Gaara walked slowly, shaken by the outburst and the consequences. Not that he didn't expect them, he knew that his father wouldn't be happy if he spotted them, but it was still not a pleasing feeling when the older man was displeased with him. And he even dared to imagine what would it be once he would learn walking on the wall and show it proudly to father and... Well, now it was probably a disgraceful event and him walking on walls was not something to be done soon.

He wished he didn't have to sit in his cold and alone room but it was his father's orders. He stopped though when he heard the known voice. Naruto. What was Naruto thinking, following him like that? Has he been proven not enough he couldn't be kept as a close friend? And yet, he stopped. He couldn't help being curious. The blond actually amazed him more than once now. Maybe this time he will do something new too?

'Faster!' yelled Kazekage and the sand suddenly rustled up quicker and much louder, indicating that the redhead actually speeded up his moves.

#+#+#+#+#+#

Naruto waited outside the door, angrily wiping at his eyes. He wasn't sad about what had happened, just really, really angry. Why was Gaara's father getting so riled up over something stupid like them training? It was a lie that Gaara couldn't walk on walls like other ninja, he was just too nervous and had a hard time doing so, but he'd been doing fine! And now he was grounded because of him and… He looked at the door again. His daddy wanted him to wait outside. That meant right the other side of the room.

He walked to the nearest window, easily climbing up to look, trying to find the small redhead among the people getting in and out of the building. After a few moments he finally caught side of the other's figure, but only because it seemed everyone moved away from him, so it was easy to single him out, even from that height.

'Gaara!' he slapped a hand on his mouth at how loud he'd been, giving the door an alarmed glance, then staring at it distrustingly for a few moments. Important document rooms were soundproofed, right…? Well… they were in Konoha. He looked back down.

'Gaaara!' he hissed as quietly as he could. 'Pst! Hey, Gaara!' he waved at him there frantically, then gave the room another look. Outside really was a bit of a vague order, right? Everywhere but inside the room was outside the room. Sure, that's not what his father had meant and he knew it perfectly well, but if they were to get down to what technically was said—

'Gaara, wait!' Naruto jumped down and ran all the way down the building.

Naruto did. Maybe it was momentum from the ran down the building or maybe the blond alone, but the little kid practically tackled the redhead in a quick hug before pulling away and rubbing the back of his head, more or less in the spot that he thought the other had been smacked. "I'm so sorry, Gaara, did it hurt? I tried to tell your dad that it wasn't your fault, but he didn't want to listen, and then my dad told me to be quiet and I couldn't say anything else, I'm so sorry you got scolded—Gaara, are you okay?'

The redhead nodded, slowly pulling Naruto's hand away though the caress seemed nice. But even if it was nice it was alien and mother seemed suspicious about the sudden closeness so he backed off a little. 'I'm okay.' he said. And he really was. It was nothing new after all and he couldn't expect anything else, even if all that made him feel pain again. 'Father doesn't have to listen to anyone, he is the Kazekage so he is right. I'm sorry you had to witness this.' he said and turned around. 'I have to go to my room.'

'But that's not fair, it wasn't your fault…' the blond looked saddened by the other's resignation. Weren't Kage's supposed to be fair and protect the people on their village? Especially their own kids! His face fell even more when the redhead turned around. Now the other probably didn't want to be his friend anymore. 'Gaara I'm…really sorry I got you in trouble, I didn't mean to.'

'It's not anyone's fault.' he said and looked at Naruto. 'You don't have to apologize.' If anything, he should have been more opposing to Naruto's ideas, he knew his father was not approving of anything he did alone. He only got carried away by what the blond had offered and thought that maybe, maybe father would be actually proud... But whatever's happened has happened and he only could deal with what was left now. he only worried about his teddy, but if he send some sand to the backyard now, he will be able to proceed on getting it through window. Hopefully, nobody stole him away. And about the blond...

If he got locked into his room, there was a very slim possibility to meet the blond again. And it seemed that he had something in common with the second, bigger blond so it was even more possible he would not meet him in the future. And he didn't really want to say goodbye to him when he found someone who didn't run away from him. So... the only option left was... 'Come with me?'

Naruto blinked and his whole face brightened at the offer surprised that the pale redhead would still want to play with him- even invited him to his house! He'd opened his mouth to enthusiastically agree before suddenly winced, reminding himself of one tiny itty bitty detail…. "I-um…' he looked at the tower, his expression becoming more and more disheartened the more he looked up. "…I have to ask my dad…' who seriously would never say yes if he realized Naruto had disobeyed him. Even though he technically hadn't because he was outside the room, but still—

Gaara stared at him, but then his face fell down a little as his shoulders slumped. It seemed that Naruto's dad was not really kind on that matter. And if he was that blond in the room up above, it was a lost matter.

He looked at the floor, jabbing it a little with his foot and he tore at his cheek, itchy a bit because of the unsettled sand who seemed to sense the blond was going away and seemed to not be agreeable to that also. Why did he have such a bad luck when it came to people? All people he knew feared him and when it came to new - they had to go away. He sighed a little, facing the blond again as the sand moved and slowly lead his teddy into the house through the opened door. It felt reassuring to see that at least one thing didn't want to leave him. But even with that, he felt lonely.

'You sure?' he asked timidly, but he knew it was a task not to be done. Then he looked at the door above them. They were closed. 'But...'

He looked at the door to his own room. They didn't seem to be very far away. '...your dad is not here right now so he won't know?...'

'He'll know…' His dad always seemed to know when he did something to disobey him. '…I shouldn't even be down here, he told me to wait there…' he looked at the redhead, then back up and back at Gaara, biting his lip and fidgeting. It was all that wide foreheaded`s brunette's fault. If he hadn't made his dad think Gaara was dangerous, they could be playing now.

If he went now they could play- for a little while. Then his dad would get angry and wouldn't let him near the redhead again. If he went back, then he could butter him up until he agreed. "I can't. If I go now he'll get mad and won't let me play with you anymore.' He said sullenly, looking up at the door as if he could prevent it from opening up by will alone. "I'll try to talk to him so he'll let me go and-and-' he turned back to the redhead, smiling hesitantly "If he lets me, can I go then?'

Gaara nodded, but he didn't feel very reassured by those words. The big blond didn't look at him with anything but fear and anxiety, so he had all rights to suspect it wouldn't work. He grabbed onto his plush teddy bear and hugged it, observing the blond. No, it really didn't feel very reassuring. The big blond probably thought he hid dead bodies there, even if he wasn't doing that. Not since Kankuro dared to hide in his closet anyway and woke up the whole house. Now he held them in the unused chimney. Because it wasn't like Santa would come to him anyway. He never did. He blinked, then moved the stuffed teddy's paw and for a silent goodbye and slowly proceeded into moving to his own room. He had to clean blood from the carpet again. It would occupy his mind from the sadness probably...

Mother was not so happy about that and clung on the blond's ankles lightly, stopping him a little but not too much. It was only because he felt she feared his father somehow. He didn't want Naruto think of him dangerous too, so he asked for her to not be too violent. Finally, she stopped. Good mom.

Naruto stopped, his whole skin crawling as if termites marched under it at the feeling of the sand actually touching him.

'Let…let me go.' He said to it, strangely wishing it had a face so he could claw at it to make her do so. He looked bad at the redhead, who looked even more miserable than how he felt and to the tower. He brushed himself off when she finally did, but all he saw was a small kid with hair that looked like if it had been bled on slowly walking away. 'I'll see you then!' he yelled, then looked back up to the tower and decided the best way to get back up was through the window, but he'd gotten tired of using so much charka already, and he didn't know if it'd hold all the way up. Run all the way up there…

#+#+#+#+#+#

The brunet glanced at the blond, his sight sharp as hawk's glare.

'Don't tell me how to raise my own children.'

'I'd never advice you on such things, you know me better than that.' After all, it was a running joke that whenever a joint mission with Suna happened, Minato and Daichi would somehow end up paired up and working together. Most of his chuunin life had been spent working with the current Kazekage, and he would have liked to think that the older man knew him better than to try to instruct him on things he didn't know about. 'All I'm saying is whatever happened, Naruto probably was the cause of it… So please don't punish him for something that wasn't his fault.'

He couldn't help but feel bad about the little redhead, but he really didn't know the circumstances and meddling in the matter would be out of line.

'As for the reports,' he gestured with his hand to the discarded papers on the table. 'I brought the scrolls like you asked for. None of our shinobi should have been even close to the border, the closest we got to the borders was a jonin with his group of genins, and they were only escorting a group of merchants.' He frowned 'I don't know where did those shinobi come from, but if they were medics, they weren't from Konoha.'

'I don't CARE who was the cause of this, Minato.' said the Kazekage, turning to the blond suddenly and stepping around his desk in a dynamic motion 'All I care about is what could have happened and I'm sure that your son would be in pieces if I wouldn't intervene. Gaara need to control his urges and it's his fault for letting them go on such range whatever your son did.'

The hawk's glare deepened and sharpened at once, sending pins and needles through it, actually scolding Minato with it. 'You don't know what is it like since your brat has a good seal so do not dare to talk me out of it. Gaara deserves punishment and he will receive one. That's how he must know he can't just go and let Shukaku run free.'

Then he stopped and turned to the window again, listening to the report in silence. 'If that so...' he spoke 'Then I believe the enemy is starting to move again.'

#+#+#+#+#+#

Door! How long has he been down here? Sudden paranoia made him look up and almost see the door being slowly opened, even though it was purely his imagination- Both his father and Gaara's had momentarily forgotten the kids and were discussing security measures on the borders of Fire and Wind Country- but it was a powerful imagination. There was no time for the gazillion of stairs, he had to run up there! Gathering as much chakra as he could on the soles of his feet he broke in a run and pushed himself up as fast as he could, and nearly made it all the way to the fourth floor before his knees gave out and he plummettled down- all of about two feet and landed with an oof on the floor.

Which was funny. He didn`t remember the floor having been so close. Or being warm and cushy. In fact, he was positive the floor didn't have silver hair and a throbbing vein on its forehead. 'Kashi….!' He gasped, plastering a wide, innocent smile on his face. 'Um… You found me! Now I'll count to sixty and you can hide!'

'For you, Mr. Kakashi, Naruto.' said 'Kashi' and he jumped from the wall, landing on the floor without damage. 'Do you have an idea what kind of troubles will await me because of you? Do you? I bet you don't.'

Really, had this kid had any empathy at all? It seemed that all he cared about was his idea of fun and some limitless straining himself. He couldn't blame him for the latter as the kid was simply bored, but he could hold onto the rules once he was given them, right? At least when it came to place. If he knew that Naruto would sneak out of the room on the wall, he'd never taught him walking on such surfaces. Naruto always thought that 'outside' meant the whole world and 'inside' - also drawers, closets and all holes that could be described as another rooms in one hotel.

And he was so happy once Minato left him in the village!... But since Minato was overprotective, it was quickly ruined. Oh well, life. But really, now he was going to get the punishment for that when he did all to find the kid. Oh. Here we go. The doors above opened and who stood in them? Minato, of course. He braced himself, clamping the hand over the blond's mouth. It was better if Naruto didn't ruin more his damaged position he was already in.

Naruto rolled his eyes, looking unimpressed at the teenager 'But Kaaaa-shi, daddy will only mgfffphh mffphh mphhf-' Naruto apparently didn't notice or didn't think a hand on his mouth was a real obstacle to voicing his opinions, because he kept talking despite the muffling. Why did the older male have to exaggerate so much? His dad would just scream at both of them some and then get over it, and more than likely apologize later… and sometimes he had the feeling that was the part that Kashi didn't like, because his dad always made you feel guilty when he apologized, even when it was obviously his fault.

A good politician, grampa called it. Naruto just thought it was being an evil dad, but at least he was there, safe and sound by the moment his dad came out of the room.

'Ah, Kakashi-kun,' Minato said, smiling at his student kindly. If one didn't know better, one would think his words alone made the temperature pummel some good twenty degrees. At least it was enough to make the younger blond still and stop mumbling against the handmade gag. 'So glad to see you finally found Naru-chan.'

His son blushed lightly- he hated it when his father called him like that in public. Which Minato did, a lot. He needed to glare at someone, but doing it to his father was out of the question in his current state. He settled for glaring at the Kazekage, but that was simply depressing as the man simply ignored him.

'Yes... I'm glad too.' said Kakashi, feeling that the doom had already started and nothing could stop it now from happening so he could at least be honest to himself. Then smoke the last cigarette and die. 'I'm really sorry, Hokage-sama, he sneaked out on his own, even if I told him to not do that.'

'Tsk. And what kind of ninja doesn't notice a fly flying out, not talking about the objects of size of that' there he showed with his hand to Naruto 'kind? Minato, I begin to wonder if Konoha didn't start pummeling down with teachings in academies.'

'I wish it were as simple as that, Daichi-kun,' Minato said, his steely gaze shifting to his child, who at the moment would have been very happy if Kakashi had decided to hide him behind him instead of having him in front where he was being objected first row to the Hokage`s killing instinct. 'Unfortunately, Naruto has proven he can sneak out from jounin, Anbu, and even me...' The blond rubbed at his eyes tiredly, and the little boy felt a distinct pang of guilt at the expression. 'Normally I'd be proud of it, if only he didn't use those skills to worry me.'

'It only proves that your ninjas are getting lazy and you are getting either old or too soft.' said the Kazekage and eyed the blond with steely glare 'I taught my kids to respect my words, even if they were not exactly... obedient.' he said and looked at Kakashi. Hatake winced. What could this man want from him?... He wasn't subordinate of Suna so no words of his should reach him, but it still felt bad feeling the guilt creeping from the Hokage's remorseful stance and cold eye of a desert hawk himself.

'I'd fire my ninja from his duty if he were to fail me like that on Gaara.' spoke the Kazekage again. Kakashi felt the sweat forming on his forehead 'Or who knows, maybe even... kill.' The last word was said in a low, almost purr-like tone, like if the Kazekage was delighting himself with it. The way he looked at his nails didn't make it look any less from what it sounded like. The young ninja glanced at Naruto. Well, brat was safe, but he couldn't be so sure. If only the other man could shut up and not give off such ideas to Minato-sama!... But he could just stand obediently there like a dog waiting for kicks and be thankful for them. Darn.

'You keep forgetting, Daichi-kun, that when you are an old man of thirty, I'll be a youngster of twenty eight. Although…' He stared at his student and child with such a positively sweet smile and for so long that they were both ready to start pleading for mercy at the fact he seemed rather enthusiastic of the Kazekage's suggestion. 'No, I`d rather not. Kakashi-kun is my trusted student and the only person that can keep Naru-chan more or less under control in my absence.' Not to mention the only person Minato would trust leaving his precious son alone with.

'Wouldn't you like to try babysitting, though, Daichi-kun? ' he turned the sweet, dooming smile onto his friend. 'I'm sure it would be a remarkable experience for all of us.'

'He.' The Kazekage looked at Naruto from affair, obviously humored by the idea, but his glare didn't get a snippet from the smile. It still seemed to be cold, distant and kept on getting more and more disgusted as the time passed. 'Do you really think, Minato... -kun.' the suffix was added after a moment of a prolonged silence, adding more oil to the hidden flame that kept on warming up the Kazekage's body '...that I, as a Kazekage, have so much free time to pass it on babysitting some underage brats?'

The laugh he let go was more of a chuckle than real laughter and it soon turned into one, though all this held no happiness in whole at all. Slowly, he tore his cold glare from Naruto and looked through the window, observing.

'And that's the reason I'm still friends with you after so long, Daichi-kun,' the Hokage said, still smiling at the older man, before reaching and ruffling the top of the saffron hair, not unlike he did with his own five-year old. 'Either way, this has been a very long day, and something to eat would be nice. We can continue our business tomorrow. You know where to find me if you need me!' With that, the taller blond walked to his pupil and son, grabbed the latter and dragged the first out of the immediate area of danger.

'That was very unwise of you, Hokage-sama.' said Kakashi in tiny and a little choked voice, which somewhat curled in itself as he witnessed a real devil suddenly coming out of the eyes of, like one would suspect, an average Kazekage who neared his thirties. Two seconds more and the office would probably be bathed in blood. Though he had to admit that if anything, Minato had his reflex - barely anybody could caught Kazekage off guard, touch his body and get away with it without losing his life or at least a limb or two. He wondered how come that Minato was still alive...

'Very.' he added, now with little more masculine voice and coughed to regain the tone again 'Wouldn't that severe the national friendship? Besides the village is now in siesta and no bars are working under that blazing sun so we don't really have a place to stand by...'

'I know young people tend to forget this, but once, many moons ago, we were young, too. We were friends before making Kage, and that's something Daichi-kun likes to forget and I like reminding him of.' The older blond said unaffectedly, smiling at his pupil and trying to unglue his son from his torso. '…I might come back from tomorrow's meeting with a broken limb or too, but you still remember those medical tricks Rin taught you, right?'

Naruto was glued to his side, arms wrapped around his neck and legs to his side. 'Daddy…' he hissed, resembling a scared cat that wouldn't let go of the tree he was hanging upside down from until the shock passed. 'That man wanted to kill you!'

'He often does, baby.' He said, patting the little blond on the top of his head and wincing a bit at the way his nails dig on his shoulders. Sometimes he really wondered if he should dewclaw Naruto. 'You get used after a while.'

Naruto looked at him visibly traumatized- the blunt end of Daichi`s glare was enough to terrify most people he knew, and misbehaving kids weren't the exception. Maybe this would teach his son not to run away where he would be unsafe. 'Don't worry, we will just ask for some rooms service. We just need to make sure we actually see them cooking what they are going to give us.'

'As you wish, Hokage-sama.' responded Kakashi, touching his pockets and sighing in relief. Yes, indeed, he still remembered a few tricks that deceased Rin taught him and had his medical utensils near himself just in case of emergency. And in case of friendship, as Minato seemed to make friends with the weirdest characters, who liked to show their friendship through variety of violent moves. Like Sabaku no Daichi, for example.

He glanced once again toward the Kazekage's tower, noting that the Kazekage was again staring off through the window onto his town, as his figure could be spotted behind the glass of his office, probably enjoying the view of dull buildings or maybe trailing them off, who knew. He also spotted a second, similar pair of eyes looking at them through the second window, next to the window of office, but they vanished quickly, just like their owner. Probably one of secretive guards of Suna's ANBU. He never could learn how their services was called here, so he also decided to call them ANBU. Which annoyed them to no end.

'Ah well, at least we will eat something new.' And it was always good to taste some new cuisine. And if they're gonna be sick then it was even better as Minato could lie in bed and call in sick, subsiding Kazekage's wrath. Maybe matching up broken bones wouldn't be needed after all...

#+#+#+#+#+#

The Kazekage glared at the street, just as predicted by the youngster - he was trailing after the three figures of Hokage and his brats. Brats - because he was far from calling that young ninja anything regular, even if he was Sakumo's son. Legends were legends, but sons were not fathers and Kakashi still was more of a milk-drinker than of any other alcoholic-adultery drinks. And speaking of sons...

He moved, brushing his mass of saffron hair into elegant hairstyle that the outrageous Namikaze dared to mess with and soon enough he opened the door of a very dark and dirty room. The stench of blood dripped from everywhere again and sand seemed to be looking more like Persian red than his usual persimmon shade so the boy probably didn't hold on his urges for very long. No matter what he said or did - he never was able to sustain it in the end. It seemed that once a monster - always a monster. What a shame to the family.

'Gaara.' he spoke out loud sharply, getting attention of the small figure who seemed to be glued to window's glass, along with some black eyes. it seemed that he found a new prey and it was no one other than Minato's son. He couldn't let that happen, no matter what.

Blond brat, how disgusting he was, couldn't be put in mortal danger even if he asked for it. Not by anyone in Suna, at least. That would severe too many brakes and vows. 'I forbid you to play, touch and do anything to or with Hokage-sama's son. Or else...' The figure looked at him with big green eyes, that reminded him of Karura so much. Why did he have to get them? Sometimes it was too hard to not forget he was just a monster in the flesh imitating human's actions instead of being a human. Fake actions, as hugging teddy closer or trembling with fear didn't help this image either.

'...I'll make you stay in bathroom. For three days.'

The little redhead squealed, visibly terrified, but he didn't give himself or it any time to rethink that or hear out the pleads. The he couldn't. He was not made of steel. So he couldn't give himself a chance to waver. He closed the door. The redhead sat on his back, hugging the teddy protectively to himself and starring at the door with the feeling of unfairness and fear at the same time. Bathroom? Three days?... He never was locked in the bathroom for so long! He didn't want to! At all!

Bathroom was terrible.

He looked at the window one more time, then with one sharp wave made the sand cover it, and hide him in a dark, bloody place with no light. Naruto didn't come after all. He went and never came back. Away... Promises, promises, empty promises. They always sold him only that. And he was naive enough to believe in them one more time. He cried in despair, smearing his face over the toy and letting the dirt cuddle him and cake his skin and hair with drenched blood. Everyone betrayed him on this world. Everyone lied. Always.

#+#+#+#+#+#

Normally intruders creeping into the Hokage`s bed late at night would be received in the most standard of shinobi fashion. But Namikaze Minato wasn't just a shinobi or a Hokage anymore. Now, he was also a father, and nightly visits, though rare, weren't enough for him not to recognize the small weight crawling under the blankets.

'Something happened, Naru?'

'I was cold.' His child replied in a mumble as he cuddled against his chest, fingers reaching to tug on his necklace distractedly, and Minato had yet another moment of paternal disappointment.

Naruto had never been a problematic child in that aspect- Sarutobi-sensei liked to joke it seemed like if the father had more problems sleeping alone than his son- and yes, giving Naruto his own room three years ago had resulted in many intermittently slept nights because Minato couldn't live with himself unless he checked on him five or twenty times in one night. Naruto didn't have problems sleeping alone, and he only ever came to bed with him if he wanted something or if he had had a nightmare. He knew he should be thankful for such a thing, but truthfully, it only made him feel unneeded. Weren't children supposed to be more attached to their parents? Especially considering he only one had one…

He looked at the window, gauging the hour to be around three thirty in the morning by the position of the moon alone. Hopefully Naruto hadn't woken Kakashi up. His remaining student really needed some rest after spending three nights in a row watching after the little blond menace. Two more hours of sleep… He probably could make it four, but he really preferred to go out when the air was still breathable without feeling like if you had put your head in an oven. He wondered if Daichi had as much fun seeing him suffer from the horrendous heat as when he saw the older Kage feeling sick from the humidity in Fire and Water country. Yeah, he probably was going to be made to walk a lot under the sun tomorrow.

'Hey, daddy…?'

'Mhh?' Oh, there we go. `Hey, daddy`, were there any more terrifying words in the human language? …besides `broken seal`, that is, but the `Hey, daddy`s were so much more frequent! 'It's late, baby…' he said, pulling the blond closer so he wouldn't have to look at the boy's eyes. 'And you haven't slept in two days and I'm very tired and have to get up very early, so…'

'Why doesn't the Kazekage want me playing with Gaara?' Minato suddenly longed for the days where all he had to worry about was explaining Naruto where babies came from.

'Is it something I did?'

'Oh, no, Naru, nothing like that,' Sure, Daichi probably hadn't been appreciative of Naruto's attitude, but if there was one person in this world who had no right to complain about anyone's attitude, that was Sabaku no Daichi. 'He's just… worried.'

'…why?' Minato sighed, propping himself up in an elbow and pressing his fingers into the warm mess of gold that was Naruto's hair, stroking gently.

'Well… Gaara-sama is the son of the Kazekage and you are the son of the Hokage… and if you two were together and someone got hurt-'

'But I wouldn't hurt Gaara!'

'Naruto, keep your voice down, Kakashi-kun is sleeping.'

'I wouldn`t-'

'I know, baby, I know. But if by chance something happened, it would be very bad for us. Kazekage-sama and I have been friends for very long and it's thanks to that that we have settled many problems our villages had in the past, and we can't let that go to waste. '

Naruto buried his face on his chest, making an odd noise that Minato had come to associate with him being crossed. The silence extended for several seconds and just when Minato had decided it was safe to relax and go back to sleep…

'And if Kashi were there?'

'Naru…'

'You let me go to the Hinata-chan and Neji's home when I go with Kashi.' The little blond insisted.

Yes, he did trust his student to face an entire clan of jūken users and keep his baby safe and sound, but maybe placing him against a sand demon would be asking too much of him. Maybe he should start considering giving him an extra for all the trouble's he got into… '- so maybe if you left me with him and his mother, we could play and you wouldn't worry and we could-'

The Hokage was suddenly very aware he had blanked out wondering on his own head and had apparently missed something rather important.

'What?' The younger blond sighed theatrically. 'I said if you leave me with Kashi and Gaara's mom-' 'Karura-san, you mean?' The boy developed a sudden fascination with the necklace and started picking at it as if it contained all the answers to the universe's questions. 'Um… I don't know her name. The sand…'

'Sand.' He repeated, already feeling his eyes watering up from fright. That was the worst part of being a father. You couldn't just enjoy knowing your baby was already safe. Even if he was unscratched, your brain saw fit to provide you with a morbidly detailed diorama of what could have happened.

'…I think she likes me.' He said carefully, and Minato got the distinct impression he wasn't very happy about it.

'…she?' Demons technically didn't have a gender, but were universally referred as `he` or `it`, so why did Naru-

'Gaara's mommy.'

Minato blinked.

'Baby… Gaara-sama's mother died when he was born.'

Naruto stopped tugging at the silver cylinders on his father's neck and rolled on his stomach, pushing himself up by the elbows.

'But… Gaara said she was in the sand… and showed her to me!' He said, the cerulean eyes that were a copy of his mother wide and confused. Minato suddenly felt like if he'd gotten punched in the gut by a mist nin.

'Gaara-sama told you that the sand was his mother.' He said slowly. He didn't know what to do when his child nodded quickly as answer. That little boy thought the demon was his mother? What the hell had Daichi told him about his mother?

Was that what the redhead had referred to when he had started saying something about his her…? Minato nearly shivered. He didn't want to think what was the redhead's life like if he believed a demon to be his mother.

'Daddy,' Naruto's voice was muffled.

'Yes, baby?' he said in his most calm and collected of voices. Sarutobi-sensei would be proud.

'…can't breathe.'

It was then that the Hokage realized he had given into one of his most common tics- squeeze Naruto to death when he felt he had been in mortal danger. Which usually happened two or three times a day.

'Oh… sorry, baby.' he said, loosening his hold enough for the child to regain his breathe, even if there was no way Minato would let go of him until it was absolutely necessary.

'…So…can we-?'

'No. God, no.'

'….cnt brth.'

Minato loosened the hold again.
'Listen, Naruto, I know you want to be friends with him, but you can make other friends.'

'I can't.' the boy said quietly, and Minato faltered; felt something cringe inside at the tone alone. Not for the first time, he found himself wishing that tone, that palpable sadness could be a physical thing so he could beat it, kill it and dispose of the body.

'You have Hinata-chan and Neji-kun.' He continued after a few seconds.

'They are in Konoha. Daddy, she likes me, so can't we tell her to talk to the Kazekage-' Minato had a moment of unreality where he imagined himself discussing permission to let their kids play with the desert raccoon over tea, and the having it ask Daichi- He wasn't sure what he wanted to do more, if laugh himself silly or throw up.

'We are going back home in a week or so.' He should have left Naruto home. None of this would have happened if he had ignored his paranoid parental feelings and left him where he would have been safe and taken care of.

'… I want to be friends with Gaara.' And oh, God, there was the tone. The I`m-the-mule-and-just-dug-my-hoof-here-and-you-can-tug-all-you-want-but-I-won`t-move-another-inch.

'Why, baby?' he nearly moaned.

'He's like me.' Minato`s blood ran cold. He heard himself ask Naruto what did he meant by that. '…he's lonely. He was crying when I met him.' It's not your business. his brain reminded him It`s not your business and he isn't your son and Daichi will kill you if you stick your nose when you aren't called—

'Do you know why?'

'He was sad.' Minato rolled his eyes. Children. How could their world be so simple? 'People ran from him, too.' Maybe not so simple…

'Because of the sand…?' Naruto hesitated a little, not knowing what to answer.

'They ran more when she came out.'

Could it be that his friend's son had it worse than he did? He sighed again, looking up at the room's roof and resumed stroking Naruto's hair. Kushina would have known what to do. Not only was she a woman and better equipped for dealing with things like these, but she also had the exact same type of character their son did. Kushina would tell him…

…Kushina would beat him up and ask him how did he even need to think about her to figure out that little boy needed help.

'Naru?'

'Mhh?' sleepy now.

'How did the sand make you feel?'

'…I liked Gaara better.'

'But did it want to hurt you?'

'No… it liked me.'

Great… the bloodthirsty raccoon didn't want to eat his child, which meant… Absolutely nothing. In fact, Minato wasn't even sure if it wasn't worse that way.

'Naru, did Gaara-sama…?' He stopped, looking down at the sleeping from of his son, dark lashes closing over eyes that were just like the ones of his late wife and wondered what the hell he was supposed to do this time.