"...Fugaku?"

Minato was concerned. Not because he was in a bar while still being the honorable Hokage (everyone there was so drunk they probably wouldn't remember a thing the next morning). No, he was worried because his normally stoic former teammate was currently sobbing with an empty shot glass in his hand. He was blubbering nonsensically to the bartender, who nodded absentmindedly.

When the bartender heard Minato, he lifted his head and raised an eyebrow. He didn't say a word, though, having long gotten used to high profile figures coming in the evening to avoid detection.

Fugaku turned to Minato, his face lighting up, and Minato wondered when was the last time Fugaku had smiled at him like that.

The smile turned into a frown again, though, as Fugaku remembered his reason for being here.

"Fugaku, what's wrong?"

Fugaku started blubbering again Minato had to put his hand on his shoulder. "Calm down."

Fugaku nodded, hiccuping. Then, he said, "It's Itachi."

Worry entered Minato's face. "What happened?"

"He yelled at me!"

Minato paused. "What do you mean?"

"Itachi yelled at me! I don't even know what happened! I just-I just…" Fugaku started waving his hands in the air and Minato had to grab the shot glass from his clutches to make sure he didn't accidentally drop it.

"Okay Fugaku," Minato said placatingly. "Itachi yelled at you. Slowly explain what happened."

"W-Well, I was home, right?" Minato nodded. "Yeah, well, I needed to ask Itachi something, so I called for him. I didn't hear him, so I called again. And again. Then I got mad and went to look for him…"

Minato nodded understandingly. He had had similar situations with his son...even though Naruto was only nine and Itachi was fifteen.

"So I walked into his room and Itachi was changing his clothes. H-He yelled at me (queue sob) about privacy and knocking and shoved me out and slammed the door in my face!"

Minato blinked. "Was...was that it?"

Fugaku shook his head. "N-No...so he came out and asked me what I wanted...well, he yelled (queue more sobbing) and I said that I was calling for him. He said that he yelled back...but I didn't hear him. I told him that...and he just gave me this-this glare!" And Fugaku started sobbing all over again.

"Th-Then," Fugaku said, "he went back to being himself...but he was so icy to me the rest of the day! I didn't do anything! H-He still yelled at me!"

Minato patted Fugaku on the back while wondering how something as minuscule as that could drive the man to a bar.

Then he remembered that Itachi was basically the perfect person. Itachi rebelling like this must have been completely new territory for Fugaku.

Honestly, it was a miracle that Itachi had gone this long without acting even a little like his age. Hormones and rebelliousness have got to start setting in at some point, and Itachi was probably a late-bloomer in that aspect.

Minato wouldn't be surprised if Itachi ended up getting a girlfriend soon.

Minato turned back to his grieving partner and decided that he should probably help him.

"Fugaku, kids Itachi's age rebelling against their parents is normal," he said calmly. "They want to feel more in control of their lives and start to fight back. Itachi is pretty tame compared to some other kids. You need to get used to it because Sasuke will probably be more...intense than Itachi."

Fugaku hiccupped. "I c-can understand with Sasuke...but Itachi's not like that. He's nice and calm and sweet and considerate and-and…" He started sobbing again.

So, Minato thought, Fugaku's not startled by the rebellion...but by Itachi himself acting that way.

"Well, Fugaku," Minato said, "Itachi doesn't hate you."

Fugaku stared up at Minato with watery eyes. "R-Really?"

Minato smiled warmly. "Really."

"B-But he yelled at me-"

"How many times have we yelled at our fathers when we were that age? Did we love them any less?"

Fugaku hesitated, recalling his younger days.

...huh. He had yelled at his father a lot.

Fugaku shook his head. "I guess not."

Minato nodded. "Itachi still loves you. He's just slightly irritated with you at the moment. But, being Itachi, I'm sure he'll forgive you easily. Itachi's a sweet child like that."

Fugaku nodded.

It was then that a huge yell broke through the bar.

"FATHER!"

Fugaku bolted upright at the sound of his youngest son.

"S-Sasuke? What are you doing here?"

The nine-year-old scowled. "I could ask you the same thing. Father, do you have any idea how mad Mother is? Or how worried Big Brother is?"

Fugaku blinked. "I-Itachi's worried?"

"Of course he is!" Sasuke said incredulously. "He loves you!"

"Sasuke!" another voice yelled.

Itachi ran into the bar and grabbed Sasuke's hand. "I told you not to go in here! It dangerous…" Itachi trailed off as he realized that he was standing in front of his missing father.

"Father! What are you doing here? Mother already has dinner waiting and won't start until we're all at the table. We've been scouring all of Konoha!"

Fugaku blinked again. Then, he threw his arms around Itachi, sobbing and muttering and slurring words.

Itachi was alarmed. He had never seen his father like this.

Sasuke pulled Fugaku off of Itachi and started...scolding him? "Father! Don't do that! You scared Big Brother! Are you alright? You didn't have too much alcohol, did you? Mother says that that stuff makes you an idiot! Father, stop crying! Father…" He went on and on and on, and with each passing word, Fugaku's smile grew larger.

Itachi, still puzzled, shook off his confusion to bow to Minato. "Lord Hokage."

Minato smiled. "Hello, Itachi."

Itachi hesitated, but then asked, "What happened to Father?"

Minato hummed. "He felt bad that you yelled at him."

Itachi's face blanked. "Yelled at him?"

"When he walked into your room without knocking."

Itachi blinked. "Oh...that."

Itachi seemed to close in on himself when he remembered, and Minato smiled slightly. It seemed that Itachi felt just as bad about that incident as Fugaku.

Hoping to get away from looking too bad in front of the Hokage, Itachi hastily said, "Mother is probably still harassing the merchant's district. I should take Father home."

When they turned to Fugaku and Sasuke, they saw the two laughing brightly at some joke. Itachi smiled.

He walked up to them and put Fugaku's arm around his shoulders, helping his father get up and walk out of the bar while Sasuke held Fugaku's other hand, chatting happily and scolding alternately every few seconds.

Minato sighed as he checked the time. He should get back to the tower before his secretary got mad. He didn't even get to have a drink.

But as he watched Fugaku walk off with his sons and recently-joined wife (who was visibly making an effort not to slap her husband), Minato couldn't help but smile.

Fugaku would be just fine.

The End

Yes, I did update this just to put an author's note. I'm an author, so it's well within my rights! So, this was made to be humorous and heartwarming and I hope that you enjoyed it. This might have been a little OOC...eh, whatever.

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