Disclaimer: The day I own Naruto is the day Jiraiya takes a vow of chastity.
A.N.: I openly and shamelessly adore the idea/all-but-fact that Yondaime is Naruto's father. This fanfic is about how their lives as a family might have been had Fate and the Kyuubi not stepped in.
I've given Yondaime-sama the name Arashi. While Kayaku is far more likely to turn out to be Yondaime's canon name, in my mind he's been Arashi for far too long to be anything else unless Kishimoto-sama himself says otherwise. Don't expect any semblance of a real plot in this, it's just going to be little drabbles of random cuteness, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. The only reason I've given it a T-rating is because Arashi's nii-san, Higen (somehow, I could never quite imagine Yondaime as an only child, so I gave him a big brother) and ninja in general don't have the cleanest mouths. ;;
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Musuko
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Chapter 1: Delivery Room Dilemma
Uzumaki Higen was at his wit's end. For the last fourteen hours, his sister-in-law, Uzumaki Rei had been in labor with her and his brother's first child. For the first thirteen of them, Arashi had played the dutiful husband, doting on his wife's every need, fetching whatever was necessary to make her as comfortable as possible, and taking his beatings like a good boy whenever she felt like dishing them out (Higen found it amusing to watch the great and powerful Fourth Hokage get his ass handed to him by his very pregnant wife and gleefully filed the scene away in his mental blackmail folder).
All of that had changed almost an hour ago when the contractions got more powerful, more painful, and closer together. It was time.
Tsunade, the doctor in charge, ordered Rei be brought into the delivery room, kicking Arashi out of it when he tried to follow. Which brought them to the current situation: Uzumaki Arashi a.k.a. the Fourth Hokage, pacing back and forth like a mad man in front of the delivery room, muttering to (and cursing at) himself, and just generally getting on people's nerves, namely Higen's. It's not that he minded his usually calm and collected younger brother acting like a nervous wreck, but it really did a number on his patience after fourteen hours. Thus the reason for Higen's rather strong desire to throttle the man right about now.
The last member of their little party wasn't helping either. When Rei had first gone into labor, Sarutobi had taken up the duties of Hokage for the day so Arashi could be with his wife. Now, however, he was sitting patiently on the bench besides Higen, watching as his successor paced a hole into the floor. He knew he should say something to the younger man, even if only for the elder Uzumaki's sanity, but he didn't. He could have pointed out that thanks to Tsunade, the medical personal of Konohagakure were amongst the best in the world and therefore mother and child couldn't be in safer hands, but he didn't. He also could have reminded Arashi that giving birth was a perfectly natural (if painful) part of being a woman and that his wife was going to be fine. Rei was going through the same things that millions of other women in the world had since the birth of the human race and that Rei was stronger than most. If they could give birth, so could she.
But he didn't. Nope, to the Third Hokage, the delivery room wait/panic was a rite of passage for new fathers and high and mighty Yondaime or not, Arashi would just have to just sweat it out like the rest of them. Besides, the moment the kid's out of there, Arashi was going to be grinning like an idiot anyway, so hey, might as well enjoy the spectacle while it lasts.
For his part, Arashi tried to be patient. He knew giving birth was supposed to be painful, that it took time and Tsunade was doing her best, but damn it he couldn't help it. Tradition in the Fire Country dictated that childbirth was the sole domain of women, so by and large men were kept in the dark about it, and that included keeping them out of the delivery room was well, Konoha being no exception. Quite frankly, Arashi didn't give a damn about tradition, not if it came between him, his wife, and their child, but Tsunade did give a damn apparently, or else she wouldn't have kicked him out. He was willing to argue the matter further (to the point of fists, actually), but then Rei had let out another pearl of pain and Tsunade rushed back in but not before she'd warned her patient's husband that if he ever tried to barge into one of her operations like he did half an hour ago, she'd render him incapable of having children ever again.
So essentially cut off from Rei and the baby, all Arashi could do was wait and worry. It didn't help that every single little issue and insecurity he'd grappled with in the past nine months was coming back to haunt him with a vengeance.
From 'What's taking so long? Is the baby alright?' to 'Do I even have what it takes to be a father? Am I ready for this?' the thoughts swirled and raced through his mind. All the questions he's asked himself when it had hit him that he was going to be a father came screaming back to him, all pressing down on him, all demanding answers that . Thoughts surfaced and sank before he could pin them down with words and it was making his head hurt.
'I've been a shinobi for what, almost twenty years now? You'd think I'd be able to keep my cool better than this. Damn it, man, get it together, focus!' Arashi berated himself. 'But damn, what was I thinking, bringing a child into this world when there's still the threat of war?' He felt like banging his head against the wall. Fortunately, before he did, the sound of high-pitched crying broke the silence. Arashi whipped around.
Tsunade, hair mussed and smock bloody was peaking out from behind the door. She had her mouth open as if to tell him something, but he didn't wait to find out. He was behind her before she had time for a single word.
Rei lay propped up on a bed in the middle of the room. Her rich mahogany brown hair was messily tied back but a few strands hung down to frame her face. Exhaustion was written clearly on her every feature, from the heavily lidded hazel eyes to the beads of sweat still clinging to her forehead. But as she looked up at him, a brilliant smile on her face, it occurred to him that he'd never seen her look so happy. Nor so beautiful, not even on their wedding day.
Another wailing cry shifted his attention from his wife to the blue-wrapped bundle in her arms.
Arashi's breath caught in his throat. Not so with his wife. If anything, her smile got even bigger as she said, "Congratulations, Yodaime-sama, you have a son."
Not quite remembering when he moved from the doorway to beside the bed, Arashi stared in absolute awe at the tiny face peeking out from the folds of the soft blue cloth.
"You want to hold him?" Rei asked quietly, knowing full well the answer but inquiring anyway. Arashi nodded dumbly, gently, tenderly, carefully taking his baby into his arms.
Powerful emotions surged through Arashi's heart as he beheld his son for the first time. Awe, pride, protectiveness, wonder, joy, and a kind of fierce tenderness all flooded his being, but none more strongly than sheer love.
He was so caught up in it all he didn't even notice his smile was threatening to split his face in two.
Tsunade, who had been waiting where Arashi left her by the door, chose this moment to gently shoo Arashi out of the room so she could perform a post birth check-up on Rei.
Out in the hall, Sarutobi and Higen continued to wait, the former thinking back all those years ago when his own child was born and the later trying to contain his excitement and his happiness for his brother, failing miserably on both counts.
The door opened again and out came Arashi, a tiny blue bundle nestled in his arms.
Higen eyed the bundle. Sarutobi eyed the grin on Arashi's face. He knew it, like an idiot.
"That him?" Higen asked, nodding towards his nephew.
"Yup." Lifting his son a little higher, Arashi peeled the blanket back just enough so they could all see the tiny face better.
Deep, sparkling blue eyes peered up at them curiously, as if wondering who all the big people were.
Higen cracked a grin. "Hey there, little guy," he said, peering over his brother's shoulder at his nephew. "Glad to finally meet'cha."
He reached over and gently ruffled the blond peach fuzz poking out from the blanket. The baby made a small irritated noise, wriggling a bit to evade the offending fingers. All three men laughed.
Higen smirked. "Noogies are family tradition, kiddo, so better get used to it."
"That they are," Arashi agreed, remembering all the times Higen had ambushed him just to make his scalp burn when they were younger. His reminiscing eventually slipped into him just standing there and taking in his baby, his son. Bright blue eyes, soft blond hair, tiny button of a nose, round, chubby face. Arashi reached into the blanket and pulled out one of the impossibly little hands, examining the even littler fingers complete with miniscule nails. The entire hand was just barely able to make a fist around Arashi's index finger. "He's so small," he marveled.
"Yeah," his brother agreed. Seemingly pondering something, he added, "Kinda makes you realize just why the old word for baby means little red thing."
Had his hands not been holding the baby, Arashi would have elbowed his brother in the ribs. He settled for a light glare instead. "Gee, thanks, Higen."
"What? He knows I didn't mean it personally, right Shorty?"
"I think I'll give him my full permission to be taller than you, just to spite you.
"You do realize that means he'd be taller than you, right?"
Sarutobi chuckled at the highly disgruntled look on Arashi's face.
"Half an inch, Aniki," he growled, "half an inch!" While he could not be labeled 'short' by any means sans the years before he became a Genin, between Jiraiya, Higen, and Mitsurugi, his father, Arashi had always been rather sore about his height.
"Boys," Sarutobi chided lightly, far too used to the brotherly banter to take it seriously. They stood there for a moment, studying this tiny boy in Arashi's arms. Eventually, Higen spoke again. "So, you gonna name him or what?" he asked.
"Naruto," Arashi said proudly. "Uzumaki Naruto."