Disclaimers apply.

AN I haven't written a chapter in so long, I've gotten rusty… I haven't watched Naruto since 2008 either…

I'm sad to say that inspiration is dying… I have no MinaNaru material to feed off… Someone help! *sob*
I want to see this fic through though. I have this little word document filled with all these MinaNaru scenes which I know will make you guys go 'awww' and 'squee' … cuz heck, I "squee'd", and I'm the one writing it *sweatdrop*. And I'm so excited to show you guys... but it's missing the bridging scenes in between -.-

There's a Minato personality poll on my profile - you can vote if you wish, it'll give me an indication of what kind of personality you like to read about. And I'll try to fit it in as much as I can :)

Review replies to all you anonymous readers will be in my profile, as ff net doesn't like them on the chapters :)

Warnings:
MinaNaru hints (rather one-sided, but that's the fun part, no?)
Features Jealous!Minato (many of you have asked for him... you now have your wish... and its not pretty! LOL.)
Shounen-ai
Possible OOC-ness.
Semi-AU. (No Naruto Shippuden)

Dense:
1) permitting little if any light to pass through because of denseness of matter; "dense smoke"; "heavy fog"; "impenetrable gloom
2) having high relative density or specific gravity; "dense as lead"
3) slow to learn or understand; lacking intellectual acuity

Underwater

Chapter Four

Density

By BlueRedemption

"Oooh, that was good!" Naruto clapped his hands twice after finishing his third bowl and happily patted his slightly bloated stomach. He turned his head to look at his father, wondering why the older teen was so quiet. His eyebrows almost shot up to his hairline at how sullen Minato's face looked, bleakly mixing his noodles in the broth like a sulking child. "What's wrong?" He asked curiously, wondering if he had missed something. "Did Yasu-jii not put enough of the fish cakes in?"

Riza awkwardly laughed, "Oh, don't worry about Namikaze-taichou. I think …he's just thinking about the mission tomorrow." The medic-nin mentally shook her head. Naruto was just so frustratingly oblivious! The more she watched them interact, the sorrier she felt for her superior. She was almost positively certain that her captain must have the patience of a saint. Had it been her, she had no doubts that she would have cracked a long time ago. It would've probably driven her mad trying to convey her feelings to someone who didn't pick up on any of the signals!

A perplexed frown appeared on the tanned boy's face, as if he didn't believe the excuse. Nevertheless, he let it pass anyway. "Oh. Well, are you going to eat that, then?" The smaller blonde pointed slyly at Minato's bowl, his lips quirking into a rather devious smile.

It barely took a fleeting glance at Naruto's big blue eyes for Minato to push his ramen bowl over to his friend with a huge radiant smile on his face. "No, no, I'm not very hungry. I ate before coming here. Of course you may have it." He lied enthusiastically with a few coughs after his sentence to cover up the growl of his stomach that wantonly protested since he had skipped breakfast in his hurry to meet with the jounin, and now - it looked like he was skipping lunch, too. But it was all for Naruto, so that was okay!

The female ANBU, not for the first time, felt a chill go down her spine that had nothing to do with the cool temperature of the spring afternoon. To think, that not only mere seconds ago, her now-cheery captain was having an angst moment that could possibly win him an award. Naruto's control over him was highly terrifying…

The newly appointed jounin for Konoha shot Minato a delighted smile as he pulled the bowl closer towards himself, completely oblivious to the fact that his fingers had lightly brushed against the older teen's by accident and caused little tingles of pleasure to run in waves down his companion's spine. "Minato, you're the best!" he cheered before digging in.

Riza wrinkled her nose and edged closer, "Captain? … You're acting kinda gross." she hissed near his ear, careful to use a soft voice so that Naruto wouldn't overhear.

Minato, his smile still in place, was quick to elbow her in the ribs rather hard, winding her momentarily as her ribcage's flexible cartilage was compressed briefly with the sudden shock. It would surely leave a decent sized bruise. She flinched away and glared at her superior's innocently smiling face indignantly.

"Gochisousama!" Naruto - having devoured the ramen in record time - put his hands together and bowed his head slightly, eyes closed in respect. "Well, I'm full. Shouko-chan! The bill, please!" He called in his usual upbeat way, waving his hand in order to gain the attention of one of the waitresses he was more familiar with.

A young, slender dark-haired waitress sauntered over with a sweet smile on her attractive face. "Here you go, Naruto-kun." She winked before leaning closer to whisper conspiratorially to him, "I've given you a discount, too."

Naruto looked elated as he accepted the parchment from her outstretched hand, "Really? Shouko-chan, you're so kind!" He gushed, pleased.

"Don't worry about it. You used to work here. Plus, you're a regular and valued customer. Takaouji-ojisan and I must thank you for your continuous patronage." She was obviously enjoying the full attention being directed at her by the sun-tanned shinobi. She twirled a lock of her shiny, ebony hair coyly - bashfully eyeing the smiling jounin through her long, dark lashes. "You know I miss you, you should come into our shop more often."

Minato scowled sourly as he looked between the two.

Naruto grinned brightly, "Well, what can I say? The food here is great, and so is the service. You of all people should know I'll continue coming in often!" He complimented in his usual carefree manner, not intending anything suggestive by it at all.

The girl laughed, covering her mouth in a dainty way in order to appear cuter as her free hand landed daringly upon his shoulder. "Oh, Naruto-kun, you're far too kind!" She cooed.

"What do you mean? I was only telling the truth!"

She giggled again, her hand boldly moving from Naruto's shoulder and steadily down his arm, "Naru-"

Without any warning, Minato was suddenly out of his seat and had the girl's wandering hand inside his grasp by the wrist in a firm, but gentle grip. He snatched the piece of paper from Naruto's hands and then shoved it along with a wad of cash into her open hand, not even bothering to glance at the total of their tab. "Keep the change." He told her rather stiffly, eyes stormy as he released her. She was quick to withdraw, immediately shirking away from the fairer skinned shinobi, looking highly intimidated and cautious. The ANBU captain jerked his head towards the exit. "Come on, Naruto, we've got to report to the Hokage soon to get the rest of the mission details."

Naruto, taken aback, blinked momentarily in confusion as he watched his young father exit the ramen shop in a rigid manner, as though irritated by something. His female teammate had to stride in order to catch up to him.

"Sorry about that, Shouko-chan." He apologized hurriedly to the rather miffed waitress who looked too shocked to say or do anything. "He's not usually like that, so you'll have to forgive him. I'll see you later!" He exited Takaouji's Noodle Bar and gingerly followed the two ANBU - quickening his pace as he wondered why Minato was acting so strange all of a sudden.

"Hey Riza, did something happen?" Befuddled, Naruto questioned the woman who was leisurely striding in step with him as they tailed after a seemingly-fuming Minato - who was walking at a rate faster than normal far ahead of them.

She just shook her head and smiled almost mysteriously at him, "It's nothing. Taichou's just … been under a bit of stress lately due to certain people." She mentally snorted, downplaying it.

Damn it! It was that irritating 'nothing' response again.

"Ah, I think I know who you're talking about. Just to be sure we're on the same page, who do you suspect they are?" He prodded slyly, wondering if he'd be able to wheedle anything out of the future Yondaime's subordinate.

A quirk of amusement tilted her lips as she caught onto his sorely laughable attempts to pry information from her, "I think you should talk to him more often, maybe you'll find out." Her sharp, trained gaze skimmed the area around them warily before she lowered her voice. Her face lost its friendly touch as her tone turned serious, "Naruto… Just between you and me, taichou doesn't connect closely with people. It's true that he seems to have many friends and acquaintances, but up on a personal level? He rarely, if ever, allows anyone to get close."

She paused for a moment to allow the information to sink in. "You're easy to get along with, Naruto-kun, and I think you should use that to your advantage. Anyway, I'd better take my leave. I might be needed at the hospital. The Hokage is also expecting the two of you, so you'd better get a move on. I will be seeing you later." She spared him a small parting smile which erased all traces of seriousness from her face, before jumping up onto one of the rooftops and out of view.

His interest piqued, Naruto decided then to take her advice to heart. "Oi! Minato!" He called, cupping his hands on either side of his mouth, "Wait up! I was supposed to pay, you know!"

The ANBU captain paused for a moment in his warpath and then slowed down his pace to allow his friend to catch up.

Upon reaching the fairer blonde, Naruto stopped just beside him and crossed his arms. He mused for a moment, contemplating what to say, "Are you feeling ok? I know that you don't normally act like this." He tried, tilting his head up to watch the taller boy's reaction closely.

Now that Minato had a clearer head and was thinking straighter, he felt rather mortified at his actions. How embarrassing. What had he been thinking? As an ANBU captain he should have had far more control over his actions. Seriously? Pushing himself in between those two like that and acting like he was some sort of… some sort of … jealous teenager? Oh, dear god. Not for the nth time, he was torn between being glad that Naruto was dense, and wanting to strangle the other blonde in frustration because he was too dense!

With those piercing azure blue eyes assessing him so closely, he twitched uncomfortably and switched his gaze to anything around them, finding everything else suddenly far more interesting than usual. "Yes, I… well, I hadn't intended that. I … just thought that we should rush to the Hokage's. We're running rather late." He reasoned flatly, barely squeezing the words out of his throat as he felt his ears started to heat up under the pressing scrutiny of his friend. He wanted to give in to the urge to just bash his head against the nearest wall. His breath caught and his eyes widened when a cool hand was suddenly pressed gently against his cheek, causing him to freeze him in place.

"Minato, you're so hot!" The jounin exclaimed out of the blue. He would've put the back of his hand on his young father's forehead, but the hitai-ate was in the way.

Minato knew it wasn't intended to sound evocative, but still - hearing those words slipping out of the slightly younger boy while his hand was resting on his cheek made more blood rush up to his face to darken it further. He swallowed thickly to try and dislodge the feeling of a lump stuck in his throat.

Stupid Naruto and his stupid effects on him…!

He had to get away. It was getting rather hard to breath.

"I-I'll see you at the Hokage Tower. By the way, you owe me dinner." Minato choked out before disappearing in a way that had rightfully earned him his famous nickname as the Yellow Flash.

-:-

A rather rattled Minato appeared at the front of the Hokage's door with the use of his Hiraishin no Jutsu, startling the two ANBU guards beside it into drawing their kunai before they recognized his face and bowed respectfully, sheathing their weapons.

"Hokage-sama is expecting both you and Haruno-san." The one on the left muttered lowly, his tone clipped, indicating that he was disgruntled about having been caught off-guard.

The blonde captain nodded shortly, taking no offence to the tone as he straightened his posture and tried to regain his normal calm by taking a deep breath. "I understand. Haruno Naruto will be arriving shortly after."

Opening the door, he stepped through, looking every bit the part of a composed, authoritative ANBU captain ready to accept his newest mission.

AN: Just a short chapter, because I was stuck. But now this is in the open (and its part of the main action-y plot), I am able to build on it. But no juicy main plot parts juuuust yet…!

Next chapter will return back into the past. So you see the stepping stones of how Minato came to like Naruto. Am I pissing you off with this backwards/forwards skipping? I assure you all will be revealed eventually, and you will be far more understanding of why I wrote it the way I did.

~BlueRedemption

Shall I tease you with an excerpt of the next chapter? What it could potentially hold? I expect that some of you are disappointed that there wasn't enough MinaNaru in this chapter. So I shall try and sate some of that need of yours… *wiggles eyebrows in a highly suggestive manner*

Chapter Five Preview

Minato stared down at the sleeping teen, his eyes holding an unusually warm and gentle look. Hesitantly, he allowed his hand to reach out and carefully brush away the soft, sunshine-gold locks of hair that had swept into Naruto's face to the side. His fingers lightly trailed against the baby smooth skin of the tanned boy's temple in feather-soft touches, before his thumb cautiously slid down the side of Naruto's serene face to tenderly sweep over the three scars that he had always been curious over. Almost affectionately, he traced the arc of the younger teen's cheekbones, in an action so similar to a lover's caress.

"Stop!" Naruto abruptly gasped, turning his head.

Minato was swift to withdraw his hand as though he had been burnt, heart racing.

Tossing in his sleep, Naruto shifted so that his back now faced the petrified ANBU captain. Minato hurriedly drew back, stumbling away from the bed. His eyes were wide, and a guilty look was etched plainly upon his face beneath the porcelain mask he wore, as if he had been caught doing something that he really shouldn't be doing…

Say WHA~! Naughty Minato! Molesting Naru in his sleep! LOL. I bet I had you screaming 'WTF' just then, right? Hahaha. Yes, I'm evil… but you know you love me. By the way, has anyone worked out part of the reason behind my story's title, yet?

Reviews inspire me to write more MinaNaru for you!