-ooooooooooooo-

It was a warm, slightly breezy day in Konoha, and for once in a long time, Minato was feeling calm and content. With Kakashi and Sarutobi taking turns to watch Naruto during the day, Minato finally found the time to catch up on sleep, and get himself into a much more regular schedule, and finish all the important paperwork he had left pile up in his exhaustion. It was all thanks to Gai, who despite his outside appearance, was well versed in infant knowledge and he was able to help Kakashi develop the skills to take care of the young baby, if only for a few hours each day. As the paperwork began to lessen, and the hours spent in the office descended, Minato had begun to return home early so as to free up Kakashi's time for other, more important missions. Even though Minato wished he could torment Kakashi for eternity, he'd doubt he'd get away with abusing the jonin-favourite for long, and so shoved him off to complete work more expected of his occupation.

Minato was lying on his back within the small garden space he, no, they had. Next to him was Naruto, safely curled up in a blanket, and laid comfortably in a soft basket. Naruto had made very little noise even since he was born, clearly a quiet baby, but even so the young father wasn't willing to have the boy too far away from observation. Though guilty about having to watch his son like a hawk, Minato had quickly become aware of the pains Kushina had dealt with everyday whilst she was here.

As Naruto's seal was weak, whenever he feel asleep he became somewhat possessed by the Kyubi, a fact that though irritating could not be avoided, especially seeing how delicate the boy was. However, the biggest issue was that Naruto would not have control of his own body, instead leaving it to the whims and enjoyment of the demon trapped inside. Kyubi tried in many ways to cause Naruto pain, the biggest being thrashing. The demon learned that Naruto couldn't really scratch himself as of yet, because he hadn't developed the muscle strength yet, and his nails were still too weak and soft. So, that left the beast to shake the defenceless child's arms madly; slamming them into nearby objects and the surroundings.

Minato would always listen out for rustling coming from the basket Naruto, which the boy was kept in most of the time, and though it pained him, Minato had on several occasions had to wake the aching baby just to make it stop.

Those were the rare occasions where Naruto did cry, and it broke Minato's heart every time his son was woken up from his sleep. The blonde parent was already imagining his son would be stuck with this problem for a long time, and he truly believed his son would develop some kind of sleeping problem. Quite possibly insomnia, if these 'possessions' got any worse.

Brushing off the darker thoughts that swarmed the young father's mind, Minato turned gently to look at the basket beside him, gazing at it wondrously. He was really a father! It'd taken some time to sink in truly, but now, Minato couldn't feel prouder. However, with that thought came another sad realisation.

Kushina.

So far Kushina had not written or sent any kind of communication to Minato or Konoha, since she'd left to Water Country. Truthfully, Minato hoped she'd return soon, or that she'd change her mind or rebel against her clan. However, one sad, extremely quiet part of himself told him she wouldn't.

Though Kushina was far from traditional, and as far from obedient as anyone he'd ever met, Minato also knew her family meant the world to her. However, Minato continued to dream that Kushina would return, a huge, beautiful grin on her face, proclaiming she was her to stay. The days could not pass sooner for the lovesick Hokage.

Sitting up slowly, and manoeuvring his arms so he could lean backwards slightly, Minato admired his son gurgling to himself from his basket. The baby was staring curiously up at his own hands, which were stuck out in front of him, a look of intense concentration clear on his features.

Chuckling softly at the expression on the boy's face, Minato sat up properly and gently took hold of the two hands, before pulling them apart slowly and smiling down at the two blue eyes looking back at him.

Naruto had the same face as his mother's, round and chubby with rosy, puffy cheeks. They seemed to puff up larger when Naruto gave a tiny tug on his arms, and they remained in place regardless. It appeared to the whole world that a few months old Naruto, was pouting at his father. Seeing the baby's slowly developing frustration, Minato decided to take Naruto back inside.

Standing up and grasping the basket handle securely, Minato carefully moved back inside and walked upstairs to his bedroom, taking the baby with him. Inside the room was a series of memorabilia, mainly photos of himself with various people hanging on the far wall. Two photos on the wall showed a juvenile Minato alongside two other genin, with a Jonin standing beside them. The first showed their official photo they took for recognition, and the other was a photo taken a few years later, after they all became Chunin, as were enjoying a treat with their sensei. Another, cleaner photo showed a teenage Minato alongside a tall, long haired man wearing traditional garbs, who donned a huge grin and a cheery disposition. A few framed photos showed Kushina and Minato, out on several dates and doing romantic things. Minato had recently moved their wedding photo down to the living room, where it stood adoringly on the mantle, clear for all to see.

Placing the baby down, and gently lifting the boy into his arms, Minato sat down on the futon laid on the floor. After moving the empty basket out of the way and laying Naruto down gently, Minato moved to flick the evening-lamp on and half closed the curtains. As he did so, Minato admired the beautiful blue sky, and the stars twinkling brightly in the darkness. Watching the stars float across the sky, Minato thought back to earlier times when he watched the sky before. Happier times, like with his students or Kushina; back when everyone was happy. On the mantel Minato leaned his crossed-arms against, stood a singular, old photo mirroring a photo on the wall. However instead of Kakashi's old sensei and teammates, it was replaced with a familiar group of people. In the foreground were three young teens, all of which wearing their recently obtained hitai-ate's (forehead-protectors). A brown-haired girl stood in the middle, smiling happily at the photographer, with two boys at her sides. On the left was an ebony-haired boy, with short, spiky hair and a pair of orange goggles covering his eyes, and on the right was a silver-haired boy, with slightly longer spiky hair than the other, and a mask covering his lower face. Kakashi Hatake really hadn't changed much in the few years. Behind the young teens was a past version of Minato, smiling uncomfortably whilst holding the two boys, as if trying to prevent them from fighting. Looking down at the tearing, stained photo, Minato allowed a sad smile to overtake his expression. After a few moments of admiring the night sky, Naruto's gurgling brought him out of his sadder thoughts.

Looking down at his son, he smiled at the giggling boy before lifting him playfully in his arms and raising him above him. This action caused more playful laughs and wiggling toes from the baby, only prompting Minato to further childishness. Dropping to the floor, albeit safely to shield Naruto, Minato pulled him close and began to tickle his little feet and hands, causing even more laughs to leave the boy's mouth.

After playing with Naruto for what felt like an eternity, Minato stopped his tickling assault and instead laid down softly with Naruto clutched tightly in his arm, whilst the other moved the support his head, as he watched the boy attempt to wiggle free.

Laughing slightly, Minato allowed his head to drop to the futon surface, and let it eyelids droop. Calmly dozing and thinking over the day and everything that had happened, Minato was fully happy that he'd done as much as he needed to today, and that today would be another trying, yet fruitful adventure. He just hoped Shikadai and Hiashi would stop harassing him soon…

Tug!

Minato opened his eyes at the sensation, only to stare back into shining blue eyes watching him in silence. A few moments of eye-contact over, Naruto gave another tug of his father's long blonde hair, and begun to softly play with it.

Minato, still lost in the moment, stared blankly in confusion at his son, before smiling in a defeated manner and allowing his son to torment him.

Even after a few experimental tugs and a few winces, Minato found himself surprisingly content with everything. He found an odd, unplaceable joy in his son's actions. His odd fascination with his father's hair, and his deep concentration as he played and pulled and tangled the already untidy locks.

After a couple of minutes, the tugging stopped and Minato noticed the unmistakable breaths of his sleeping son. Warmth rising in his heart Minato left Naruto in place, with his little arms rapped gently around his father's neck as he slept, and Minato, slowly but surely, found himself drifting off to sleep.

-ooooooooooooo-

Author's Note:

Yay! Another chapter and this time I got it finished quickly, so we can all move on 3

But anyway, here, have some cute Minato and Naruto cuddles :)

This was a short chapter, but nothing was really planned for this chapter aside from Minato and Naruto time, so I didn't really need a long chapter like the last one. Regardless though, I hope this worked out to satisfy your baby needs!

So, next chapter we'll be having our first time-skip!

I kind of need to do some old-fashion research to find some facts before hand, but otherwise expect an older Naruto next chapter!

Thanks everyone for reading, you're awesome and I hope your enjoying this! Once again, any reviews you'd got would be appreciated!