Title: The Greastest Enemy
Rating: PG-13
Genre: General
Pairing: Sasu/Naru
Summary: Being the Fourth Hokage meant he had many enemies. So who did he consider his greatest enemy?
Warnings: Over-protective father. There may also be a lot of spelling and grammar mistakes.
Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. No copyright infringement is intended.

A/N: I've only recently started watching Naruto again. I stopped watching it when before Shippuden started, when there were all those fillers. Finally got into it again and got started writing. Just wanted to say that this story is basically a series of stand alones about Minato and his kind of one-sided battles with Sasuke. The first two and even this one can be read as oneshots. I'm going to write them when the muses strike so no promises of a continuation.

If the Third was considered the strongest Hokage then Namikaze Minato was definitely the most dangerous. While there was still a ways to go before he reached the level of his predecessor, the renowned God of Shinobi himself, there were many who feared him. For what he may lack in pure strength he more than made up for with his intelligence and determination. The combination of which resulted in the creation of one of the most fearsome techniques to ever be invented. Even now, years since its creation, there existed a rare few capable of evading the path of his Hiraishin no Jutsu and at barely thirty years of age he was far from close to being finished. In fact, he was only just beginning, only getting stronger. So while he wasn't completely unbeatable, in time – even his greatest and most powerful of enemies knew – he could be. It was fortunate for him that the wielder of one of the greatest weapons against his power and cunning, a weapon capable of rendering him incapable of even the most coherent of thoughts, mostly only abused it in order to gorge on ramen on his tab.

In what has now become just as much a ritual as the hated goodbye kiss Minato scowled, wanting nothing more than to snatch his beloved son away. He would have too. If not for the fact that the first time he gave into the impulse and did just that - well away from the eyes of the brat's mother of course - Naruto had turned to him with such a sad little hurt look on his face that he never did it again.

That look would always be one of his biggest weaknesses. Any time those eyes would turn him, so large and impossibly blue, filled with even just the slightest hint of wetness his heart would ache. When people saw his son they hardly ever saw past the bright blond hair and blue eyes. To most Naruto was the spitting image of him, their beloved Yondaime Hokage. There were only a scant few who were able to see what he did. Because every time Naruto laugh, smile or even frown, it wasn't his own image he saw but rather that of his wife, his beautiful expressive wife. Despite the color of his son's eyes and hair Naruto had Kushina's wide shaped eyes and of course the well rounded face in which gave her such grief as a child. So when faced with even a hint of sadness on that little face of his Minato couldn't help but hurt doubly, not only for the child he loved so much but also for the wife he missed so dearly. He supposed it was why he was so overprotective, why couldn't help but overreact and behave so far and away from his normally calm and collected self whenever it came down to anything to do with his beloved son.

Clenching his fist he could do little more than watch as the littlest Uchiha, the aptly dubbed Prince of Darkness himself, met his irritated stare with a barely visible smirk. Minato's scowl deepened, his planned perfect day in complete ruin. Since the brat wasn't supposed to be at the daycare until well into the afternoon – a fact he managed to gleam from Mikoto through her endless gushing about all the cute outfits she was going to get for him on their shopping spree – he arranged for his son to be picked up before the Uchihas arrived for Mikoto's shift.

When he next saw his tardy student he was going to make sure that the silver haired teen will be stuck doing D-rank missions for at least a month. It was less than what he deserved for exposing him to this torture. For not picking up his Naruto-chan when he asked.

"Baa bye Sa-chan," Naruto happily chirped after having just placed a very brief, very chaste kiss on the reddening check of the miniature sized hell spawn.

Despite being clearly flustered the brat still somehow managed to keep Minato's less than pleased gaze. With narrowed eyes he mentally added another month of D-ranks.

Completely oblivious to the tension Naruto simply turned back to his silently fuming father with a wide smile as he held out his arms in silent demand. More than happy to comply, Minato quickly scoped up the cheerful toddler, cradling the precious bundle to his chest as he glared down at the evil little brat smirking up at him.

"Sasuke," Minato bit out through gritted teeth, the name coming out like an extremely bad taste in his mouth.

With steely eyes the hell spawn of a brat bit out a petulant, "Hokage-sama."

Not caring to stand around for a moment longer Minato was just about to rush out with his son when the other source of his current ire decided to finally make an appearance.

"Yo," a familiar voice greeted them.

Before he could even think to respond Naruto shifted in his arms with a cry of, "Kakai-nii!"

In a move that would no doubt have made the toads proud his son somehow managed to launch himself from right out of his arms and into Kakashi's who, as if on automatic, immediately caught and lifted the squealing toddler up onto his shoulders. The action allowing his little legs to dangle on either side of the teen's neck as small hands found their way into his gravity defying hair.

Meeting his gaze with a smiling eye the silver haired teen tilted his head slightly, being careful not to dislodge his newfound passenger as he said with a sheepish chuckle, "Sorry I'm late. An old lady lost her walker so I had to help her cross the street."

Normally Minato wouldn't have minded. Of all the people in the village he was probably the most understanding and tolerant of his student's habit of turning up late. For his part Kakashi was always only a minute or two late when it counted. Though he was nearly always on the ball he severely miscalculated in this case because this time should have definitely gone into the ranks of one of times that should have counted. He clenched his fist. If not for the precious cargo sitting upon his shoulders Minato was certain he would have delivered a punch with enough force to rival one of Tsunade's strongest hits.

"Who you?" the miniature Uchiha demanded with a frown.

Turning to the brat he was surprised to find the glare usually reserved for him being directed at his chronically late student instead. Not quite sure how he felt about that Minato gave a slow blink.

"Maa, maa, don't you know it's rude to ask for another's person name without introducing yourself first," was the cheerful reply.

At that the spawn blinked, looking confused for a brief moment before meeting Kakashi's only visible eye with a glare.

"Put Naruto-chan down," he all but ordered.

"Now Chibi-kun I can't do that. Not when Naruto-chan is having so much fun, see," Kakashi returned before demonstrating said fun by swaying from side to side, the action causing his easily amused son to hold up his hands and let out a happy cry of "WHEE! Imma flying!"

Clearly unimpressed the glare turned into a deep scowl.

Oblivious to the silent stare off happening right before his eyes Naruto let out a shriek as Kakashi crouched down. With a tsk he waved a reproving finger in the brat's face as he lectured, "Maa, little kids shouldn't make such scary faces. It's not cute at all."

Like the calm before the storm there was a moment of silence. Then one second his student's finger was waggling taunting in front of the brat's face and the next it was in the brat's mouth, wedged in between his razor sharp baby teeth. Displaying what Gai has dubbed his "cool and hip" attitude to the fullest Kakashi merely blinked. Then calmer than he had any right to be began shaking his arm and by extension the hell spawn of a kid attached to it in an effort to rid himself of the little leech.

"Sasuke-chan!" came a mortified cry, one that was soon followed by the appearance of the Uchiha matriarch herself. Quickly grabbing her son she admonished with a stern, "You let go this instant young man! No biting!"

No doubt weakened by the clear disapproval of his mother the brat instantly released the abused digit from his mouth.

"We do not bite other people Sasuke-chan," Mikoto began to berate, her well-practiced tone of reprimand informing him that this was certainly not a new occurrence in the Uchiha household. What was more telling was the guilty flush that appeared on the brat's face. Having seen the same look on Naruto's face every time he decided to conveniently forgot that painting the walls orange was a big 'no, no' it was easy to figure out that this was not the first time he got told off for such an offence.

"Bad man tried to take Naruto," the brat argued.

Clearly unimpressed Mikoto merely shook her head. Just as his mother was going to continue to berate him the mini Uchiha did something Minato never even thought that he was capable of. With wide black eyes the toddler turned to his mother with watery eyes, face a perfect picture of pure unadulterated sadness. So effective was this that even he, Namikaze Minato, couldn't help but feel something in him soften towards the kid he considered the bane of existence.

With a single tear the brat let out a sob of, "Said Naruto never coming back. He mean."

At those words the spell was abruptly broken, suddenly leaving him feeling somewhat dirty and more than a little ashamed. Not believing he had fallen so easily under such manipulations. Had he not already been aware of the truth of the matter he was sure he would have as easily fallen for the brat's words as his mother.

Needing to defend his student Minato tried to say, "He did not-" at the same time Kakashi blurted, "I did not-"

Ignoring both their protests she gave the brat a gentle look.

"Naruto-chan is just going home. He will be back tomorrow when his daddy goes to work," the woman continued.

At that Minato winced. It must be the lingering effects of the brat's spell because for some reason he couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty as his plan to commission his son as a C-rank mission for a few days rather than return to the day-care sprung to mind.

Somehow noticing his reaction the brat gave him a narrowed eyed look from under the hand he brought up to wipe away his tears. An act in which he followed with an over exaggerated sniffle and a wobbly plea of, "Promise?"

"Of course," Mikoto saw fit to guarantee.

Clearly wanting more the brat let out a whimper.

Unaware she was being played like a fiddle Mikoto turned to him and with a smile asked, "Isn't that right Minato-sama?"

From behind her back the Uchiha spawn gave him a small smirk.

"Actually," Minato began to say. Only to have his words be cut short by another whimper from the brat, a whimper he could see being uttered with a smirk still firmly in place.

Although he wanted nothing more than to tell her no at the clearly pleading look on her face he knew he couldn't. Not without appearing like a completely heartless bastard in the process. Having had an earlier taste of the brat's acting abilities there was no doubt in his mind that the scheming toddler was going to play up his devastation to the T.

Outmanoeuvred Minato gave a resigned nod.

"See Sasuke-chan," Mikoto said, turning back to wipe away the remaining tears from her son's face. "Now let's say goodbye. I'm sure both Minato-sama and Kakashi-san have places to be."

With a nod the brat stepped forward and looked up at them expectantly.

It took him a moment to realize what the hell spawn wanted. Naruto. Having already lost one battle and refusing to lose another he immediately said, "That's okay Mikoto. They already said their goodbyes earlier."

"Even so I'm sure they'll enjoy saying their goodbyes again," Mikoto said before learning in to whisper conspiratorially into his ear, "Besides I missed it the first time and it's too cute to not want a repeat of."

"If you say so," Minato reluctantly agreed, fighting hard not to twitch as he signalled for Kakashi to let Naruto down.

Not quite knowing what was going on but seeming to not care either way Naruto immediately ran into the awaiting arms of the Uchiha brat. This time when the hell spawn hugged his son goodbye he sent a fierce glare not only to Minato but also saw fit to send one to his bewildered student as well. The brat then placed a possessive kiss on the scared cheek of the precious bundle in his arms before finally, albeit reluctantly, letting go – all the while never once taking his eyes off either of them.

"Come now Sasuke-chan, Naruto-chan will be back tomorrow," Mikoto happily assured as she took his tiny evil little hands in hers. "Bye Naruto-chan. It was nice seeing you Minato-sama, Kakashi-san."

For a moment, other than the exuberate farewells from his son, there was nothing but silence.

"That kid-" Minato began to say as he watched both the Uchihas saunter away.

"- is pure evil," Kakashi finished for him.

Very slowly he nodded, the sudden vindication of having another finally acknowledge what he'd known all along doing very little to ease his mind.