In your arms, cradle me to sleep [Yondaime drabble]
I've always had this special thing for the Yondaime. He's always been like my stashed away secret love ever since he was first mentioned in the Naruto manga. The reason why I've kept him “hidden” all this time is because every time I see him, this incredible sadness simply overcomes me and I get the inexplicable urge to cry. Seriously.
Talk about having a terrible soft spot for heroic fathers.
So I decided it was about time I faced my apprehension head on and thus, I forced myself to write something quick about him. Needless to say, the sadness threatened to come but I managed to push forward. *pumps fist* I thought I’d share this therapeutic drabble in the hopes that it may provide some insight into his oh so marvelous character.
~~xxx~~
In your arms, cradle me to sleep
Cooing softly, he rocked the small baby in his arms, offering comfort that was only his to give. The blond man smiled, his sapphire eyes glistening with emotion as the tiny infant opened his mouth as far as it would go in the biggest yawn his minute frame could muster.
His son had never been one to go to bed quietly and it would usually take a while before the already energetic boy to calm down enough to get some sleep. Naruto would fuss and bustle about, making unintelligible gurgles as his hands reached out for anything that was within reach. It was as if his inquisitive nature would get the best of him and he simply could not wait to experience life first hand. He sensed this innate forward momentum in his son that wouldn’t be stopped easily and even now, he could detect the lively swirls of chakra running inside the boy’s body.
Living in a shinobi home, this could actually be a problem sometimes, for you never knew when a stray kunai or shiruken would be lying around. A misplaced scroll was also another likely possibility and it could lead to certain disaster if left within reach of a curious infant. In his profession, it was inevitable to come into close contact with dangerous artifacts and therefore, you needed to learn to pick up your things and make a habit out of keeping your equipment in check when you became a parent. Despite the fact that his son wasn’t old enough to walk yet, there was no harm in being too careful; it was better to be safe than sorry.
Tiny blue eyes that were a mirror image of his own orbs closed slightly, only to open up again a moment afterwards. His son started fidgeting again and squirmed in his arms.
Minato sighed.
It was always a problem to get him to sleep.
Lifting Naruto up, he rested his head against his left shoulder and started walking around the nursery. The little boy babbled for a moment before settling down again. The amount of energy he had was something that always amazed his father. In general terms, you found that babies slept a lot, taking constant naps and falling asleep everywhere. Contrary to this principle, the little blond bundle in his arms had never been prone to dozing off in the few months of his life and was extremely alert most of the time. Needless to say, the boy was an extremely light sleeper and any kind of noise would wake him up immediately.
Minato had found that Naruto was really tuned to those around him, especially to his presence. Sometimes, others would say that the boy could sense his father a mile away for he would wake and start to fidget just before the blond man walked in through the door. His preference for his father was undisputable; something Minato found unbelievably moving. To think that this tiny person could depend and rely on him so much was a thought that kept him awake most nights. In his profession, you never knew when your time in this life would be up and therefore, during one of those many sleepless vigils, he had come to the conclusion that if he was ever forced to part ways from his son, he would need to ensure that he was strong enough to make it on his own.
He would need to leave him a parting gift worthy of his father’s legacy.
Because of this, Minato had made a conscious effort to spend as much time as possible with his baby, pampering and holding him as much as he could. It was his choice to be the one to put him to sleep more often than not and truly, it was something he loved doing. He loved to be able to be alone with his son, rocking him and cooing in his ear; it was as if this time together was their own and no one else’s. It was a kind of ritual that the two of them had come to rely on. A time spent together where nothing could keep them apart, each one holding on to the other as sleep and the dreams it would bring drew nearer and nearer.
Sometimes Minato had the suspicion that Naruto always took so long to fall asleep because he didn’t want to be parted from his father. Still, it was a comforting thought to know that the last face the little boy saw before falling into dreamy visions was his. To think that maybe he dreamed of his father was something that brought on a small feeling of pride inside his chest. Maybe one day he would want to become like him… to follow in his footsteps.
To think that he might generate such feelings of personal drive in his son were always overwhelming and Minato always promised himself that he would set an example for his little boy to follow. He wanted to be a father worthy of such admiration.
He continued to walk back and forth across the nursery, humming softly beneath his breath. Long minutes passed as Naruto’s breathing grew steadier and deeper, until the baby boy was softly sleeping on his father’s shoulder, oblivious to the world. Minato smiled and let out a small sigh of relief.
It was then that he felt the incoming chakra of one of his ANBU members cross the threshold of the house. His arms tightening reflexively around the baby he was holding and he pressed his lips to the boy’s hair.
The knock on the door was as soft as possible.
Even his most elite shinobi were aware of his son’s sleeping habits.
“Come in,” he said softly, careful not to disturb the sleeping baby.
“Yondaime-sama,” the man whispered after opening the door only slightly. “The Kyuubi has been sighted.”
The blond man closed his eyes and breathed deeply. It seemed that the inevitable encounter had come.
He didn’t say anything. He simply nodded.
The masked ANBU disappeared then, knowing that their leader would follow close behind him.
Walking up to the small cradle in the room, Minato smiled sadly as Naruto unconsciously lifted his small hand and grabbed a fistful of his father’s hair. It seemed that letting go was never easy, even for a sleeping baby. He held him quietly for a moment longer, savoring in the feel of his small head underneath his cheek and the rhythm of his tiny heart pressed against his own chest.
When he couldn’t delay any longer, he lowered the tiny boy into the cradle, softly disentangling his hand from his golden hair. He looked down at his son then, committing the contours of his face to memory, going over every detail and wanting to create an exact same image inside his mind that would last forever.
‘A mighty gift,’ Minato thought to himself before leaning down and placing a kiss on Naruto’s soft cheek.
‘Worthy of my legacy.’
With that, before one second turned into the next, the blond man was gone.
~~xxx~~
Comments welcome! :3