Chapter Two
Minato spent the next two days working in his office to catch up on all the paperwork and declined his secretary's help whenever she offered. His mind was bundled up with his nerves and his sleep was becoming a little awkward.
He'd wake up in the middle of the night, drenched in cold sweats and grimacing as the dreams he collected were ones that were more than taboo. At times he couldn't even look at Naruto and he knew that he was hurting the teen with his sudden separation but until Minato could think straight, he decided that work was best for him at the moment.
"Yondaime-sama you look really tense." Yamanaka Ino, his newest secretary in the tower had come in with another stack of missives and from the color of the scrolls they were from the Demon Country and he knew that couldn't be good.
"I am fine, Yamanaka-san," he said aware that Ino was his son's age. He was also aware of her infatuation with Naruto's best friend, Sasuke and because Naruto was such deep friends with Sasuke it made the girl obscenely jealous but none more so than Naruto's Medic kunoichi team member. "Nothing that you need to worry over."
"Oh, well, the Demon Country sends some invoices," she said leaning across the desk a little too far with a purple top that was also a little too low for her. Kami! She was sixteen, didn't her mother ever teach her to dress properly? He thought wondering why he hadn't enforced a dress code. He then remembered why, he wanted each of his shinobi's and kunoichi's to have a sense of individuality and not like those from Kiri. What was she doing try to impress older men?
Then again, who was he to talk? He was having such wrong feelings for his own son. It seemed that this whole world was out to condemn him in some way, shape, or form.
"Yes, I gathered I'd be hearing from them soon, place them there, thanks." He still didn't look up but he could tell she was pouting a little bit as she nodded and walked out.
He watched as the door closed and breathed deeply as he hunched his shoulders slightly. What was he to do?
-\-\-\-\-
"I think I might have scared him off," Naruto whispered sulkily.
Team Seven was going through training courses and it was Sakura and Sasuke's turn. Naruto had completed his rather easily and was perched on top of a post with Kakashi leaning in close to him so that they wouldn't be overheard by a nosy Sakura who kept running by one time too many times.
Kakashi quirked his lip behind his mask. "Or, he felt something and is wigging out. A simple kiss wouldn't spook him unless he actually wanted it and perhaps more."
Naruto snorted. "Not likely," he said dangling a spearheaded shuriken by the loop end. He watched it swaying back and forth like a pendulum.
"You going to start B Missions soon?" Kakashi asked.
"I think so, I need something to take my mind off this shit and I think nearly dying might just do that. I want to get Jounin by next March or April."
"That requires a lot of work, Naruto-kun but we can do it," Kakashi assured.
"Perhaps some time away is what I need."
"Perhaps." But Kakashi didn't think it would help, but he wouldn't tell Naruto that.
That evening when Naruto arrived back home, it was to an empty house. Yep, he was sure he had freaked his father out. Sighing, Naruto thrust his belt off and tossed it to the couch lazily before climbing the steps; he needed a long and hot shower.
The steam poured out as Naruto stepped in, wincing slightly as his body was stung and blistered. He ignored it and sank down to the bottom of the tub and stretched his legs out so that they touched the drain. He let the heat restrict his breathing and relished it as he sank into the touch of hot needles. He closed his eyes and indulged in the sensation of being temporarily free of thoughts.
Naruto leaned against the tub and rested his head along the slope and he never noticed that he fell into a light doze.
Minato frowned, not something he was used to doing but his son had been in the shower for a very long time. He sat up in bed, having come home after giving in to his exhaustion. He had sensed Naruto walking up the path to the house and had allowed himself to smile sleepily as he thought about Naruto. He could hear the boy's soft sighs signaling his own exhaustion and then the shower turning on.
Two hours ago.
Getting up, Minato was wearing a t-shirt and loose fitting pajama bottoms. He stopped outside of the bathroom door and tapped upon. "Naruto?" he called in concern and felt his chest tighten when he received no answer. He gripped the handle and opened it a little and gasped at all the steam that poured out. "Naruto?" he called trying to keep from sounding panicked.
"Hm?" Came a quiet voice and this made Minato sigh in relief, his heart had went into his throat for a moment. "Whoops…"
Minato choked out a laugh. "Did you fall asleep?" he asked not daring to open the door any further, even though the fog was blocking everything in sight, Minato could have quite an imagination if he allowed it.
"Mhmm, sorry," Naruto squeaked as he splashed around.
Minato grinned. "You're so silly, get out here Gaki. I want to eat and I'm not going to eat alone."
"Alright, one second."
Minato closed the door back and brushed his knuckles across the wood in tender thought. Putting distance between him and Naruto wouldn't do either of them any good.
Naruto couldn't believe he had fallen asleep, the water was warm and no longer hot but that didn't stop the steam that had built up in the shower. He gasped as he nearly slipped on the tiled floor and barely held himself up by a rack; he ripped the towel down from it and secured it around his waist.
Naruto shook the water from his hair using another towel and stepped out of the steaming bathroom and came face to face with Minato's smiling face. Everything about the man lightened Naruto's mood immediately, his eyes having gone from an apparent dim sadness to ultra bright and even dare he say it? Twinkling.
"Don't worry me like that again, Gaki," Minato said keeping a cool composure at his naked gorgeous Naruto standing in front of him, towel being the only obstruction to sensual flesh being hidden.
"I didn't mean too," Naruto said with a pout that made Minato slightly weak.
Minato touched his cheeks, feeling the heat coming off his skin and he ran his thumb across one of the whiskers. He stepped up and kissed Naruto on the cheek before turning and walking away without another word to him.
Naruto bit his lower lip, watching the man's retreating back and dissension down the spiral case of steps. The blond disappeared completely and Naruto exhaled.
His Minato was back; Naruto could only think as he stepped into his room and went rummaging through his massive closet for something comfortable. He left his hitai-ite lying on the dresser and kept his hair down as he rushed downstairs to see Minato pulling things out of the refrigerator.
Eyeing it briefly, Naruto deduced their meal and set to helping. Minato smiled and handed him the knife to cut the vegetables. "What did you do the last two days?" Minato asked him curiously.
"Training courses, not for me of course but for Sakura, God, she needs to be sent back to the academy, or Baa-chan knock some sense into her," Naruto said shaking his head.
Minato chuckled. "Really? She's that bad?"
"She does nothing but ruin the teamwork."
"You're a Chuunin though, so is Sasuke, you can take freelance missions."
"I know, I'm about to start," Naruto said giving his father a pointed look. "I want to make Jounin by March or April."
Minato paused and looked over at his son. "Five to six months."
"Mhmm," Naruto said sliding around the man to get the onion. Gah, he hated cutting the things up. "I should have been Jounin last year."
"I didn't want you to be caught up in it so young. It nearly destroyed Itachi-kun and you saw what it did to Sai."
Naruto nodded. "Yeah, but I'm not like that."
Minato smiled, he was right, he was nothing like them. As skilled as they were they had the emotional depth of a teaspoon. "So far, you've completed 21 D Rank, 150 C Rank, 55 B Rank, 19 A Rank, and an accidental S-Rank."
"Memorized my file, have you?" Naruto asked mincing the onions and adding them to the bowl of other veggies.
"Of course, I assigned them. You need to complete at least 100 B Ranks before you can take the test."
"Yep, get to assigning them to me then."
"You're one team member short; Haruno-san can't go on any missions that are B-Rank."
"No kidding, what about Sai?"
The converted ANBU ROOT member was one of Naruto's best friends, he was a lot like Sasuke and Minato still couldn't believe how Naruto had converted the boy and sent them enough information to put Danzo away for life.
"And Kakashi-kun is your leader?" Minato tried not to flinch as he said the man's name. How could he be so cruel? Kakashi had been his favorite student of all of them and now he was treating the silver-haired man like an enemy.
He looked at his Naruto; Kakashi was an enemy when he tried to take what was his. But Minato couldn't exactly have what he wanted could he?
"Obviously, or Yamato-san but I can't work as well with him."
"He's not easy to work with," Minato agreed. "You four do make a rather amazing team, I give you. I wish we could have brought Sai into the academy, I feel terrible having not noticed him."
"That's not your fault," Naruto rebutted, "We only noticed him on a whim, when you had to send a reinforcement for that accidental S-Rank."
"It was a success."
"Mhmm, he was a dick the first few nights," Naruto said shaking his head in memory.
Minato choked. "Language," he said prodding his son gently in the side.
Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Only telling the truth."
"Truth or not," Minato said smiling gently.
Naruto enjoyed their conversations; they were always so easy and laid back. It was one of many amazing qualities about the Yellow Flash, he was the most approachable person you could ever meet and Naruto had the privilege of living with him and… loving him, truly.
His heart thumped harshly as he thought about it and dumped the rest of the onions into the meat. Minato flipped on the stove top and set the pan onto the burner, he observed Naruto as the teen set to washing his hands. He couldn't help but wonder what was on the boy's mind, his forehead crinkled lightly in thought and a partial smile rose on his deeply tanned features causing the whisker marks rise with his cheek.
"So, I guess I have no choice but to assign you deadly missions that's going to have me worrying to death until you return, hm?" He casually placed a hand to the small of Naruto's back and it made Naruto relax and look over his shoulders, eyes glittering.
"With my team, you're worrying?"
Minato shrugged. "Of course, how can I not?"
Naruto smiled fondly and tugged Minato's blond ear tail. "Guess that's true, but yes, you better be assigning me some good missions too. If you have me protecting that damn daughter of the Daimyo, I'm not going to be happy."
Chuckling, Minato leaned up against Naruto and snagged the tea towel from a rack for his soaked hands. "It's not my fault they paid for a B-Rank when it was clearly a D-Rank. They pay I provide. They would have paid for an A but I drew the line, I wasn't wasting my Jounin on something that frivolous."
"Yes, but sending me?" Naruto scowled. "You know how I get along with snobs, don't ya?" He resisted biting the man's cheek playfully, they were so close and Naruto's heart was zooming around like Sai's beautifully created birds of art.
Minato quirked his lip. "Personally, I thought she could use a come-down-to-earth kick in the rear."
Naruto laughed outright. "Haven't heard words truer in a long time."
Minato sighed inwardly; he was really in a tight spot. He was in love with Naruto and it was all wrong and so why did he have to feel this way?
As they sat down to dinner, Naruto sitting next to his father instead of across, the teen couldn't help but wonder if Minato was pretending as if Naruto hadn't kissed him at all. He kind of wished that wasn't the case but he didn't want another awkward silence and loneliness for another two days.
Once again, his heart ached.
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Minato kept his cheerfully warm smile in place as four shinobi stood in front of him. Although there was a slight grimace inside as he saw Naruto teasing Kakashi and the silver-haired Jounin sling his arm around the teen drawing him closer. Trying to resist the urge to come across the desk and literally jerk Kakashi's arm out of his socket he shuffled through his book of B-Ranks.
Sai's expressionless features actually had a hint of amusement as Sasuke sighed and shook his head but he too was amused and it was as though Kakashi and Naruto were always like this.
Kakashi gave him a one-eyed smile.
Minato made sure his voice was cheerful yet Hokage-like as he closed the book. "Alright, I have something set up, it's a low B Rank that could turn higher, and it's actually a risk factor. We received intelligence that there's a new Hidden Village cropping up in the small country of Otogakure known as the Sound. I was told it was made up of mainly children ranging from four to eighteen and most of them had some rare bloodline limit abilities."
Kakashi finally straightened up, a rare look of seriousness and Naruto tilted his head, his eyes twinkling as though it would be fun and even Sasuke had a glint of hope.
Minato couldn't blame them, they'd been training for the better part of six months to prepare for B Ranks and while Sasuke and Naruto were actually low Jounin level, Minato had wanted to be one hundred percent positive on their skill and abilities. Minato may not enjoy Kakashi's affections for Naruto but the man was the best in the village, the most trusted person to lead a team and get them out alive.
"No one knows who the Kage is and I think it's a good idea that we figure it out before we get any disturbing surprises considering they are bordering us. All I need from you is to scout it out, try and find names if you dare. It's a B Rank with an S Class secrecy stamp upon it, no one is to get wind of where you're going or what you're doing and if they become hostile attempt to apprehend one of them alive so that T&I can get the information. I believe setting out at 0500 is the best and Kakashi-kun, do be on time," he said with a sideways smile.
"Of course Yondaime-sama," Kakashi said with a nod.
Sasuke raised his eyes to the ceiling trying to stifle any laugh that may have escaped while Naruto nudged him in the ribs. "Yeah Cyclops, be on time."
"Oomph!"
"Thank you Yondaime-sama," Sai said with an incline of his head.
"Use this time to prepare," Minato insisted, "Naruto, I'll see you at home."
"Alright Minato!" Naruto waved and the group left together, causing Ino to flush pink when she saw the group that ignored her completely.
"Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke twitched and stared coolly at her. "Hn?"
"Good luck on your mission!"
Sasuke paused a moment before nodding. "Thanks."
-
Minato watched out the window as Naruto and his team piled out onto the streets. Naruto was now hoisted on Sai's back with a wide smile and Kakashi just had to do something that made Minato's blood boil. He slapped his blond on the backside getting a soft yelp of surprise, even Sasuke had laughed at that while Sai only smirked.
How dare he touch Naruto! Minato thought harshly as he tried to ignore the feelings of rage and jealousy.
Naruto's team was the best to go and scout out, he would have sent Kurenai's team since they were the best trackers but when it came to potential hostile forces, Kakashi's team was better equipped to handle and Sai and Kakashi had enough tracking abilities to get them there flawlessly.
He turned away from the window and scratched his head, he was finding it harder and harder each day to control his affections for his son and he knew that half of the city doted on him, particularly the male population with the exception of both Hyuuga's.
Hiashi had already stated his interest in giving one of his daughters to Naruto in an arranged marriage. It would be of course for conception purposes only, considering everyone knew Naruto's preference and it was true, there were only two Namikaze's and very few young Hyuuga's left.
But Minato had yet to bring this up to Naruto, he didn't know how he would react being so young, so Minato would wait until he was a little older and actually voiced his interest in a child. Hiashi hadn't been pleased with this but Minato would never force Naruto do something he didn't want too.
It was something that he and the Hyuuga clashed heavily on. It wasn't unusual in the Hidden Villages, those who preferred the same gender marrying for conception purposes and then sharing the rights between the individuals involved. In fact, this was what Hiashi had done in the first place, his former wife Senna was an Uchiha but she had also been Hiashi's best friend and the placement had been rather easy. Senna was now married to another Uchiha with two sons a little older than Sasuke.
Minato shook his head. He didn't want to dwell too deeply into that, it made his stomach twist into knots. He already had enough on his shoulders and heart without having to worry about the future of his name.
When he returned home, he found Naruto in the bedroom going through kunai and scowling at the blunt edges of them. "I need new ones," Naruto said having heard him from far away.
Minato left the room and came back with a box of shuriken and placed them beside Naruto who blinked. "Ooh."
"I restocked yesterday."
"How long do you think I'll be gone?"
"It's hard to say, depends on what you run into."
"I'm thinking, if I find a little boy or girl," Naruto began thoughtfully, "I could try and get some information that way."
Minato nodded and sank down on the edge of the bed and simply watched Naruto move around the room. He checked his son's pack to make sure he wasn't missing anything and like usual, he wasn't; Naruto was always prepared.
It was four in the morning when Naruto stumbled downstairs, not feeling up to eating so early in the morning he grabbed a couple energy bars from the top of the refrigerator and turned to see Minato standing behind him, he looked as though he were debating something.
Naruto cocked his head to the side and stepped into Minato's personal space and once again they were nose to nose. Minato couldn't help himself; he slipped his arms around Naruto's waist drawing him even closer.
"I'm going to miss you," Minato confessed into his ear.
Naruto's pulse quickened as he felt the warm breath of the man in his ear. "Of course you are, without me your life is boring," he taunted and pressed his lips to his father's cheek and smiled blissfully when he was squeezed firmly.
"That really is true," Minato said fingering the ends of the strapped ponytail, like before he could smell Naruto's soft gentle scent and even under the dark purple mesh shirt and black thin armor of the shinobi's he could still feel the teen's slender frame.
Naruto squeezed Minato around the neck before slowly pulling back, sapphire eyes locked together and Minato hesitated very briefly and then he pressed a kissed to the side of Naruto's mouth, so very close to his lips.
Naruto's heart sang as he smiled and mimicked Minato. "Bubyes," he said childishly as Minato caught himself in a chuckle.
"Come back to me," Minato said a little firmly.
"Of course, where else would I go?" Naruto said releasing the most important person in his life and snagged his bag. In an instant, Naruto gave a one-handed seal and crows erupted and squawked where he had once stood.
Minato licked his lips, he could just taste the mint even if he hadn't touched his lips, it was close enough.
