He could hear it. The small pitter patter of a pair of feet scurrying across the wooden floors in the halls outside of the room. He could smell it too. The smell of fresh paint, so pungent it would probably send Kakashi's summons into a fit of tears as they whined and scratched at their noses. Oh he knew what day it was alright. The first day of the fourth month. April Fools Day.
Naruto's day.
The Yondaime wanted to groan, so tempted to stay indoors in the comfort of his own bed rather than leave the very perimeter of his "untouched" room. But he knew better. Without him, Konoha would be in chaos before the day is over with his little rascal on the loose. The one day the kid woke up before his alarm.
"'Nato," Kushina grumbled in her pillow, "you better get ready for today. He's already at it.."
Still staring at the ceiling, Minato rubbed his face, feeling the stubble which he knew he probably couldn't remove due to some form of tampering with his razor. He slowly lifted himself up, avoiding the blatant ninja wire a hairline above his head. His eyes trailed the wire to the door and he could only sigh. Probably a bucket of paint somewhere. He slowly swung his feet around to the side and looked down, barely avoiding stepping in a glittery mess. Cringing his toes he swung his spread his feet wider to avoid the puddle and slowly stood up.
He made his way to the closet to which he unsealed and pulled out the clothing he needed. The only way to deter the boy from touching his stuff was to seal it away. And the seals had to be complex otherwise Naruto would be able to decipher and probably find a way around it. Changed into his usual attire, Minato was about to reach for the doorknob before he retracted his hand, hearing the faint hum of charged metal. Minato's eye twitched.
With a quick flash, Minato appeared in his Hokage office. Right before he sat down, a chunin barged into the room.
"Yondaime-sama! Your honorable son has set Farmer Yoruichi's pigs free in the Hyuuga compound!"
Minato grabbed the papers from the man's hand and stared at it for a brief second before shoving it back into the man's face.
"Just send a genin team to do it. Go to the mission's desk for this."
Minato took a second to look at his desk for any misplaced items before he brushed his coat and slowly began to sit down-
"Hokage-sama!"
Minato groaned and sat back up.
"What is it now?" He almost growled.
"Your honorable son has painted the entire academy a bright fuschia! And then all the academy instructors had glitter in their hair!"
Oh my god, just say pink, you idiot. Minato almost scowled. He let out a forlorn sigh and handed the papers back to the chunin.
"Just send a genin team for that. Mission's desk. Now."
"Hai, Hokage-sama!"
Minato could almost feel his blood pressure rising and the veins on his head pulsing as his face became puce when another chunin barged into his office before he could even sit down or move for that matter.
"Hokage-sama! Your son-"
"Just. Get. A. Genin. Team. Now."
Minato had almost made the chunin shitless with his cold stare and blunt order. The chunin bolted off and the door was finally shut. Minato let out a sigh again and gave up sitting. He should just go to the mission's desk since that's where everyone needed to go anyway. Why not save them the trip.
On his walk there, he gave several people sour looks, or to them, a harsh cold stare that was renown on the battlefield for a stare that almost sent an entire battalion of Iwa nin back home because they were all scared stiff. And when he finally made it to the mission room, he was astounded by the scene in front of him and only manage to barely dodge a goat that passed him. Looking around the room, he noticed the complete chaos as chunins ran after farm animals and hay were spewed everywhere across the floor. Chickens were being chucked across the room and the feathers danced around with the mission papers in the air as people scrambled to get into the right order, barely acknowledging their Hokage who now looked positively livid.
"ENOUGH!" Minato bellowed.
The room went silent and motionless save for the still airborne papers and feathers. All eyes on him, Minato closed his eyes slowly and exhaled. He was about to step forward before his foot suddenly had trouble moving. He looked down only to realize his feet were stuck in a brown mush. His eyes twitched and his fist clenched as he slowly peeled his right foot off the substance and stepped forward. Quietly, with unhidden fury behind his words, Minato began to send each chunin to his or her respective duty. The animals were soon cleared and the feces on his shoes were removed. The room had returned to a sense of normalcy before Minato suddenly heard a bleat.
Looking up, Minato instantly regretted his decision as there was a hole where the ceiling lap should be and he could see a goat's head popping out next to the frayed wires that were crudely cut.
"I swear on my life…" Minato dangerously whispered before a chunin was instantly on the job, grabbing a ladder and went to fixing the light fixture and removing the mammal from the ceiling.
The rest of the three hours he spent at the mission's desk was rather normal and comforting. So comforting, in fact, Minato didn't want to leave in fear of dealing with more of his son's shenanigans more than he had to now, sending off genin to fix each problem. Despite sending off numerous teams of ANBU, his son still could not be caught and detained, each team returning with colored uniforms and dyed hair.
Minato flashed back to his office, not wanting to deal with anything on the way back. He was about to settle himself into the seat again when his secretary came in with a large box.
"Hokage-sama, a package"
Minato's eyes twitched as he grabbed the box and began to open it. Just as he pulled the two flaps back his head leaned towards the right, deftly dodging a launched waterballoon probably filled with paint. His hand quickly snatched it out of the air before it could approach the ceiling and probably spray paint everywhere. Upon further inspection of the box, Minato pulled out a card.
"April fool's, Tou-san! ~Naruto" Minato read aloud.
He grumbled and placed the card away before putting the box next to his desk. Eyeing the door warily, Minato made sure no one was going to barrel in before he placed both hands on his chair and slowly lowered himself onto the armchair, still eyeing the door with a focus unparalleled. When the door didn't budge, Minato sat down only to hear the largest farting sound he'd ever heard. A faint choke and a cough was heard probably from one of his ANBU agents and Minato saw red.
From the Hokage's home, Kushina could hear from her open window a shriek and a loud, "NAMIKAZE NARUTO! YOU LITTLE BRAT! WHEN I GET MY HANDS ON YOU, YOU ARE GROUNDED FOR A THOUSAND YEARS~!" echoed through Konoha, causing a few crows to escape the trees.
Kushina grinned as six year old Naruto popped his head next to the bedside and hopped on his mother.
"Good morning, Kaa-san!" he chirped.
"Good morning, Naru-chan," Kushina rose out of the bed and stretched, "so, Naru-chan, do you think he'll realize I helped you a bit?"
"Nope!" Naruto popped the 'p' and grinned, "I don't think he noticed his bright orange hair either."
Kushina chuckled and grabbed Naruto before tickling him, "just because I helped doesn't mean you'll get away with it, young man…" Naruto shrieked and giggled as he tried fended off the assault of tickles.
"K-Kaa-san stop! I-I can't breathe!"
Kushina wrapped her arms around Naruto and buried him in her hug, both still giggling. She picked him up and made her way to the kitchen, avoiding all the traps. She placed him down on the seat and rolled her pajama sleeves up.
"So what do you think about waffles?"
Six year old Naruto smiled and gave a hum in affirmation.
That was eleven years ago. Today, Minato couldn't hear anything. His house was silent save for the breaths of his wife next to him and the shuffling of Sayuri not to far away. There wasn't anything different in the air except maybe the smell of the crisp wind rolling through the open windows. The skies were grey and the room was chilly. Minato couldn't rub off the sleep from his eyes as he slowly rose and swung to the side. His feet stopped but he noticed nothing was there and placed them down before getting up. He made his way to the closet and opened it, and then he changed into his usual attire.
He made his way to the door before he stopped short from reaching the doorknob. There were no hums of electricity and it wasn't glowing red with heat. Minato stared down at the doorknob before he silently flashed away.
Minato looked at his armchair, worn down from the last time he stared at it. The leather was worn on the arms and the seat was indented from where he constantly sat on. A minute. Just a long minute, he stared at the leather seat, expecting something to move before he gave a resigned sigh and sat down, not quite sure what he was expecting.
The entire day was silent as Minato spent the hours stamping his seal on papers and signing them without a word. He finished before the sun began to set. He collected all the papers and neatly settled them in a pile with the rest before leaning back in his chair.
There was a tug at his heart before he suddenly realized there were hot tears streaming down his face. He buried his face in his hands as he choked back a sob.
Why was this so hard.
But Minato noted how silly he was being and wiped away the tears, resting his forehead on his hands as he propped his elbows on the desk, waiting for his time to go home.
A faint knock was heard behind him and Minato whipped around to see a small fox on the window sill. Minato froze.
He couldn't believe it.
Almost tripping out of his chair and knocking the thing over he rushed to the window and ripped it open.
The small beige fox, no bigger than the palm of his hand, dropped a scroll onto the sill and gave a small yip before it jumped and flipped before disappearing in a cloud of smoke. Minato's hand trembled as he reached for the scroll and began to unravel the small cigarette sized paper.
And after reading the message Yamato had sent, Minato had never felt happier in his entire life. He quickly flashed back home, leaving his chair swiveling in his wake.
an:/ HaHahahahah April Fool's! You thought it would be a happy chapter and then it went downhill...and then back up! You didn't get a real chapter today either but the other one is approaching so no worries.
Approx update: 4/7
Thank you to those who reviewed, they're much appreciated especially since I've lost a majority of my viewers after the long hiatus. Your words are encouraging no matter how small the message was :)
Aerotyl, over and out.