Author's Note: This chapter's a bit shorter, but I love how the final scene turned out. I actually cried while writing it, and I don't really cry a lot! Enjoy!

"I- I don't- I can't- I-" Kakashi gasped desperately for air as he attempted to speak. Minato, having already dealt with one of Kakashi's hyperventilation sessions, looked on with concern.

"It's my fault- My fault, my fault, my fault," Kakashi repeated shakily, his entire body trembling and rocking, "I killed him... If only I- I had just come home. Or- Or stayed home he would be- He wouldn't be- I killed him!"

"No, Kakashi, no, it's not your fault. Not at all. None of this is your fault," Minato responded immediately. He had watched Kakashi slowly degrade over the past ten minutes, seemingly becoming more and more convinced that he was responsible for Sakumo's death, despite Minato's best attempts to persuade him otherwise.

Any sane person would've given up by now, Minato thought, watching Kakashi sympathetically. Although, if I have to be insane to help him, I guess that's fine.

Finally, aid came to Minato.

From the adjoining room, and the external door within it, a voice rang out.

"Minato? Are you okay?" Kushina's concerned yet slightly skeptical voice wafted through the apartment, bringing great relief to Minato.

"I'll be back," Minato told Kakashi quickly, hesitating a moment before turning and heading out of the room.

"Oh, Kushina, thank goodness," Minato breathed in shaky relief, "I'm fine, it's just... Kakashi, he's..."

"He's... ?" Kushina wasn't being much help, Minato decided.

Minato hesitated a moment, though broke quickly under the pressure of his wife's expectant gaze, "Sakumo killed himself yesterday. And, ah... Kakashi found him."

Minato looked as though he wanted to say more, though remained silent. Kushina stared at Minato for a moment, rather shocked, before rushing past him into their room, with an urgent, maternal instinct to come to Kakashi's aid.

Minato watched his wife go, before turning back to the living room. Knowing Kakashi would be in good hands with Kushina, Minato collapsed. Although the couch was no more than a step away, he elected to slump to the floor, leaning back against the couch.

Minato was exhausted. He had no idea how to handle this situation he'd been thrown into - he'd never even considered the possibility of Kakashi requiring emotional comfort. It was one of the most stressful things the Jōnin had ever experienced - watching someone break down and being helpless to do anything about it. Watching someone you cared deeply about was another story entirely.

Ten minutes later, Kushina emerged from the bedroom. Minato immediately looked up with a hopeful gaze, which was returned by a sad smile from Kushina.

"He's, um..." Kushina trailed off, unable to find the right words. Minato required no more explanation, nodding with a sigh. Kushina dropped to the floor beside him, observing her husband with a worried gaze.

"Are you okay, Minato?"

"Yeah, I just..." Minato looked up, focusing on Kushina's dark blue eyes, "I want to help him, but I don't... I don't know how, and... It's painful, Kushina. Physically painful."

Kushina gave no reply. Instead, she leaned into Minato, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. Minato sighed, resting his head against Kushina's.

"He'll be okay. It might take a while, but... Kakashi will be okay."

The day passed as to be expected - Kakashi was rather quiet, for the most part. He had remained in the bedroom for the entire day, silently sitting on the bed as he stared off, seemingly beyond the wall that remained in front of him for hours. Minato had tried to approach him several times, though he hadn't received much of a response, and had quickly given up.

It was that night that Minato found Kakashi, sitting on the roof, staring up at the stars. The moon's pure white illumination of Kakashi's face seemed to make his skin seem even paler, and created an illusion that his hair, now washed of the blood, was glowing a bright white.

"Kakashi... We need to talk," Minato voiced apprehensively as he took a seat beside Kakashi on the roof.

"Hm?" Kakashi's quiet reply came without much interest; he seemed rather distracted.

Minato hesitated a moment before speaking, "There's going to be a funeral held in three days. I... I am not saying you have to go. Just... If you want to, you can."

Kakashi remained silent, though he had obviously registered what Minato had said. Nervously biting his lower lip, Kakashi looked away, curling the fingers of one hand inward into a tight fist.

"Just think about it. You can let me know tomorrow."

Tomorrow came quickly, it seemed, as the sun rose to cast an eerie, red glow on the boy, sprawled peacefully on the roof. Minato had been slightly concerned about the safety - or rather, lack thereof - of sleeping on the roof, but he'd decided to let it slide.

"Kakashi!" Minato called up from the silent street, shielding his eyes from the sun. Kakashi, having been awake for several hours, sat up quickly, looking down to Minato expectantly.

"I-" Minato stopped almost immediately, having grown tired of yelling. He swiftly leapt to the roof, taking a seat beside Kakashi.

"I'm not going," Kakashi said immediately, staring off at the horizon.

"Okay, that's fine. Today, though... If you want, we can go over to your house, so you can collect some of your things. I notified the ANBU yesterday about... Well, about what happened, so your father..." Minato paused, searching for words, "He won't be there. But... There might still be some blood."

Kakashi considered this for a moment, before nodding trepidatiously.

After Minato had forced some food into Kakashi, the two headed over to the Hatake estate. As they approached the manor, ducking under the tape marking it as a crime scene, it was obvious that Kakashi's anxiety was only growing. Minato, having opened the door and stepped inside, looked back to Kakashi expectantly, who hesitated on the porch. After a minute, Kakashi nervously slipped inside.

There it was. The silence. The silence that was simply wrong.

Kakashi drew in a sharp, shallow breath, quickly letting it out.

"Minato-sensei, I-" Kakashi stopped, inhaling again, a shuddering gasp, "I don't want to be here. I- I can't."

"Are you... Are you sure, Kakashi? We don't have to stay long, but they probably won't let you back in here again. It's crime scene protocol, we're not actually allowed to be here right now," Minato explained.

Kakashi considered this, before looking back to Minato, "Okay... I can't- Not for long, though."

Minato had noticed his student's strained breathing almost immediately, though he had elected to leave it alone until it escalated to a more severe level.

Kakashi, by his sensei's side, looked around the house with wide, fearful eyes as they made their way through the dark corridors. As they turned the corner, however, he stopped immediately.

"Kakashi? What's wrong?"

"I- I can't- I don't- I can't- I- I-" Kakashi was fully hyperventilating now, his breaths rapid and shallow. His small frame was shaking violently as he stared into Minato's azure eyes.

"Okay, it's okay. Just... Slow down. Breathe. You're breathing way too fast right now, you need to slow down, okay?" Minato approached Kakashi quickly, dropping to his knees to match the boy's height.

Kakashi nodded shakily, fighting to draw in a decent, deep breath.

Minato realized now, what had been so wrong other than the house itself. Just behind him lay the door to Sakumo's study.

Although Kakashi fought to keep them in, tears slipped from his dark eyes, and soon, he was sobbing uncontrollably. Minato placed a hand on his student's shoulder, pulling him into a firm embrace.

"Minato-sensei..." Kakashi whispered, burying his face in Minato's shoulder.

"Shh... It's okay... It'll be okay..." Minato replied softly, holding the trembling boy firmly against him.

"No it won't," Kakashi shook his head, gasping for breath as his voice grew louder. "It's not okay and it will never be okay! Why can't someone just see that for once, and acknowledge the fact that this is not okay?!"

Kakashi pulled away from Minato, tears clouding his vision.

"You all just run around, singing about how everything's fine, everything's going to be fine, but it's not! And no one ever even acknowledges that fact! Why can't- Why can't we just realize when really, there is nothing good about a situation and accept that fact?! Why- Why do we have to make everything okay?! Because- Because how is any of this okay?! My father killed himself because this world was so not okay, and we're just going to say that that's okay?! Tell me, Minato-sensei. Tell me. How is any of this okay?"

Minato watched Kakashi in shock for a minute, the weight of what Kakashi was experiencing hitting him. This was not simply a child's grief process.

"I... I'm sorry, Kakashi," Minato replied quietly, shaking his head, "I'm sorry... Because you're right, and.. And it really is not."