Okay, so here it is - my first multi-chapter epic in a long while! Okay, so it's not quite that long, but is long enough. It has several chapters but it is all complete. It done. Which means that today, you get to read the entire story in one go if you want.

Technically, "Papa Hokage" is a rewrite of "Bitter-Sweet Dreams." But in reality, it's a lot more. See, "Bitter Sweet Dreams" didn't end up the way I wanted it. What I got was awesome and stands on it's own, but it wasn't Papa Hokage as I originally intended it to be. So, I went back to the drawing board and wrote this story. It took a long time (slightly over a month) but it is finished now. The story is complete. Minato gets to raise his son and we get a pretty cool story!

Now, I should note that I used dictation software to assist me on retyping the story. This was because it was so long and I made so many changes. It was just easier to start over. It does mean though that the machine got a few things wrong. I did try to catch the errors it made, but I didn't get them all. I wanted to get this out there so you could enjoy it sooner. So, I only skimmed it a couple of times before releasing it. So, there may still be issues. If you find any - PM me! Let me know which chapter the issue comes from and I'll fix it ASAP. I will also fix myself later on, but I wanted to get this out to you now.

Now enough of me - on to Papa Hokage.

Papa Hokage

Minato was asleep. He was exhausted. There is always so much to do that Minato was always running ragged. No one said that his job was going to be easy. Still, it meant that sleep was a rare commodity to him.

Of course, it didn't help that he had a newborn. Naruto wailed several times per night. Sometimes he was hungry, sometimes he needed his diaper to be changed. But tonight though Naruto was sick. He has been running a fever all day. Kushina had been caring for him, trying to get the fever down. Naruto was suffering and there wasn't a lot his parents could do about it.

Minato was worried. He reminded himself that it was normal for babies to get fevers. That they just needed to help him through this. But it was hard. Every time Naruto cried: They were up. Kushina would race off to help. But Minato couldn't go. She wouldn't let him. She wanted him to sleep. So, she insisted that she go.

As the night wore on Kushina eventually wore out. When Naruto cried again, she didn't try to stop Minato as he left the room. She was just too tired.

Minato went to his son side. Naruto was in his crib and was crying with all his might. He didn't stop when he saw his father. Instead he cried and cried and cried.

Minato reached in and picked up his son. He felt his sons forehead. It was still very warm. He cuddled with him and said, "Shh . . .it's alright . . . Papa's here . . ."

When that didn't work, he bounced his son in an effort to quiet him. He hated seeing him like this. He wanted to fix everything right away for Naruto, but that wasn't possible. He was the Hokage but still he couldn't make his sons fever go away. He felt useless . . .

Finally, his son quieted a little bit. Naruto still wasn't relaxed, but he wasn't crying so loud. Minato held Naruto to his chest as he prepared the medicine that Kushina had received earlier. Carefully, he administered it to him then waited for Naruto to fall back asleep. He sat down in the chair and fell asleep with his son and his arms.

The next morning, Minato woke up with a blanket around his legs and his son nestled in his arms. He found that Naruto's fever had gone down and that he was breathing a lot better. That's better. Minato thought as he slowly got up. He placed Naruto back in his crib then went downstairs.

Kushina was in the kitchen making breakfast. He loved her cooking. She always flavored her food with passion that Minato could never match. Not that he didn't try of course. He loves cooking for her but he knew that he was nowhere near as good. The only thing he was really good at was baking. Which Kushina stunk at. She had no patience for such things. It made him laugh every time she tried to bake.

"Oh, you're up." Kushina's words broke him out of his thoughts. She gave him a smile then said, "good morning!"

Minato kissed his wife, "Good morning."

Kushina flipped the sausage then asked, "How is Naruto?"

"Better."

"Thank goodness." Kushina turned around to face her husband. "It seems all he needed was his father."

Minato blushed, "I barely did anything."

"You did enough."

Minato closed his eyes, "I did nothing. You're the one who sat with him all day yesterday."

Kushina laughed then slapped him on the chest. "You're the Hokage, remember? You can't run home every time your son catches a cold."

"Yeah, but . . ."

Kushina cut them off. "No buts mister. You have a job to do. An important one. Naruto will understand."

"Okay . . ." Minato gave in as he always did. Kushina was right of course. He had to set an example for Naruto. He wasn't just a Hokage anymore. He wasn't just a teacher anymore. He was a father and he had to show his son the way. Even if his son was only a few weeks old.

Kushina turn back to her pan. "Good. Now go have a seat. Breakfast is almost ready."

And that was it. Kushina entertained her husband with her antidotes as they ate. The house resounded with laughter. All the stress of the previous night was gone. Naruto would be fine. He was grateful for that. He was grateful to Kushina for caring for Naruto all that time. He was grateful for the gift of the blanket. But most of all, he was grateful that she had given him a son. It was the greatest gift anyone had given him and he would never forget it. He loved his family with all his heart. He was just so grateful . . .

Just as they were finishing breakfast Naruto started to cry. And as fast a Flash, Kushina was up the stairs. Minato a mired how fast she could move for their son's sake. She's even faster than me. He thought as he trailed up behind her. When he got up to the room, Kushina already had Naruto in her arms.

When she saw him she asked him, "Would you prepare his bottle for me?"

"Okay." Minato didn't mind doing stuff like this. He loved doing things for them. He wanted to be a major part of his son's upbringing. He just didn't want to stand on the sidelines and watch.

Sure, a lot of people would think that The Hokage shouldn't be preparing his son's bottle, But Minato didn't care. It was his son and he was going to raise him however he saw fit. And that was final.