Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Pocky

"Do you have everything you need?" asked a red-head fluttering to her husband's side to once again rummage through the bag.

Minato wanted to laugh, but he didn't dare do so though, in fear of his wife's deathly wrath. Despite not being the Kyuubi's jinchuuriki anymore, he swore she could be a dead ringer for its human form when she was enraged.

Despite Minato successfully being able care of Naruto perfectly by himself, Kushina was still adamant that he did not know what he was doing. Well perhaps h didn't three years ago when Naruto was a newborn, but at that age it was mostly just hit and miss with most cases.

Now, at the tender age 3, Naruto was fully able to articulate himself and his needs, albeit most of the time anyway. He had yet to grow out of his baby talk and try as he might, Minato couldn't bring himself to break the habit. It was just too adorable and he could probably live with it for a couple more years if he tried.

Naruto's tantrums on the other hand, Minato dealt with by bribery of ramen. Not that his perfect little angel conformed to the juvenile art of tantrums like any other toddler past the age of two, his baby's tantrums were far and in between.

"Yes, and I'll be fine. I've done this before. Just go enjoy yourself." Minato couldn't help the chuckle that passed his lips before he could prevent it.

Today, after much cajoling from her dear childhood friend, Uchiha Mikoto, the duo were to spend the whole day at a nearby onsen, just outside of the village walls. However, from Kushina's actions from the previous night and current morning, he believed he would be forced to drag her there to relax.

Kushina was no doubt feeling a slight separation anxiety from spending the entire day away from her precious little baby. There had been instances before when Kushina was separated from Naruto but those had only been for a couple hours and never before for such an extended period of time.

It didn't help that that Kushina was feeling disheartened at Naruto's nonchalant behaviour to his mother's impending absence. Naruto was at the age where he didn't need her full time and was more than happy to explore the world by himself.

Of course, Kushina was not the only over-protective parent, as Minato who worse than her. He was the who made sure there was a trusted ANBU guard with Naruto at all times. Nobody was allowed to harm a hair on his precious baby, not unless they would want to face the wrath of the Yondaime Hokage aka Yellow Flash who had a flee on sight order in the Bingo Book.

"Okay just remember to put him down for his nap around noon. He'll say he isn't tired but he is, and if he doesn't have his nap he will fall asleep at dinner," insisted Kushina.

"Alright," nodded the blonde Hokage solemnly.

"And, don't give him any sweets before lunch, you'll ruin his meal."

"Alright."

"Oh, and he has a new sneaky habit of disappearing, so keep your eye on him at all times."

"Alright."

"And watch that he doesn't get dirty. I don't want to come home and find him covered in mud again."

"Alright."

"Oh, and- Minato Namikaze are you even listening to me?!"

"Alr-wha? Yes of course I am. Relax Kushina, I can do this. Have faith in me," placated Minato, giving his wife a heart-stopping smile.

Kushina looked dubious, "If you need anything-"

"Yes, yes, I know, I'll call you." Minato kissed wife chastely and picking up the blonde ball of sunshine before he could get up to mischief in the five minutes that he was left unattended.

Despite bringing Naruto to work with him, Minato still had his numerous duties of Hokage to perform. Despite loving his job of protecting the village and keeping it safe, he did not enjoy the endless stacks on paperwork that accompanied to famed job of Hokage.

Along with large stacks of paperwork, he had to also deal with the growing political instability and the problems that came along with it. And of course, one of those problems was Hyuuga Hiashi.

Now Minato over the years learned he could deal with him with careful words and allowing the man to believe he had got his way when in fact Minato had wisely planned such manipulations. It was for the sake of the village as he did so along with the many political issues which included the Hyuuga Clan Head.

Also because his wife, Kushina along with Mikoto, despite the Uchiha and Hyuuga clan rivalry, were good friends with Hiashi's wife, and frequently joined her for tea in the beautiful gardens of their compound. And upon departure when Minato would pick her up to walk her home, he was forced to exchange pleasantries with the man.

Minato didn't hate said man. No, Minato reserved hatred for the vile creatures such as Orochimaru.

Minato just didn't particually like Hyuuga Hiashi.

Hyuuga Hizashi on the other hand, Minato liked. They had taken countless missions before he had ascended to the position of Hokage and had maintained a friendship of sorts with him over the years. Maybe it was because Hizashi was so vastly different from his elder twin, of only a few minutes. Hizashi had fewer obligations by being in the Branch family, enough so that he was able to join the ANBU, although that a guarded secret to which was known to a select few.

Despite the unfairness that came from the position of his birth of only a couple minutes later, Hizashi held little contempt at his station. He carefully maintained an aura of peacefulness and contentment and only wished to pass that on to his son, Neji, who was year older than Naruto.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand. Hyuuga Hiashi.

He walked into Minato's office despite the secretary's disapproval of not having an appointment. Minato frowned at the manner in which he strolled in as if he owned the place, censure written all over his face.

Minato sighed inwardly, it was still too early for this.

"Hokage-sama." Hiashi nodded curtly.

"Hiashi-sama, to what do I owe the pleasure on this fine morning?" Minato struggled to keep the sarcasm dripping from his voice.

"Let's get straight to the point shall we? Why was a respected member of my clan, Hitomi, denied a place on the mission," asked Hiashi in a cool voice, ignoring Minato's attempt at pleasantries.

"And which mission are we talking about?" Minato sighed inwardly again.

He knew exactly which mission Hiashi was talking about. There had been a prestigious S-rank mission in which a select few could go to the Capital on an important mission for the Daimyo of the Land of Fire. The details of the mission had been deemed covert, but it was no surprise that Hiashi knew.

"Let's not play dumb shall we, Minato. Why was a damn Uchiha placed on that mission, but not one of mine?" Hiashi said sharply.

Ahh, the crux of the matter. That was what Hiashi had been angry about. The rivalry of the Uchiha and Hyuuga clan had steady risen over the years and was only spurred on by the current clan heads.

Uchiha Fugaku as a closer acquaintance, greatfully, did not engage him in matters such as this very often, but Hiashi frequently did. It was not that Hiashi felt inferior to that of the Uchiha Clan, but that he was just eager to show how much stronger the Byakugan was to the Sharingan.

"Ah, Hiashi-sama, you misunderstand. It was not that I placed an Uchiha over Hitomi, but just rather I felt his talents were more esteemed for this mission. This does not in any way reflect on Hitomi's performance in any case." Minato's voice was stern but light in an attempt at trying to diffuse the situation.

"Tou-chan?" enquired a small hand that tugged on his cloak.

Naruto had been sitting under his desk, drawing quietly, a feat quite uncharacteristic of him, which caused Minato to check on him every five to see if he was alright.

"Yes, Naru-chan?" asked Minato, fondly ruffling his hair and promptly ignoring Hiashi.

The chibi tugged harder and grinned. "Can I have some pocky?"

Minato frowned, Kushina had explicitly said no about giving him sweets, but Naruto had been so behaved...and how can anyone deny that adorable face.

Naruto pouted pulling on his coat further to encourage a reaction. He tilted his head before looking at Minato with those huge baby blue eyes before hesitating for a moment.

"Pwease?"

With that look alone, Minato felt as if he'd buy the world for Naruto if he could. Something pulled at his heart and he found himself unable to resist the request. He couldn't help the ear splitting grin on his face when he realized something. His little Naru-chan was going to be a heart breaker when he was older. With his charm he could probably get the Daimyo to run through hoops with that face alone, maybe even the stoic Hiashi.

"Of course, Naruto-chan." Minato pulled a pack out from his desk drawer where it was artfully hidden from prying eyes, namely his wife and his son.

Naruto, content for the moment with a stick pocky in his hand, took notice of Hiashi for the first time. Hyped with his new found energy, he climbed a top Minato's desk head first to get a better vantage point.

Minato winced delicately as his son's foot smudged at the recently drawn up documents addressed to the Raikage of Kumohagakure that had taken so long to compose. Eh, his son was more important and that's why he had paper-pushers, right?

Naruto, grinning with excitement at the stranger in front of him, proudly introduced himself after getting no response at his appearance.

"Hiya, I'm Naruto, dattebayo! What's your name?"

Minato bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. Naruto's verbal tic, much like his mother's, had just appeared one day and had quickly integrating itself into his speech pattern as if it had always been there, much to Kushina's exasperation.

Gleaning no response from Hiashi, Naruto pouted. He was so used to being the center of attention, a blatant ignorance of his presence was very confusing for him. Minato couldn't really blame him. The chibi was fawned upon by the villagers, old women would pinch his cheeks, and even his own student Kakashi, who was known for his coolness and aloofness, was taken by his charm.

"Hokage-sama, are you going to rectify the situation?" Hiashi asked finally, ignoring Naruto's dramatic introduction.

Minato blinked back confusion, oh were they still talking about something?

Hiashi ground his teeth, the irritation of Minato's indifference leaking off him was almost tangible. He flipped his hair over his shoulder, catching Naruto's attention once more after being snubbed.

"Ohhh, pretty!" called out Naruto before latching onto Hiashi's before the man could storm out of the office.

Now, in retrospect Minato should have seen this coming. Ever since Naruto had been a wee infant, he sort of had a fixation with hair. His fascination had started back when Kushina would place him in his crib and bend over to kiss him goodnight. He had promptly grabbed a fistful of Kushina's red locks with his tiny hands and would grin a wide toothless grin. Kushina couldn't find it in herself to reprimand him as he was always enchanted and would play with her hair for hours.

Naruto soon moved on to his father's hair when he realized it was so much like his own and that his hair would look like that one day, or maybe because it amused his mother that she wasn't the only one caught up in his little hair pulling scheme.

Naruto's victims soon included Kakashi, whose reaction was to only wince and bear it while Naruto chose to mash banana's in his hair, and even Jiraiya of the Legendary Sannin.

So it came as no surprise that Naruto would be engrossed with Hiashi's hair. The Hyuuga were known for their remarkable dark silky tresses that would hang like a waterfall down their backs. They were one of the few traditional clans where both genders styled long hair.

Anyway, most people found Naruto's fascination adorable and would give them another reason to coo at the sneaky rascal. Minato knew that Hiashi would be the exception. Sure enough, Hiashi's face was pulled into a grimace of epic proportion and he was using all his might not to Jyuken the blond chibi out the window for pulling on his brunette locks.

Now of course, Hiashi knew damaging the Hokage's son would result in not only the fury of the renowned Yellow Flash, but of the Red Hot Habanero, so he chose to grit his teeth and bear it. Seeing Hiashi's patience wear thin, Minato calmly, and but that meaning- trying not to laugh, diffuse the situation before it ultimately got any worse.

"Naru-chan, please let go of Hiashi-sama's hair." The chibi blonde toddler pouted and tugged harder on the long dark locks he had seized in his sticky hands, unwilling to give up his new found toy.

"Naruto." Minato voice had become more stern.

Seeing his father's disapproval only spurned Naruto on as he giggled loudly at the obvious discomfort of Hiashi and pulled even harder. Naruto saw this as a game, each time his father reprimanded him, he would pull harder, to the point where Hiashi's discomfort turned into actual pain.

Seeing Hiashi about to snap, Minato attempted to extract the chibi off of his hair which only resulted in making things worse. Not wanting to let go caused Naruto to attempt a tantrum which only resulted in the ANBU running in worried for their Hokage's safety.

Minato, at his wits end was out of ideas. Shouting at his son didn't work as it only spurred him on, bribery didn't work and nor did threatening him work either. There was only one alternative left. Minato was bringing out the big guns. He didn't want to do this, he truly didn't, but this was the only way.

"Naruto, I'm going to call Kaa-chan."

Naruto immediately let go which caused Hiashi to move a foot away from them in case of further contact. He went to rubbing at his scalp to stop the impending headache that was forming from the stained roots.

Naruto looked up at Minato terrified, his eyes widening at the thought. "No, Tou-chan, pwease, no!"

Threatening to call Kushina always stopped Naruto. He was hugely terrified of the punished she dished out, and he was not the only one. It was always much easier to behave than to face her angry.

Minato shook his head at his son, he was naughty and now he was going to face the consequences. "I'm sorry Naruto, but you should have listened."

Naruto's bottom lip trembled, tears threatening to fall. He looked up at his father with wet baby blue eyes, "Pwease. I'll be a good boy! I pwomise!"

Minato shook his head. But it took all of his restraint to not scoop up the boy, hug him tightly and reassure him. But he had to be strong, Naruto had to learn his lesson.

Naruto sniffled, tears now flowing freely on his face. He wiped it haphazardly on the sleeve of his shirt. Minato would usually reprimand him for not using a tissue but currently he was cursing at himself for making his baby boy cry. Minato was torn, he didn't want Naruto growing up to be a brat, but he hated seeing his Naru-chan unhappy. Naruto dug around in his pockets before pulling something out.

Naruto looked up at him with his palm out. "Here, pwease don't tell Kaa-chan. I'm sowwy."

In his hand was the remaining pocky that Minato had given to him. It was slightly broken and covered in bits of lint from his pocket, but Naruto was obviously giving it to him. Minato didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

His heart broke. He didn't know how Naruto came up with these things. But he was fine, there was no way Naruto was going to turn into a brat with a heart like that. Minato relented and mused, Naruto could learn his lesson later. Right now, he was going to hug his baby and tickle him until he smiled again.

"Alright Naruto, but don't do it again." It was half-hearted and Naruto could see him giving in.

Naruto grinned happily, cheerful with the turn of events. "I wuv you Tou-chan."

Minato hugged him tightly, "I love you too son."

A voice clearing of a throat interrupted their little moment. Minato looked up to see Hiashi still standing there. Minato rubbed his head sheepishly, he had forgotten that Hiashi was still even there.

"Oh, Hiashi-sama, is there anything else you need?"

Hiashi looked incredulous, "Are you really going to let your son behave like that? He needs discipline!"

Minato went cold. No-one questioned his son's behavior.

"If there was nothing else, please leave my office now, Hiashi," Minato said sternly.

"But-"

"Now!" Minato shouted startling Naruto.

The look on Hiashi's face was priceless. He gaped at the Hokage but shutting his jaw with an audible click and promptly turned around and marched out the office with as much dignity as he could.

Naruto started laughing. "Tou-chan, you're so cool, when you're scawy!"

Minato smiled. "Really?"

"Uh huh!"

Minato smiled wider. "As scary as Kaa-chan?"

Naruto wrapped his arms around his father's neck before whispering in his ear, "Nope!" and collapsed in a fit of giggles.

Minato pouted.