-ooooooooooooo-
Naruto Uzumaki was happily trotting down the lane with Kakashi a few meters behind him, occasionally looking around as if surveilling the area. He'd been lucky so far: no villagers had been trailing them, or acting out of ordinary. Not that they saw many anyway, this was a quiet lane which was only really used by the shinobi of the village, and even then, not usually around this time of the day.
Most genin headed to training around 6, or 10, as they were much quieter times than anything else, alongside their sensei's often needing to stop by the office first. He'd have been curious if he had spotted someone walking the same path. However, the reason they took this path was because Naruto preferred it. The dirt trail was quiet, with not much traffic, and the likelihood of people gawking at him was much less likely.
The pair were currently heading to the forest, or more specifically the thirty-first training ground, which is where Naruto and he had found some fern-like plants a few ventures ago. After a short run in with the Uchiha boy, Sasuke, the young blonde had become determined to prove him wrong, and if that meant catering to a flower then so be it. Oh, pardon, a plant.
As the pair travelled over an old fashion bridge into the shinobi training grounds, they 'loudly' walked towards their location. Though Kakashi had asked if the area would be free of genin or shinobi training, Kakashi wanted to make sure that their presence was at least obvious, that way making sure they didn't get ambushed by mistake.
Naruto, the whole walk, had been humming a pleasant little tune that he had stuck in his head, and was happily looking around as if mimicking his 'baby-sitters' behaviour.
"Kak-shi" Asked Naruto, curiosity laced in his voice.
"Hm?" Murmured Kakashi, dropping his attention from their surroundings and instead looking down at the young blonde.
"What's a, ku-nai?" Naruto's head angled slightly to the side, as he walked backwards.
"A kunai?" Was Kakashi's initial response.
"Hmmm, a kunai is a weapon you throw at enemies" The silver-haired man stated simply. Naruto continued to look at him for a couple of seconds, before saying:
"Like a shur-i-ken?" He said slowing, as if trying to perfect the pronunciation.
"Yes, like a shuriken. Kunai are longer though, like a knife with a handle"
"Ahhhh"
A few moments of silence held, before Naruto's voice picked up again. Kakashi sighed quietly, as he listened to Naruto ravel on about a comic he read recently and how good it was. This was going to be a long walk.
-ooooooooooooo-
Later…
-ooooooooooooo-
"Hello, Minato-"
"Lord Hokage, if you would, Utatane" The blonde shinobi replied, cutting off the elder woman. Not looking up from his paperwork, Minato heard a sigh come from the direction of the door before he heard a pair of footsteps enter his office. Great, both of them.
"Hello, Councilmen. I'm busy at the moment, so I'd appreciate it if you'd come back later"
"Not today, Minato. We need to speak with you about the boy" Spoke up Mitokado, his voice emotionless as ever. Regardless, Minato knew he'd have to try harder to scare them out of his office.
"With all due respect, Mitokado, I have more important things to discuss than your childish whining"
"Now you listen here-" *THUD*
Minato slammed his fist into the table suddenly, loudly and with enough force to silence the elder man. After a few seconds, the young Hokage lifts his hand and continues to read his paperwork.
"Please, Minato. Listen to us. You can't seriously be considering making your son a shinobi"
"Good. At least one of you is now aware he is my son. And to answer your question: Yes. He'll be trained as a shinobi, just like everyone else his age"
"But Minato, he could harm the other students-"
"They would be shinobi-in-training, yes? Then they will learn to not get hurt"
"Minato, you're starting to sound oddly familiar to Sabaku Rasa-" Mitokado interrupted Utatane, before being cut-off.
"Compare me to the war-mongering 4th Kazekage and I promise the Anbu will have a field day covering up your corpse" Minato warned, only now looking up from his paperwork to stare deathly at the elder man, brutal honesty coming through his voice with a sharpness unknown to the usually gentle Hokage.
Clearly aware of the dangerous situation, Utatane tired to calm the situation.
"Minato, we are merely concerned. I'd not go so far as to compare your response to Rasa, of all people…" the elder woman sent a quick glare over to her fellow councilman "…However, my concern is more focused on Naruto's ... 'situation'. Perhaps he should have additional training, if just to put him a few steps ahead of his peers. He has an unbelievable power, Minato, and-"
"Before you continue, Utatane, I have a question for you. Do you believe I would allow my son to become unstable?"
"Of-Of course not, Minato-"
"Then you have my word, that when Naruto begins to attend the Academy, that I will spend some time with the boy training him to control his strength. Unlike Rasa, I will not allow my son to be moulded into some kind of tool. Much less by the guidance of you, Mitokado or Danzo." Minato stated clearly, watching the councilmen with an unreadable gaze. After a few moments, Minato picked up his pen again and returning his gaze to his papers.
"Now as I've appeased your worries, again, I ask you to kindly excuse yourself from my office"
"MINATO!"
Minato's vision shifted upwards to the male across the room, with eyes as cold as ice.
"Yes, Mitokado? Do you need something?" The blonde said coldly, his tone as flat as stone.
"Your son, no matter what you say, is a demon, just like Gaara! He is a beast, locked in a child form!"
"Gaara, as you are well aware, no doubt, is emotionally and mentally abused by BOTH Rasa, and Shukaku! No wonder the poor boy is bloodthirsty: a sadistic, vicious demon on one side, and a cruel, unsympathetic father on the other. The boy is raised in chaos, and thus, creates what he knows-"
"And Naruto is the same!"
"HE IS NOT! The only grounds you have are his night-terrors, which he no longer has as he refuses to sleep! Never once has my son attacked, maimed or even spoken a cruel word against anyone! He's only ever harmed himself! Just maybe if Naruto was by himself, with no family or friends, he would have been raised by the villagers unapologising, moronic attitude and would of become the demon you all believe him to be. HOWEVER, I am here I refuse to have my son nurtured by this village. I am his father, and it is my job to raise him. If he was like Gaara, than I would be flouncing him after like a weapon, just like Rasa is doing with Gaara! I'm sorry, when was the last time I threatened the other villages with my son?!"
"Lord Hokage, please calm down!" Utatane cried, trying to soothe the tense atmosphere. However, it felt like all she could do is watch, like a scene playing in a film. Though she was considering calling some Anbu, just to limit the possible violence hanging in the air.
"Mitokado, stop it! This is not Suna!" She tried one last desperate attempt to stop the otherwise inevitable.
"Then what are we, Utatane? We might as well be, seeing the arrogance in our leader-"
Minato was up, and standing from his chair, his face livid and burning with rage. His form tense, clawing tightly onto the edges of his desk with his hands; doing everything he could to prevent himself from releasing his anger.
In a flash Utatane called for some Anbu to help calm the situation, and as is expected, the Anbu saw their Hokage's rage and the target of his distress. Despite being called by the councilmen, it was clear this situation was not about calming the councilmen's aggressor. It was about getting them away from the aggressor before he lost his temper. And in those few moments, the aggressor was the 4th Hokage himself.
Not foolish enough to go against the Hokage, one of the elder Anbu members spoke clearly:
"Forgive us, Lord Hokage. We believed it was something else. Would you like us to-"
"Quickly remove of the dear councilman currently standing in my office, after being warned to leave and yet continued to aggravate me to this point of rage? Yes, I'd very much appreciate if you saved Mitokado's life so I don't have to explain to Sarutobi why his office is covered in blood"
Without another word, or any further clarification, the Anbu members quickly took off whilst two whisked the elder male away, not wanting to stick around. Though the Anbu who'd spoken before remained, patiently waiting further orders. Despite being assigned to the councilmen, he had a duty to his Hokage, and if that meant dealing with his wrath for a couple of minutes, so be his fate.
"Lord Hokage, is there anything else I can assist you with?"
"No, Ox, that is all. Utatane, I believe it is best if we discussed this at a later point. For now, though, could you kindly speak with your fellow councilmen? Thank you" With the one remaining Anbu gone, and the Hokage's dismissal, the elder woman left with a quiet goodbye and apology, before closing the door silently behind her.
Minato, emotionally exhausted from that verbal battle, sends one of his own Anbu to call in his back-up.
Around 10 minutes later, footsteps and grumbled complaints can be heard outside the room. Moments later the door opens casually and reveals Shikaku, who gives Minato a disapproving look before taking in Minato's disheveled appearance. Raising an eyebrow, the scared man continues to watch the blonde for a couple of minutes, before giving a disbelieving groan.
"Minato" The man only needed one word to both: mock his old classmate, and groan in dispassionate irritation.
"Shikaku, mind taking over my shift?" Minato asked nervously, scratching the back of his head and ruffling his untidy hair. The other man just continued to look at him, expression unmoving. Eventually though, his curiosity got the better of him.
"What did you do this time?"
"I shouted at Homura"
"Urg, you're useless" Came the defeated groan. Minato just bowed his head, looking desperate for an escape. Sighing, Shikaku responded:
"Just get out of here, okay? I'll watch your damn office"
"You're awesome, Shika!" Cheered Minato, gaining an angry look in return.
"Leave, before I change my mind. I could be with Shikamaru and Yoshino right now, you know?"
"Yeah, but that's your fault for being my friend"
"I'm weighing up my options"
"Pfft, see you later Shikaku! Thanks again, I promise to behave myself in future!" Minato called in fake cheerfulness, still feeling slightly tense, but at least happy Shikaku's consist pessimism about everything was always there to bring him back to reality.
"You better! Kami forbid you make my life easy" Shikaku muttered to himself and the empty office, as the blonde left to burn off some steam.
Shuffling over to the desk, Shikaku sat down in the chair and though for a moment, he appeared to read the documents laid out before him, his demeanour quickly changed, and instead he picked up the files without barely a second glance, and set them in a small pile at the edge of the desk. He then moved the larger pile that was untouched, and moved it onto the floor beside the desk. After clearing off the desk space, he lounged back in the chair and put his feet up, fully intent on not doing anything and instead just taking the blame if Sarutobi or anyone else came in looking for Minato. Time to weight up those options.
-ooooooooooooo-
Back at the Namikaze's…
-ooooooooooooo-
"Yes! Now I have everything I need!" Yelled Naruto triumphantly, despite the somewhat dull look his grey-haired guardian was giving him.
"Really?" Kakashi said sarcastic, all positivity drained from his voice after having to listen to how 'un-girly' this was for hours on end. The continued to watch the boy regardless; trying to figure out how he could fix this.
"Yeah! I'll prove Sasuke right, and then I'll be the coolest!"
"Of course he's the only name you get right, and I don't think that's how it works"
"Sure it is! If the bad guy says he's stronger than you, then all you have to do is beat him up! So, if Sasuke says I'm stupid, I just have to show him I can take care of things all by myself, and then he'll look stupid!"
"You know, I wonder where you get your intelligence from…"
"Dad says I'm plenty smart!"
"… We could not get you to the Academy sooner"
"Shut up Kak-shi! I'm smart, and I don't care what you think! Now help me dig this hole!"
"I think you're doing plenty fine digging your own hole by yourself…" Came the muttered response, though Kakashi did reluctantly move forward to assist the youngster in planting his 'plants-not-flowers-why-would-he-grow-flowers?' before excusing himself to read his 'literature'.
-ooooooooooooo-
Author's Note:
So to make the story and characters easier to follow, I'm just going to presume Shikaku was the same age as Minato. That includes the whole Ino-Shika-Cho trio, actually. I doubt it, but I like to think they all knew each other, seeing as there all parents to the next generation and all that. But anyway, this chapter's already long enough for my tastes, so instead, we're going to end it here for the moment
No worries, we'll be introducing Sasuke into the plot real soon! And thus, more funsies for all of us!
Any reviews would be most appreciated, even though there's not much to judge yet However, if you feel I'm being a little too harsh or kind to any characters, please tell me! I don't want to be too harassing or hate-mongering.
Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed it so far!
Naruto & Sasuke – 6 years old
Iruka – 16 years old
Kakashi & Gai – 20 years old
Minato, Kushina & Shikaku – 30 years old