to do this," Pakkun said after they all had loudly agreed, "we should wear a red flower, like yours."
Clearly, Pakkun was a master in stage-setting. Too bad we hadn't planned this in advance.
It was getting closer to fifteen minutes when a pack of ninken — which had learned a bit too much from their master — opened the door with a bang, posing like a gang of mobsters introducing their boss to the commoners, red flowers pinned to their hitai-ate.
From the view I had of their back, it was hilarious. I hoped someone took a picture. "This is ridiculous," I said, giggling at our antics.
Kakashi and Genma had to go hunt for the red flowers, while I had to stay put due to the cumbersome kimono which didn't allow me to jump on rooftops. However, I had to flee behind a tree when Izumo came to check on us, and I really had felt like a naughty schoolgirl skipping classes. At our own supposedly respectable wedding, it was ridiculous.
Genma grinned. The senbon which he had kept in a pocket during the whole ceremony had reappeared as soon as he had gone gallivanting on the roofs.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Pakkun announced with his deep voice, "the clan head Hatake Kakashi, his wife, Hatake Maiko, and their husband, Hatake Genma."
We stepped forward with the appropriate pompous poses, and I definitely noticed a flash of light as we stopped behind our canine guards.
Polite clapping started before a shout filled the hall: "You're late !"
I burst into laughter as Naruto's scream reminded me of the manga I used to read once upon a time. It was perfect.
"Yeah! Can we get the damn sake, now?!" Tsunade added, leaning forward and hitting the table with her glass.
I let go of my husbands, and the ninken scattered as we stepped forward.
"Maa," Kakashi said, "sorry, we were…"
"... lost on the road of life," Genma and I finished with him.
Laughter rose as we took our seats.
"Hopefully for a long while yet, as long as we're together," I murmured.
Genma and Kakashi were the only ones to hear me. We exchanged fond smiles.
"Can we eat now ?!" Naruto asked.
"Just for that, I'm going to say no, Naruto," I replied loudly, to the crowd's amusement and Naruto's whine of dismay. "Instead, I'd like to make a toast." I reached for a cup of sake and stood up with it raised in hand. Once they had imitated me, I announced: "I once thought that the Will of Fire wasn't for me. I was mistaken. Love can bring peace. I believe that. And when I look to all those I love gathered in this room today…" I looked around, pausing as much to hold back my tears and get my voice under control than to meet the eyes of those who had made that journey worthwhile. "I have faith that together we can make a better tomorrow… Thank you to you, and to Konoha."
"To Konoha!"
As I sat down, I met Midori's eyes. My mother was shining with pride, drying her tears discreetly. I did the same and chuckled as Kakashi and Genma squeezed my hands.
Whatever came up next. We would be ready. Together.
oOo Bonus - Minato and Midori's PoV oOo
Several hours later, as lunch was ending in favor of games and talks around a cup of tea, Minato left his son in Itachi's care and exited the reception hall. He found who he was looking for near a koi pond, the rolling chair parked under the branches of a colorful maple.
"It's a bittersweet feeling to see them grow, isn't it?" Maiko's mother asked with a soft smile.
Minato hummed in agreement as he stopped by her side. "It is," he agreed, "but I suspect your experience and mine are vastly different."
"And hardly the norm," she conceded. Together, they gazed at the calm scenery in silence for a few moments, before Midori spoke up: "I have had ample time to ponder and wonder about my daughter. About her previous life, her previous world, her previous parents… and how all of this would affect her. I imagined the worst and the best… or so I thought." She met his eyes and grinned. "Best wedding I ever went to. I wished I had the thought to make such a scene at my own wedding, damn it."
Minato laughed good-naturedly. His own had been so quiet and intimate that they hardly had the opportunity, but one of his first thought, when the ninken had arrived, was that Kushina would have greatly approved. He had spared a few seconds of regret at the reminder that she wasn't here to share this with him, but it had been swept away by his affection for his whole family. It had grown a little more today. He was glad.
The Yondaime smiled serenely. "Yes, it's a beautiful day. The Will of Fire burns brighter than ever."