Naruto sighed as he watched all of his former teammates and friends mill around the yard. He knew that the reunion was going to be somewhat boring, with most of the troublemakers (excluding himself, of course) and clowns away on missions.
He started studying the people in the grassy clearing, seeing who was there. He already heard that Chouji, Ino, Lee, and Kiba were out on missions, so that canceled them out. Most everyone else was in the clearing, as far as he could see.
'Wait a minute…Hinata isn't here. Neither is Sakura or Shikamaru.' He thought. Of course, it wasn't a big surprise that Shikamaru wasn't there. Even after fifteen years, the jounin was still a slacker. 'Probably off watching clouds somewhere.' And Sakura was probably home with her newborn boy, courtesy of Lee. 'I never totally understood how they got together…'
Naruto was still tallying up the ninjas when a small figure latched onto his leg. Naruto glanced down at the offensive body, reaching for a kunai knife, before relaxing at the sight of the little redheaded kid. The child's face turned up at Naruto, showing off her pupil-less eyes. They had a tint of green in them, though, so she couldn't be a pure Hyuuga. Naruto bent down to the girl's level and placed a scarred hand on her head.
"Hello, little one. Where did you come from?" He asked. The girl just smiled in reply. Naruto chuckled at her action. "Let's see if we can find your mommy, shall we? Do you know her name?"
The child nodded and grasped his hand. Naruto waited for an answer to his question, but none came. 'Okay…'
Just then a black-haired woman stepped through the crowd. "Hideki, there you are! I've been looking all over for you!" The woman walked over to Naruto and lifted the girl into her arms. "Daddy's not going to be happy…"
Naruto took the opportunity to scrutinize the woman. Her hair came down to her shoulders, and her pure white eyes sparkled. She was wearing a leaf headband around her neck, and also a sand one around her waist. 'That's odd…' She was wearing loose-fitting black clothes, and her kunai pouch matched her daughter's.
The woman finally stopped talking to her daughter and noticed Naruto.
"I'm sorry, how rude of me. My name's Hinata. Thank you for finding my daughter!"
Naruto was flabbergasted. How could the shy little Hinata he used to know grow up into the strong, confident woman before him? Not wanting to be impolite, but still a little amazed, he replied,
"Hinata? You're so different! I'm Naruto!"
Hinata gasped. "Naruto! But…you used to be so short!"
Naruto sighed at her comment. It seemed people just couldn't believe that the short, loudmouthed kid could turn into the tall, loudmouthed adult he was today.
"Yep, it's me. So what have you been up to? Besides having a kid, I mean." He asked. Hinata smiled and looked at the sleeping Hideki on her hip. "Well, I got married, for one thing."
Naruto wasn't sure if he could take any more surprises. "Who to?"
Hinata blushed. "Well, you know him, but it's probably not who you think it is."
Naruto's first guess would be Kiba, but Hideki's hair color didn't match his. In fact, the only redhead he knew was…
Hinata giggled at his expression. " I guess you figured it out, then."
"You mean- But- How- huh?"
"I think I can clear that up for you."
Naruto and Hinata both turned at the sound of a stranger's voice. Hinata smiled, while Naruto proved his theory on how he couldn't be any more surprised wrong. Gaara, Gaara of the Sand, the homicidal maniac, the guy who's never smiled a day in his life, walked up to Hinata and kissed her cheek. Naruto fainted.
"Oops." Gaara said. He shrugged and took Hideki out of Hinata's arms. The movement jolted the girl out of her sleep. Upon seeing who held her, she screamed, "Daddy!"
The clearing was silenced. All the old classmates and friends turned at the sound of Hideki's voice, and one or two of them promptly fainted at who she had called 'Daddy'. Gaara sighed and prepared himself for tons of questions.
It was going to be a long day.
