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Six Year Time Skip

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The quiet, harmonious chirping of birds woke the citizens of Konoha from their nights rest. The streets were only just beginning to spring to life with activity, though mainly shinobi of all ages were about, heading to their duties and jobs. Some of the small, family stores were opening along the streets, as the shinobi began their days, collecting tools or essentials for the rest of the day, some even buying various teas to wake them from their half-asleep state.

Very rarely were children awake this early unless they attended the Academy, a place where the youth of Konoha could learn and train to become shinobi. Even so, many of those individuals preferred to wait a late as possible, before sending themselves to class. So as the adults, and elder teens wake about the village early in preparation for the day, the younger shinobi, or shinobi-in-training are hiding out in their rooms, ignoring the sunlight pushing through their curtains and blinds.

Even rarer than the Academy students waking up early, was the 4th Hokage waking up late. He had always been an early riser, even as a child much to the displeasure of his friends. However, whilst the streets began to bustle with activity, and the Administrative Division of the academy began to fill with shinobi on duty, the 4th Hokage had still not appeared.

In a small section of Konoha a long line of old-fashion, traditional town-houses still stood, with wooden walls and shoji as opposed to the more modern stone and wooden doors used today. However, some of the houses had gained upgrades over the years, and one of those homes in particular was the residence of the 4th Hokage.

This home had a clear separate upper, and lower floor. The walls of the building had been renovated several years ago, replacing the old wooden with stone bricks, and covering them lightly in plaster to smoothen the walls rougher edges. However, whilst the lower floor had a simple layer of plaster to cover the bricks that gave a more concrete appearance to the wall, the upper floor had wooden panelling around it, reminiscent of the older townhouses along the same street. At the front of the house was a reinforced shoji door, with a small paper lantern sitting to the side of the front step. On the wall besides the shoji was a small, white sign which simply read: 'Namikaze'.

On the upper floor was a rather sparse room, with merely a small collection of photos hanging on one wall section of wall. A large futon was laid out on the floor, and from the spec of blonde hair poking into view, it was clearly occupied. Quietness remained for a couple of minutes, whilst the breathing of the room's owner could be heard. However, that wasn't to last…

*Knock*

A singular knock sounded at the oak door, causing a slight shuffle to occur from the sleeping blonde.

*Knock*

A second attempt, but this time slightly harsher and louder. Still, a half-aware shuffle was its response. The intruder, displeased by being ignored, opened the door silently and stepped into the room.

They walked on silent feet to the side of the futon, and stared down at the sleeping figure for a few moments. As if contemplating something.

Seeming to come to a decision, the intruder sat down besides the futon and, facing away from the sleeper, leaned against them. No movement followed, nor any excess noise. Everything remained quiet, and peaceful.

…

Another five minutes passed, before finally the intruder had had enough waiting. Repositioning their feet to have a firmer hold on the ground, they forced their back into the sleeper before saying aloud:

"Dad, you're late for work"

No response.

"DAD!"

A response. Shooting into an upright position, effectively knocking his son over, Minato stared blankly ahead for a few seconds before noticing his son's presence. Turning his head slightly to face him, and rubbing the dust out of his eyes, the 4th Hokage smiled sleepily.

"Mornin' Naruto. Why are you-?"

"You're late" Was the youngster's reply, as he looked at his father with a displeased expression.

It took a few moments for the adult's brain to catch up with him, but upon realisation, Minato jumped up in a hurry and began to rush around the room frantically.

"Oh, for the love of- Naruto, go put some new clothes on! You were wearing those yesterday!" With that, Minato pushed his son out of the room, so that he himself could change. The only response was a slight growl from the youngster, but that was quickly cut off by the closed door.

Grabbing his ordinary clothing which consisted of a dull blue jumpsuit, a flak jacket dyed Konoha green, and his blue sandals, Minato quickly dressed before heading downstairs. Running down, he found his son sitting grumpily at the kitchen table, staring at the doorway as if he knew his father had been coming down.

"Oh, you're up! Sorry, Naruto, Dad was busy last night on paperwork so-"

"It's okay, it's you who's going to be in trouble. Not me" Naruto's expression brightened, as he grinned mischievously at his father.

"Naruto, behave yourself. I don't want to be dragged out of work today because you're having 'fun'." Minato sighed, knowing that his warnings rarely meant anything to his son anyway. Sure, Naruto adored his father and respected him all the same, but the young blonde had a problem with 'rules', and following them regardless of the consequences. As he waited for his son to respond, Minato set about making breakfast. Two slices of toast each, with a fried egg to give them the extra push. With Naruto having not replied yet, Minato busied himself to get all of the items he needed, and placed them on one of the white kitchen counters. He'd just slotted the bread slices into the toaster when Naruto finally replied:

"But what if I made a friend today?"

Minato flinched slightly, though he didn't mean to. Despite his best efforts, and even some increasingly stern warnings to the councilmen and elders of the village, Naruto had still developed a 'demon child' image. Something Minato had longed to avoid.

Whilst Minato had been focusing on the village and everything that encompassed his Hokage duties, alongside making sure Naruto kept to a proper schedule as he grew and aged, the councilmen had made it their soul mission to begin spouting nonsense about his son.

Minato had, truthfully, intended to hide Naruto from the village for a long time, but realising that that wasn't fair on Naruto, he'd decided against it. So with Kakashi developing a bond with the boy, though he was loathe to admit it, Minato had told Kakashi to take Naruto around the village and give him the chance to meet other children and villagers, in hopes that he'd make a friend eventually.

However, the councilmen had been more effective than he'd thought. From Kakashi's reports, parents would hurriedly pull their children away from Naruto, as if he was the demon. Though Minato had tried to explain Jinchuriki to his fellow adults and parents, it appears they were loathe to acknowledge his word. They'd already been sucked in by the biased words of the councilmen. Even Sarutobi, try that he might, was unable to sway anyone's opinion, which made Minato even sadder. Despite being Hokage, the most respected member of the village, he could do nothing about the issue no matter how hard he tried.

"Well, if you make a friend I'd love to know, Naruto" Minato smiled half-heartedly. He truly felt his son was missing some crucial development, just because no children were willing to play with him. Though the status of Hokage meant so much to the villagers, Minato couldn't force the children to interact with Naruto. Nor could he force kinder attitudes into the crueller individuals of the village. All he could do was sit, and watch his son try to interact with others.

So far, Naruto had made a break-through, of sorts. Surprisingly, Naruto socialised fairly well with adult shinobi around him. There was of course the obvious, Kakashi and Gai who had remained stable factors in Naruto's childhood, but he also grew the respect and interest of other shinobi within the village, such as Iruka Umino.

Iruka was a 16 year old Chunin, and at first had been extremely resistant to Naruto's attempts to talk to him. However with the assistance of Kakashi Iruka had warmed up to Naruto, though not enough to truly be comfortable around him yet.

He had, however, been one of the few to actually get Naruto a gift. Naruto got plenty of gifts from Minato himself, as the young father often felt the need to entertain his bored son in any way he could and as he couldn't be around all day, Minato had resorted to getting Naruto gifts regularly. Most of them were comic books and plush toys, though they rarely held Naruto's attention for long. Kakashi had given Naruto various things. Things Naruto didn't need yet! A variety of kunai, shurikens, and even some basic ninja-skill scrolls. Minato had been less than pleased. Gai had also given gifts, though they were more entertaining than Kakashi's. Some more plush toys and action figures, though Gai himself was currently caught up in his own 'student', and thus had somewhat disappeared as of recent.

But no. Whilst Minato, Kakashi and Gai had been giving Naruto toys to entertain him with, Iruka had given him a simple, goofy sleeping hat, despite the irony of it.

Naruto's sleeping habits and the nightly possessions had been well 'documented' by the councilmen, and loudly boosted throughout the village. Though Minato had wanted Naruto's sleeping habits to remain secrets, due to the violence of the possessions, the councilmen had thought it 'necessary' to announce those facts to the entire village. However, whilst Minato's huge displeasure for the councilmen grew day after day, he'd also realised there was a much bigger problem than that. Around 2 years ago, when Naruto was 4, Minato had woken up in the middle of the night as usual, and had moved to Naruto's room to check on him, only to find the boy wide awake reading a book. 2 years later though, much like an insomniac, Naruto had gotten to a stage of refusing to sleep entirely. Though Kyubi had continued to possess Naruto's sleeping form on many an occasion, he had also become much more malicious with his host. Actively creating nightmares to terrify the boy, Naruto had woken up more than once with a scream and a thumping headache.

So, Naruto avoided sleeping at all costs. Minato's face saddened as he remembered the increasingly dark lines around his son's eyes, that showed all the signs of his insomnia.

"Dad"

"Hmm?"

"What are you doing?" As Minato had been thinking, he'd slowly been twirling a spoon from last night in his fingers. Realising what he'd been doing, Minato hastily threw the spoon into the nearby sink, and turned to his son. Picking up one of the eggs from the counter, he held it carefully in one hand.

"So, you have any plans today, Naruto?"

"Hmm. Oh yeah! Me and Kak-shi are going to edge of the forest!"

"Ka-ka-shi. Oh? What's over there?" Minato questioned as he turned back to the counter, set a frying pan down and lit the gas, before moving to crack the egg in his hand against the counter's edge.

"There's some long, feathery flowers I want to grow! So I need to go get them!" Naruto responded enthusiastically as a crack sounded from across the room. Pouring some oil into the frying pan, and them dropping the egg white into the pan, Minato's face held an expression of confusion. Taking another egg, Minato responded:

"Flowers? Why do you want to pick flowers?" Minato asked concerned.

"No! I don't want to pick flowers! That's what girls do! I want to grow some flowers, so I can prove him wrong!"

"Prove who wrong?"

"That Uchi boy who said I can't take care of anything!" Uchi? Who are the Uchi- Ah. He means Uchiha.

"You mean Sasuke Uchiha?"

"Yeah, that jerk! He's really mean and he thinks he's better than me. I'll prove him wrong! I don't have to hide behind a big brother!"

Minato chuckled softly, thinking of the two Uchiha heirs, Sasuke and Itachi. Those boys are decidedly close despite their differences, and it was rare to see Itachi without his brother trailing behind. It was practically expected.

"So, you want to prove Sasuke wrong, huh?"

"Yeah!" Naruto responded loudly, pride causing him to puff up childishly.

"Hmm"

"You believe in me, right Dad?"

"Of course, Naruto. You and Kakashi best get plenty of soil though, we don't have much good dirt in our garden"

"I know. Kak-shi's bringing a bucket!" Naruto laughed loudly, whilst Minato finished making their breakfast with a much happier smile. Laying the food down on the table it didn't take long for Naruto to dig in, and completely destroy his meal. Minato chuckled softly, whilst he ate his own.

After finishing his food, Minato took his and Naruto's plates over to the sink and put them in alongside the spoon from earlier. Excusing himself, Minato returned upstairs to collect the rest of his daily uniform, those being his hitai-ate and Hokage's coat, before checking on his son once more, who was now sitting on the sofa in the living room.

"You got everything you need?"

"Yep!"

"Want me to bring anything back after work?"

"Hmm. Oh, can you get me some chips, please?"

"Haha, sure. Behave yourself until Kakashi arrives, okay?"

"Yeah. I know. Wish he'd be on time for once…" Naruto pouted to himself, as he leaned his cheek against his hand, whilst his other hung down his side.

Chuckling, Minato gave Naruto's hair a playful ruff and with a quick peck on the forehead, Minato rushed off to his job, or more truthfully, away from his embarrassed son who shouted at him as he left.

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Author's Note:

So, I had to do a bit of math for this chapter. I had to check to see everyone's age, and thus I found Iruka would have been 16 when Naruto was 6, and Kakashi would have been! So yeah, four year age gap between those two. I also found out Minato was 24 when Naruto was born, meaning he'd now be 30! Man, time flies fast!

Anyway, to help you guys out I'll leave a list of character ages down below in case you get lost later on!

Naruto & Sasuke – 6 years old

Iruka – 16 years old

Kakashi & Gai – 20 years old

Minato & Kushina – 30 years old