Chapter 5: First Meetings

"Mmn?" Minato mumbled incoherently as his was still rubbing the sleepiness from his eyes.

Pulling on his arm, the blond kage's son dragged out of bed. "'Tou-chan, 'tou-chan. Let's go to the park."

Yawning, Minato rubbed what little drowsiness remained in his eyes away. "Mm? The park...that sounds like a good idea. Let me eat and get dressed first, Naruto." he said, ruffling his son's hair.

Not listening to a word from his father, after hearing him agree, Naruto continued to pull on his arm, headed for the entry.

Snickering at his son's antics, Minato pulled on Naruto's arms lifting him off the ground. "Food first, Naruto." he said, as his looked into his son's azure eyes before placing him back on the ground. "Get dressed, or you won't get to eat."

Faster than you could say Hiraishin, Naruto began to run to his room but tripped almost immediately. Chuckling, Minato left his son to himself as he headed to his room to get dressed as well.

Naruto's stomach grumbled for the third time in the past minute. "Is it ready yet?" Naruto complained as his hunger began to get the better of him.

"Almost, Naruto." Minato said, as he tried, yet again, to find a dish that Naruto really enjoyed. He always ate it all without complaints, but he's never declared something as delicious, much to his father's disappointment.

"'Tou-chan." Naruto whined again, his head on the table as his stomach growled yet again.

Maneuvering his way to the breakfast table, Minato placed down the finished breakfast. "It's done, it's done."

Eying the various breakfast portions, Naruto said, "Itadakimasu." Prying apart his chopsticks, he ate the dishes as rapidly as usual.

Eating his own breakfast at a more reasonable pace, in between bites, Minato asked, "So, how was today's breakfast?"

"Good as always," Naruto said shrugging, as he deflated Minato's hopes. "Hurry, 'tou-chan. I want to go to the park already."

Laughing, Minato acquiesced to his son's eager request and finished quickly. Placing their dishes in the sink, he turned to his son and said, "Let's go."

Giving his father a smile only a child could make, he grabbed his hand and together they headed towards the park.

Arriving at the park, Naruto let go of his father's hand and raced forward to make new friends. Spotting a pair of boys on a seesaw, Naruto ran towards them.

"Hi guys. Mind if I play with you?" Naruto said, as he stood next to the pair.

Scratching his cheek, the chubbier boy looked at his lazy friend and asked "What do you think, Shikamaru?"

With a yawn, Shikamaru said, "Eh, sure. Too troublesome to refuse."

With a grin and an eager nod, Naruto leapt onto the center of the seesaw. "So, so, so. What should we do?" He asked the pair, excited to do something with his new friends.

Minato watched his son interact with his new-found friends with a smile.

"He acts just like Kushina, doesn't he?" Shikaku said, as he stood next to his lifelong friend.

"He does, pleasant surprise to find you and your sons here today," he said to the Akimichi and Nara clan heads.

"Where does he get all that energy though? Kushina wasn't even that hyperactive." Chouza said in astonishment.

"I only hope he puts that energy to good use, you wouldn't believe the trouble I had when he was two and decided to get into everything. I don't even know how he got his hands on some sugar, that was a nightmare." Minato said with a shudder as he recalled the memories.

"Other than trying to keep up with Naruto's endless energy, what have you been up to lately, Minato?" Chouza asked, genuinely curious.

"Most of what I've been doing lately, outside of normal paperwork, is altering our current Anbu system. Prior to these changes, anyone with sufficient combat skill and decision-making skills could become Anbu, regardless of actual experience and age. To better the system, I've created a series of tests which determine your combat skill, your decision-making skills, and above all, your level of physical and mental maturity. Too many of our Anbu have been dying on missions because of physical or mental immaturities." Minato paused, taking a breath.

"Impressive. This should improve our Anbu squads by a great deal." Shikaku said, honestly impressed.

"Additionally, one thing I've noticed that is common in shinobi that needs to be completely driven out of Anbu at least is that usually shinobi won't efficiently and decisively end a battle. They'll play around using mid-level jutsu, they'll use non-fatal attacks. As much I believe that killing isn't the first thing we should go to, our Anbu squads need to be the type to react and end fights quickly and efficiently." Minato continued, as he fell into speech mode.

Nodding in slight shock, Chouza patted his friend on the back. "You never cease to amaze me. You do Konoha proud."

"Have you taken Naruto to the Hyuuga's yet?" Shikaku asked, genuinely curious.

Rubbing the back of his head, Minato gave his friend a sheepish expression. "I haven't really had the chance. Between my duties as Hokage, and my duties as a father, not to mention Hyuuga issues, we haven't had an opportunity. This was my first free day in months, and I'll be busy later today, so it wasn't even a full day free, and Naruto wanted to go to the park."

Shrugging in defeat, he gave his friend a slight grin. "It'll happen when it happens. For now, though..."

"Mm...why haven't you had Naruto go over there when you're busy with your Hokage duties, though? I'm sure they'd be absolutely fine with babysitting Naruto for you." Chouza asked inquisitively.

Grimacing, Minato frowned. "I hate this, and even more the fact that I can't do anything about it, but the Hyuuga elders...they don't see my son as a child. From what Hiashi has told me, they see him as the Kyuubi in human form. Hiashi had to use all his favors from over the years just to keep Naruto there while I was in the hospital."

Sighing, Minato turned in the direction of the Hyuuga manor. "I'll never be able to repay Hiashi for what he's done for me. Not only did he keep Naruto safe while I was hospitalized, he saved my life."

"But that is a story for another time," he said with a smirk. He knew them well enough to know that they'd be itching to hear the story behind that.

Dragging his new friends with him, Naruto lead them to Minato. "'Tou-chan, 'tou-chan. I made some new friends." he said, as he presented his friends like trophies.

Grinning, Minato asked, "And do these friends have names, Naruto?"

Nodding vigorously, Naruto said, "Yeah, yeah. Their names are..."

Naruto stopped as he looked at his two new friends again. "Uh, what were your names again?"

Rubbing his temples, Shikamaru said, "What a troublesome guy. I'm Shikamaru, this is Chouji."

Realizing who they were speaking to, and in turn who their new friend was, Chouji let out a gasp. "Ho-Hokage-sama?!"

Patting the young boy on his head, he smiled. "When I'm out with my son, I'm just his father. Just Minato is fine, and it's that's too informal, I guess you can call me Namikaze-san."

"Naruto, Shikaku and Chouza here invited us to an early lunch, and while I know we just ate not too long ago..."

"I'll go, I'll go!" Naruto said immediately, interrupting his father.

Watching his son prance around in excitement, Minato smiled softly as he was reminded of Kushina.

Gently, he said, "Lead the way, Chouza. We'll join you four."

Arriving at the beef restaurant, Naruto turned to his friends. "I bet I can eat more than you two can." he challenged, boasting confidently.

Chouza raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Maybe Kushina's challenge to the Akimichi will be fulfilled through Naruto."

Grinning, Chouji accepted the challenge.

Ushering the youngsters into the building, they got themselves a room reserved for the Akimichi.

Eying his lifelong friend, the shadow user asked, "Chouza, will you join them in their little contest?"

Laughing heartily, Chouza shook his head. "Maybe in a few years, but for now I'll let the little ones have their fun.

Clapping his hands twice, Chouza signaled to the waiter in charge of their table. "Keep the beef coming. We'll be here for a while."

"Very well, Akimichi-san," the waiter said with a slight bow, accustomed to the eating demands of their clan.

Watching them with a satisfied expression, Minato turned his attention to Shikaku. "Can I talk to you about something?" Seeing him nod, Minato continued, "You see, I've had this idea about a change in our mission system, and I was wondering what you thought of it..."

Nodding again, Shikaku said, "Continue."

Sighing in satisfaction, Naruto leaned back in his seat. "That was good. So, who won?" he asked, eying Shikamaru, their designated scorekeeper.

Blinking twice, he said, "Surprisingly, neither of you did. You both ate the same amount."

With a disappointed sigh, Naruto leaned forward onto the table. "I'll beat you next time, Chouji."

Shikamaru frowned. "Naruto, where do you put it all?"

Smirking, Naruto shrugged. Turning to Chouji, he said, "You're not bad, for not being an Uzumaki."

"I can say the same to you...for not being an Akimichi," he retorted.

The two shared a grin and a firm bond of friendship was formed.

"Naruto."

"Hm?" Naruto turned to see who was addressing him. "Kakashi-niisan!"

Smiling at his sensei's hyperactive son, the silver-haired nin said, "Hey, Naruto-kun. Your dad had some Hokage duties to do, so he asked me to take you back home."

"See you Shika, Chouji." Naruto said to his friends.

"Nii-san, can you share more of your awesome stories with me?" Naruto asked, excited.

"Sure, Naruto. How about I tell you of the time Obito, Rin, and I-"

"No, no! I don't want to hear about them. Tell me about your exciting solo missions." Naruto said, interrupting Kakashi without care.

"Fine, fine. So I was given this S-Rank mission by your dad..."

A/N: Sorry for the wait, had a lot of trouble writing this chapter.