The day started out as any other. 4:30a.m. and the alarm clock goes off. The blaring red light of the clock was shining over his face, shielding the profile of his wife.
He grumbles.
Smacking his hand down on the clock, he turns off the alarm and slithers out of his bed, making sure not to wake his wife. Gently he opens bathroom door, wincing at the slight creak it makes, and then closes it to shower.
Twenty minutes go by before he reemerges, hairs slightly wet, clean shaven, and face brighter than before. He puts on his clothes and finishes drying his hair before leaning down to kiss his wife goodbye.
"Hfmguddy" She mumbles, still asleep.
"You too, sweetheart. Tell the kids I love them."
"Iil" She said.
He swipes her hair out of her face before leaving the room for the day, knowing he wouldn't return until later that evening.
He makes his way down the hallway of their upstairs, passing their youngest's room. It wasn't a surprise to him that she wasn't there, half the time she wasn't. Instead he continued past the hallway bathroom to their eldest's.
The two of them were snuggled up next to each other, but still seemed to be as far away from each other as possible in that one bed. He smirked at the sight of them, feeling it summed up their relationship perfectly, how the two of them could love each other so much yet never show it. (At least the eldest didn't show it.) He bent down and kissed them both goodbye, making sure not to wake either one.
Before he left his house for the day, he grabbed his robe, draping it over his shoulders.
"Nanadaime Hokage" is what the back read.
He knew what today was. The constant signs and reminders made it obvious. It was father's day. A time where family's bonded and celebrated together. But for him, it was another day he had to run the show. Another day where he made sure the village continued without a hitch.
Another day of being The Hokage.
He looked at the clock on the wall in his office. 3:40. How he wished time would go slower so he could finish all the work he had to do before 5, because at the rate he was going, it wasn't going to happen.
He pressed the button on his phone, and spoke.
"Shizune, you can bring up the next box."
And then his phone replied.
"Sir, there is no more."
His head jolted back. Surely this wasn't it.
"Are you sure? Because when I got here the was-"
"Sir I can assure you there is no more to be done today. I've scoured through emails and messages and there's nothing." She interrupted, sounding quiet joyed. "And if you want to leave early, you're more than welcome to." She continued.
Leave early? That was a thought that never crossed his mind. How could he do that to her and Shikamaru? He couldn't just leave. What if something happens or there's an emergency?
"Shizune, I... I really couldn't." He muttered.
"Now you've worked hard, sir! There's no need to stick around if there's nothing to do!" She protested.
"But-"
"Go."
"Bu-"
"Naruto, leave."
He rolled the idea in his head one more time, his mouth pursing until finally,
"Okay."
He got up from his chair, throwing his robe back on, gathering what he needed to take home with him.
"Now sir I want you to go home and relax, okay?" The phone continued to speak.
No response.
"Sir? Sir are you still there?"
Still nothing.
'He didn't even turn his speaker off before leaving.' She thought. 'I'll have to do that after I get done with this.' She swiveled in her chair to the pile of papers behind her.
'I hate to leave in such a rush, but if I didn't leave then I wasn't going to.' Naruto thought as he set foot on the road outside of the Hokage Mansion.
He decided to take the long way home, passing shops and stands he used to visit all the time in the past. Many people stopped and bowed to him, and he always insisted it was unnecessary. Some called him Lord Seventh, some just Seventh, and very few called him Uzumaki-sama.
Except one.
"Momma, it's that guy!" She said, pointing directly at him. Naruto turned his head to the side why giving the girl a quizzical look. 'That guy' was a new one.
"Lord Seventh, I'm so sorry, she doesn't know her mannerisms yet." The elder woman bowed, and he presumed it was her mother.
A kind smile graced his face, waving his hand to the mother to signify it wasn't a big deal. He bent down in front of the little girl, she couldn't be older than 5, about his own daughter age.
"I'm that guy, am I?" He chuckled while she shook her head.
"Ya! You're the guy in the book!" She said excitedly. Naruto put his hand on her shoulder.
"And what book would that be?" He asked.
"The Great Hokage's! Your picture was in it! Daddy used to tell me how the Hokages were the leaders of the village and how they protect everyone." She stated, proud that she could remember what her father said.
"That's true! If you or anybody is ever in trouble, then I'll come and help you. It's my duty. Everyone is this village is my family, and it's my job, so I'm like everybody's dad in a way." He smiled, ruffling her hair slightly.
"Dad?" The girl muttered. She looked down and put her hand on her chin. Then she held up one finger.
"Wait a moment." She said, turning around and running towards a patch of grass. She bent down, grabbed something, and then came back.
"Happy daddy's day!" She said holding out the flower towards Naruto. His breath caught from the shock of the situation, but just as fast as that happened, his face went soft again.
"Thank you..." He said, pinning the flower on his robe.
"Welcome!" She smiled at him. He stood up and faced her mother, who stood, watching the scene play out.
"Are you sure you want to wear that on your robe, Lord Seventh? It's a weed." She stated.
"Absolutely. If a gift from one of my precious villagers, I will proudly display it." He said, reassuring the young girl's confidence in her gift.
Just then Naruto felt a tugging behind him. He turned around and there was another child standing before him, this one a little older.
"Happy father's day." He said, holding out another flower.
"H'ppy papa's day!" A younger girl said to his left, holding out another flower.
"Happy father's day!" Said another.
"Happy father's day, Lord Seventh!" Said one more. Before Naruto could say anything else, he was surrounding by people offering him flowers of different sizes and shapes, all wishing him father's day joy.
"Everyone, please, this isn't necessary!" He tried to explain.
"Nonsense! Remember when you helped our family rebuild our house?" And older boy said.
"Or when you helped train us at the academy?"
"Remember when you helped our family with food because our father couldn't work?"
Everyone kept saying reasons as to why they were doing what they were, and Naruto couldn't help but start crying. He stood there, taking in the view of the people around him, their smiling facing and looks of gratitude.
He gladly accepted each and every one of the flowers personally, and he lost count of how many he had by the time he made it home.
"Hinata, Boruto, Himawari, I'm home!" He yelled into the house. He wasn't expecting them to have anything prepared, it still being much earlier than when he normally got home, but he was still expecting an answer.
But there wasn't one. There shoes weren't by the door, and Hinata's house keys weren't sitting on the little platform to the right of the front door.
"They aren't home..." He muttered, throwing his shoes off. He didn't mind it though, they weren't expecting him home this early anyway, he was sure they were just out buying groceries or something.
He made his way to the kitchen, pulling out a vase to set all his flowers in. Once they were successfully watered and put on the window sill of the kitchen he sighed contently.
"There, all nice and pretty now, aren't you?" He said towards the flowers.
And then he heard a giggle. A giggle he knew belonged to his daughter. And the shushing of his son was followed soon after.
They were hiding. And after that giggle Hinata knew that her husband was blatantly aware of their location in the kitchen. So what came next was not a surprise to her.
"Maaaaan, it sure was a looong day today." He stated loudly, sitting on the dining room chair across from their hiding point.
"I'm completely bushed! If only my family were here to revitalize me! I know something is today I'm just... too tired to remember!" He exclaimed. And then he heard his wife whisper "now."
"Happy father's day!" His children exclaimed, running towards him. They jumped on his lap, tipping the chair back enough to almost fall over if Naruto didn't hook his foot around the table leg.
"Oh my goodness! This is exactly what I needed! My children I am so happy to see you!" He proclaimed, kissing them on their heads.
"And my beautiful wife, how I missed you as well!" He said, getting up from the table, children in tow, to kiss his wife.
"Happy father's day, dear." She said sweetly, kissing him back.
"We didn't get you anything!" Himawari said nonchalantly, making Naruto take a second to process what she said.
"Nu-uh! We got daddy off work to spend time with us, which was the present, remember?" Boruto told his sister.
"Oh yeah... but we still got you nuffin!" She said again, making Boruto smack his forehead.
"So it was you three that got daddy out of work early?" He asked, watching the two of them nod their heads.
"Well then, we better use this present wisely, huh? Why don't you two go pick out a game and we can play it together, okay?" He asked, setting the two of them down, watching them run to the hall closet. Naruto turned to his wife.
"So did you bribe Shizune into doing my paperwork?" He asked her.
"Well Shikamaru wouldn't have." She said with a slight giggle.
"You really are the best, you know?" He told her, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You got me everything I would want today."
"I know." She said with a smile.